Hedge funds with long/short strategies have benefited in 2024 from a macroeconomic environment that has hit the most heavily shorted stocks particularly hard compared to their less shorted rivals, a new UBS report says.

Previously, in the final two months of 2023, shares in the most heavily shorted companies had actually outperformed their peers, a situation that had negatively impacted the returns reaped by hedge funds with long/short strategies.