Hedge fund returns mixed for November after market rally

BOSTON (Reuters) - Some big hedge funds got a bump in November after Donald Trump's surprise U.S. presidential election victory sent stocks higher, but lagged behind the broader market's gains, according to some early returns.

Barry Rosenstein and David Einhorn, both closely watched for their investment ideas, told clients they made money in November, but not as much as the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index, which gained 3.6 percent.

Investors bet on a business-friendly president after Trump's victory in the Nov. 8 election. Some sectors, including financial and healthcare stocks, performed even better than the broader index, fueled by hopes for lighter regulation, corporate tax cuts, fiscal stimulus and higher interest rates.

Most hedge funds are still compiling their monthly numbers which are generally not made public.

Rosenstein's Jana Partners Fund gained 2.2 percent in November, marking one of its strongest monthly gains this year after starting 2016 with losses. November's gains helped put the fund back into the black with a year-to-date gain of 1.4 percent, an investor summary seen by Reuters showed.

Einhorn's Greenlight Capital climbed 1.9 percent in November, leaving the fund up 7.7 percent for the year, an investor said.

The Standard & Poor's 500 has gained 7.2 percent since Jan. 1.

To be sure, there are funds outpacing the stock market's year-to-date gains both on a monthly and yearly basis.

Whitney Tilson's Kase Capital jumped 7.5 percent last month, he said in an email, largely because of a gain in government-backed mortgage giant Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), which has jumped 172 percent since the election. Trump's Treasury secretary pick, Steven Mnuchin, said Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should be privatized.

Renaissance Technologies LLC's Renaissance Institutional Equities Fund, one of two portfolios available to outsiders, has gained 14.8 percent this year, an investor said. It stumbled in November with a 1.7 percent loss.

(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by Bill Rigby)

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