Leading fund

“However, when December arrived a lot of these worries began to dissipate as we saw a majority Conservative government in the UK, trade talks between the US and China and Christine Lagarde sound supportive in her first speech for the ECB. Throughout this period, we held a long view on our funds and kept purchasing through Q4 which paid off in December.”

Top performers in December 2019 (%)

BK Opportunities Fund III

BK Opportunities Fund III vs CLOs cumulative returns (%)

Crystal Funds came out on top with the BK Opportunities Fund III and IV, as they achieved 6.82% and 5.91% respectively. These high gains mark a recovery from the October slump that hit the CLOs category hardest, as the index put them at -1.48%. Two months on this figure has flipped around to 1.88%, as every CLO fund in the database made positive returns to finish the decade.

Funds in the corporate distressed and US high yield categories ended the year with good performance, reaching 2.42% and 1.68% respectively in the indices. These were represented by the Delta Prime European Special Situations Fund pulling itself up after a somewhat turbulent year, and the Marathon Loan Opportunities Fund finding its footing in Q4.

CLOs outperformed in December, as half of the top 10 funds in the database this month invest primarily in CLOs. After a rocky start to Q4, many of them ended the year well, with over 93% of funds listed achieving positive performance at the end of December.