For the first time this year, the Eurekahedge Hedge Fund Index declined, losing 1.47% in June.

Despite that drop, the index outperformed the MSCI World, which lost 3.10% during the month.

Japanese hedge funds performed best. The funds outperformed their underlying stocks, up 0.15% in June and 17.38% year-to-date. The Nikkei 225 and Tokyo Topix were down 0.71% and 0.17%, respectively.

Read: Hedge your bets on Japan

While Prime Minister Abe outlined the ‘3rd arrow’ of his economic policy, it did not do much to boost up the market and funds with low long exposures were the ones that performed well during the month while some managers with exposure to transport and industrials also reported gains.

Read: Japan still unstable

The rest of Asia fared poorer. The Eurekahedge Asia ex-Japan Hedge Fund Index saw the largest decline among all regional mandates, down by 4.63%. It still outperformed the underlying markets as the MSCI Asia Ex Japan Index dropped by 6.75% for the month.

Read: Are hedge funds suitable for the average investor?

Closer to home, the Eurekahedge North American Hedge Fund Index was down 0.10% (up 4.07% YTD), while the S&P 500 declined 1.50%.

European hedge funds saw another month of dismal returns this year with the Eurekahedge European Hedge Fund Index down 1.16%.