Sell-offs benefit US funds

Timely sell-offs in technology stocks in 2000 and the subsequent shorting of that sector have positively impacted on the performance of certain US equity funds. The Ohio-based Clarion Offshore fund, a US long-short equity fund run by Morton Cohen and Brian Chait, was previously ranked ninth out of 131 equity funds by Standard & Poor's. The $60m fund is up 265.1% since inception in 1996 but, in the past turbulent month, is down 1.5%. Chait argues that this is acceptable considering the Nasdaq had fallen 19% and the S&P500 was down 10% in the same period. He said: 'While we did very well...