It’s not a bridge over troubled water, per se, but Bridgewater Associates is having a mixed 2008 in terms of returns.

While Bridgewater’s $58 billion Pure Alpha Strategy is in the black, rising 6.8% through October, its All Weather Portfolio hasn’t fared as well. The $13 billion multi-strategy fund has dropped 29% through October.

The firm told FINalternatives that the All Weather Strategy is a passive portfolio of stocks, bonds and commodities that reflects the returns of a diversified portfolio of asset classes.

“Its decline reflects the movement of money out of asset classes in general,” it said. “Bridgewater's hedge fund strategy, Pure Alpha, is an active strategy that reflects Bridgewater's views of the markets and its gain reflects Bridgewater's widely reported anticipation of the financial market's meltdown and being positioned for it.”

Bridgewater has been managing Pure Alpha since 1991. Investors in the strategy allocate capital to commingled funds or individual tailored accounts. In individual accounts, investors can specify their targeted risk parameters and the benchmarks.

Bridgewater currently runs $87 billion in total assets.