In contrast, the average hedge fund fell roughly 19% in 2008, with losses in eight of the year's 12 months, according to data from Hedge FundResearchInc.
If you invest in a hedge fund, your adviser should be able to compare its returns against that of an index, such as one of those composed by Hedge FundResearchInc.
Here are the top five, randomly selected, except for NetQin Mobile, which was a favorite of PNC Capital Advisors managing director Martin Schulz in Cleveland, and Jonathan Brodsky, a fund manager at Chicago-based Advisory ResearchInc.