So far hedge funds are off to a very weak start this year. In aggregate they are only up 2.21% and actually fell during the month of March. They are seriously lagging behind the S&P 500 right now. But its hard to blame them a monkey throwing darts at a bunch of ultra long etfs appears to have been the best strategy year to date.

This is what FINalternatives had to say:

The first quarter came in like a lamb for hedge funds, but went out somewhat more fiercely than the industry would have liked.

After two mostly positive months, all hedge fund strategies lost ground in March, according to the Credit Suisse Liquid Alternative Beta indices. The overall index dropped 0.83%, cutting its year-to-date gain to 2.21%.

By contrast, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose about 3% and is up more than 10% on the year.

So far, this is not a market for stock pickers. But it sure has been a great market for buy and holders.