Hedge funds post best first half returns since the financial crisis Hedge funds post best first half returns since the financial crisis
12 Hours Ago | 01:14
Before computers completely take over the hedge-fund industry, they need to overcome one tiny obstacle: investment returns.

In the first half of the year, computer-generated strategies, or what they call in the business, systematic strategies, returned 3.17 percent, according to data by Preqin. That compares with the more-traditional discretionary strategy, which returned almost double that, with gains of 5.99 percent. Those results are net of fees.

Discretionary strategies depend on the skill of the humans making the investment decisions. And it was the human side of the hedge-fund world that helped drive total industry returns in the first half of the year, to 4.87 percent. That's the industry's best six-month performance since the beginning of 2009, according to Preqin. At that time, though, hedge funds generated returns of 16.9 percent.