Brazilian hedge funds experienced record outflows last month, to the tune of US$6.7 billion. Investors were spooked because their managers’ returns trailed a fixed-income benchmark while beating the Bovespa stock index, which dropped 25%.

The redemptions brought total outflows this year to 48.9 billion reais (US$21 billion), Bloomberg News reports, citing data released by the National Association of Investment Banks.

Investors withdrew money because they compare performance against fixed-income indexes, said Luiz Felipe Andrade, a director at the association. Bond yields in Brazil are among the highest in the world.