Hedge funds returned 2% in April, boosted by a rebound in the performance of long/short equity managers, according to preliminary data from MSCI, the index provider.

Last month's performance follows a lukewarm first quarter, when returns were 1.69% for the composite index. March was particularly bad with hedge funds down 0.47% over the four weeks. The MSCI World Equity Index returned 8.6% in April and was up 2.7% year-to-date, while the S&P 500 stock index returned 8.1% and 4.22% in the same periods. MSCI's Security Selection Index, which contains long/short equity, long-only, market-neutral equity and short funds, returned 3.1% in April, bringing its year-to-date return through April into positive territory, at 3%. The MSCI specialist credit index also produced solid results in April, with preliminary monthly returns of 1.7% and year-to-date returns of 5.4%. This group contains distressed securities funds, long/short credit funds and private placement funds.