You win a few, you lose a few (billion). News that Atticus Capital, the US hedge fund, has lost more than $5bn this year will mean a lot to its investors. But, for every headline shocker, there is a winner: remember John Paulson’s huge profits with his inspired bet against subprime mortgages. Not all strategies will thrive in turbulent markets. Event-driven funds with a bias towards unlocking value in beaten-down stocks, for instance, are poorly placed if dealmaking shrinks.

What is intriguing is not so much what is happening in a month or a quarter. Hedge fund investors will typically measure performance over a longer timeframe. The curiosity in the recent hedge fund performance data is how widespread the malaise seems to be. The Credit Suisse/Tremont hedge fund index shows every category down for July, save for funds with a short bias. That includes multi-strategy funds, which investors had probably hoped would combine some of the diversification benefits of funds of hedge funds with lower fees.