The global hedge fund industry will register its worst year in almost two decades unless hedge funds can increase the value of their investments by more than a fifth before midnight tomorrow, according to new data. It brings to an end a miserable year for the sector, which has been battered by falling markets and record redemption requests.

Hedge funds have until New Year's Eve to make a 21.7 percentage point gain on their investments or the industry will have had its worst year since at least 1990, according to Hedge Fund Research.