The Ohio Public Employees Retirement System, which last year decided to start investing directly in hedge funds for the first time, has since added several brand-name managers to its portfolio and has now invested in 18 funds. Many of these firms have produced solid gains in what has been a tough year for hedge funds, but a handful have lagged both the broader markets and hedge fund indexes significantly.
The OPERS portfolio includes two new funds added in September: one managed by the $130 billion, macro-focused firm Bridgewater Associates, a favorite of pension funds, and another managed by Visium Asset Management, a $3.5 billion, New York-based multistrategy hedge fund firm best known for its flagship long/short equity healthcare fund.
One big winner in the $78.6 billion pension’s portfolio is Los Angeles–headquartered Canyon Capital Advisors, which has posted an 11.32 percent gain for the year through August in...