The Prime Value Growth Fund lost -2.4% in February, and is down -4.7% over the last three months. The Prime Value Imputation Fund posted a larger loss of -4.1%, and is down -11.8% over three months.

An overweight position in industrial stocks in both funds, including BHP and CSR, weighed on performance. The significant cash holdings in both funds and an underweight positions in financials partially offset this weakness. In more positive news, the manager reported that the Growth Fund continued to enjoy net inflows in February, and both funds' higher than normal cash holdings have put them in a strong position to take advantage of future opportunities.

The Denning Pryce Equity Income Fund lost -3.02% in February, and is down -22.95% for the last 6 months.

Small gains in consumer staples and energy short equity positions were offset by significant losses in long positions in industrials (-1.46%), REITs (-0.67%) and financials ex-property (-0.36%). The Fund however still outperformed its benchmark, the S&P/ASX 50 Accumulation Index, which was down -4.01% in February and lost -30.37% in the past 6 months.

The Blue Sky World Fund recorded an impressive +6.25% gain in February, due to strong returns in its Asian Pacific equities (+5.16%) and index futures (+6.26%) positions.

Negative returns in FX and North American equities partially offset February's return. This result brings the Fund's 2009 return to +3.39%, after it posted a loss of -3.96% in 2008. The Fund ended February with significant short exposures in equities and equity index futures, a small long exposure in commodity futures and no exposure on currency futures.

The Excalibur Absolute Return Fund was up +1.77% in February, following a gain of +0.54% in January, bringing the Fund's 2009 return to +2.33%.

Excalibur noted that, although conditions are still challenging, current volatility levels are ideal for obtaining consistent returns without taking on unnecessary risks or leverage.

The manager also reported that the Fund's return for March is also looking positive. These impressive returns come after a gain of +12.23% in 2008 in extremely difficult market conditions.

The MQ Asia Long Short Fund, managed by Macquarie, was down -1.06% in February to bring 2009 YTD return to +0.28%.  Over the longer term, the fund returned -6.16% over 12 months, against a benchmark of the MSCI Asia Pacific index which lost 44.33% over the same period.

Interestingly MQ Asia recorded a net inflow of funds in February, following on from heavy net outflows between October and December last year, indicating renewed confidence from investors may be returning.

In the Fund's monthly report the manager also provided weighting and exposure breakdowns by stock and region, as well as in depth risk statistics. The hedge fund industry is often criticised for a lack of transparency, however managers such as MQ have consistently refuted this claim by providing such detailed fund information to the public.

The Wilson Investment Fund lost -3.68% in February, while WAM Active Ltd was up +0.60% and WAM Capital Ltd gained +1.10%. The 2009 returns for these funds now stand at -10.32%, -1.33% and -0.44% respectively.

Both WAM Active and WAM Capital remained lightly invested in February, with cash levels around the 70-80% mark. WAM Active also participated in a number of placements, including Lend Lease, IAG and Newcrest, and significantly reduced its exposure to the financial sector.

The Wilson Investment Fund ended February heavily weighted towards equities, particularly banks and diversified financials, with only 21% invested in fixed interest and cash.

AR Capital Management's Ascot Fund was up +0.96% in February, as the manager targeted stocks whose results would surprise the market during the reporting period.

The strategy proved successful, as the Fund outperformed the market by +6.5% for the month. Positive returns were gained from short positions in Amcor, Brambles, Incitec Pivot, News Corp and Sonic Health, and longs in JB Hi-Fi and Emeco Holdings. Negative returns came from Nufarm, OneSteel and the major banks. The manager maintained a book size of approximately 20% of FUM, citing the ASIC short selling ban, reporting season volatility and risk/return tradeoffs as reasons to remain conservative.

The Headland Global Diversified Fund was up an impressive +3.38% in February, after posting a loss of -1.20% in January.

The Fund's exposure to US and European government debt, weighted towards short dated (two year) maturities, provided gains as bonds rallied during February. The Fund also profited from falling commodity prices, including short positions in crude oil and natural gas. In FX markets the Fund closed its short exposure to British pounds.

The Herschel Absolute Return Fund posted a small loss of -0.68% in February, and is down -2.13% in 2009.

During February the Fund remained heavily weighted towards defensive large cap stocks with strong balance sheets, a strategy which is popular with many managers at the moment due to the ongoing economic uncertainty and bad news flooding the market. The only sector to provide a positive return was Energy (+2.7%), offset by heavy losses in Industrials (-21.2%), Property Trusts (-16.2%) and Utilities (-10%).

Kaptream says that there are good opportunities for the canny investor with their fund gaining 0.48% in January and 7.86% over the last year.

Kapstream says that its beta portfolio of highly rated fixed and floating securities is currently yielding 7.94% with other strategies including long AUD versus NZD, long volatility in the US, and Eurodollar put spread.