Moving chips around a roulette table as the ball settles will get you thrown out of a casino. But an equivalent ruse in the hedge fund world – investing in a flexible fund following a multitude of investment strategies – seems to pay off time and time again.

Data from Eurekahedge on 17,000 hedge funds worldwide shows that multi-strategy funds have performed best of all strategies – and with the lowest risk profiles – since the turn of the decade. The multi-strategy index is up about 210 per cent over that period, net of expenses – better than more celebrated sub-categories such as managed futures (+180) and equity long/short (+170).