The Credit Suisse Long/Short Equity Replication Index gained 2.98% in December while its Inverse Long/Short Equity Replication Index dropped 3.56% for the month. For the year, the Long/Short Equity Replication Index lost 16.59% while the Inverse Index gained 16.7%.

Jordan Drachman, head of research for alternative beta strategies at Credit Suisse, said that although the market environment for hedge funds continued to be challenging last month, the long/short equity hedge fund sector rallied on the back of an upturn in the equity markets in late December.

“Government intervention, through the historic move by the U.S. Federal Reserve to lower the Fed Funds rate to between zero and 25 bps, led to many positive market signals,” he said.