Stocks and bonds have been pummelled this year. But bets on hedge funds have paid off for the giant Teacher Retirement System of Texas.

The roughly $184bn pension fund, one of the biggest in the US and a significant investor in hedge funds, lost 2.3% for the fiscal year ended June 30, outpacing the median 5.1% loss for large pension funds reported by Wilshire Trust Universe Comparison Service. Its $9.7bn portfolio of so-called stable-value hedge funds — which includes funds run by Man Group, Systematica Investments and Citadel that are intended to zig when markets zag — gained 9.4% for the period.