Hedge fund Tontine Associates finds itself atop a very undesirable list after posting a nearly 42% loss through the end of July. The Greenwich, Conn.-based hedge fund manager’s TFP Overseas Fund is the worst-performing fund tracked by HSBC Private Bank’s Alternative FundInvest Group in 2007, according to a weekly report issued last week.

TFP Overseas, a long/short equity fund focusing on financial stocks, was down 41.9% in the first seven months of the year after a reported a 23.9% drop in July. Things may get worse: Many financial names suffered big declines in August.

Falling in behind TFP in the Hall of Shame are some names familiar from the subprime fiasco, including Goldman Sachs’ North American Equity Opportunities Fund (down 29.71% through Aug. 24) and two classes of Tykhe Capital’s Tykhe Portfolios (Class C down 25.88% and Class B down 21.27%, both through Aug. 27). Other notable names in the pool of red are Odey Asset Management’s Japan Fund (down 20.34% through Aug. 24) and GLG’s Global Futures Fund (down 9.48% through Aug. 24).

On the other side of the coin, Cayman Islands-based 788 Asset Management’s China Fund was the best-performing hedge fund tracked by HSBC, soaring 61.43% through July 31 (and making up, in part, for the firm’s Japan Fund, which found itself on the wrong list with a 9.11% decline through the same date). Interestingly, 788 isn’t the only name on both lists, with Odey’s European fund posting a 27.2% jump through Aug. 24 and GLG’s Emerging Markets Fund, which is up 23.73% through the end of July.

Other top-performers include Penta Investment Advisor’s Penta Japan Fund (up 57.97% through Aug. 22) and Harbinger Capital Partners’ Offshore Fund (up 55.2% through Aug. 24).

Source: HSBC Private Bank Alternative FundInvest Group