Deals

Hedge Funds Facing Trump's Trade War Crossfire Feel the Pain

  • Volatility, political risks cause losses in merger arbitrage
  • Strategy faces accelerated outflows as investors shift money
This Is How a Trade War Affects Everyday Life
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In a booming year for mergers and acquisitions, hedge funds that seek to make money from corporate marriages are struggling.

The value of deals surged 43 percent in the first half of the year, with large takeovers reaching the highest number since before the financial crisis. That should have offered a fertile hunting ground for managers who bet on or against such deals. Yet their investment pools, known as merger arbitrage funds, lost money in the period, sending some investors fleeing.