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classes. Convertibles became undervalued during the collapse of the bond market as competitors were forced to liquidate positions due to mounting losses.

In 2000, the S&P fell 9.1 percent. Out of the 13 managers interviewed for the book, 12 were positive and one was down 0.5 percent in 2000. At the high end, seven had returns over 20 percent: Griffin's fund was up 52 percent, Kovner 33.4 percent, Stark 28.8 percent, Ainslie 27.4 percent, Sussman 27.0 percent, Singer 24.0 percent, and Och 20.5 percent. Rajaratnam, Cooperman, Henry, and Kingdon all generated returns between 11 and 16 percent. Tepper and Wilcox were both about flat for the year.

The year 1998 represents another interesting situation. The S&P had an excellent year; it was up 28.6 percent. In such a year, it would be expected that hedge funds would do well but trail the roaring stock market as the hedged positions would provide downside protection and have some protection cost. In 1998, seven of the 13 managers had positive results. Rajaratnam and Griffin both climbed 30.5 percent, while Ainslie soared 21.8 percent, Kovner gained 17.2 percent, Och rose 11.2 percent, Henry was up 7.2 percent, and Kingdon increased 7.0 percent.

Meanwhile, the other six managers were hurt badly. Tepper fell 29.2 percent in his main fund due to believing a sense of false liquidity existed in Russia. Sussman lost about 21 percent as he expected spreads to widen. Stark Investments was down 7.9 percent. Singer lost 7.0 percent, while Cooperman fell 5.4 percent and Cumberland dropped 3.0 percent.

Overall, Och and Rajaratnam were up double digits in 1994, 1998, and 2000. Ainslie was up in the three years but up double digits in 1998 and 2000. None of the three were trading in 1990. Seven of the other managers were up in either 1994 or 1998.

TECHNOLOGY INFORMATION

Most of these managers acknowledge the importance of technology information—being able to harness the information coming in and using it to their advantage. Rapid adoption of technology seems to give the managers an edge.

Information flow and information management are important to Och. On the front end it is harnessed for analysts, traders, and portfolio