Hedge Funds versus Mutual Funds (2): An Examination of Multialternative Mutual Funds

This article examines those mutual funds classified by Morningstar as "Alternative." It follows an earlier article appearing in the Winter 2014 issue of The Journal of Alternative Investments, "Hedge Funds versus Mutual Funds: An Examination of Equity Long/Short Funds," which concluded that the market exposures and performance of these equity long/short mutual funds did not materially differ from private placement hedge funds, at least as represented by broad hedge fund indexes. This issue's article examines a second investment style within Morningstar's "Alternative" mutual fund classification system - multialternative mutual funds. It begins by profiling the funds in this multialternative investment category, then it analyzes their market exposures relative to hedge funds and examines their performance. This article presents data indicating substantive differences between multialternative mutual funds and private placement hedge funds. © 2015, Institutional Investor, Inc. All rights reserved.