This Fund Is Winning Big as Merger-Arbitrage Spreads Return to Levels Not Seen in 20 Years

The Gardner Lewis Merger Arbitrage Fund is up 15.1% year to date after the second quarter, versus the HFRI ED Merger Arbitrage Index's year-to-date return of 0.2% and the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index's loss of 0.7% year to date.

In the firm's second-quarter letter to investors, which was obtained by Hedge Fund Alpha, Kristen Salfas said the second quarter marked their sixth straight quarter with a positive return while wrapping up a strong first half for 2024. Thus, she believes the fund is in a "solid" position to "nicely" surpass last year's net return of 10.4%.

Fed strategy supports equity and credit stability

Salfas added that the Federal Reserve's decision to keep interest rates steady has provided the kind of...