LONDON, Nov 5 (Reuters) -

Hedge fund performance, on average, is better when the U.S.

president is a Democrat, data from research firm HFR showed on

Tuesday, as U.S. voters headed to the polls.

Under Democratic Party presidents, hedge funds averaged a 10.2%

annualized return, whereas under a Republican president hedge

funds returned 8.7% on average, showed the data from Hedge Fund

Research's main index which tracks the returns of global hedge

funds.

This data from HFR's HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index tacked

hedge funds' performance averaged over presidential terms from

1990 to 2024.

Hedge funds performed roughly twice as well when the House and

Senate majority were in one party than they did with a split

legislative body, the HFR data showed.

Performance when Democrats had a majority in the U.S.

Congress came in higher than with Republicans, the data also

showed.

By strategy, stock hedge funds fared the best under

Democrats -- averaging a 12.7% return compared to 9.6% under the

Republicans, over the last 34 years, said HFR data.

Hedge funds trading M&A deals and the relative value between

different financial assets also had higher returns during years

when the president was a Democrat, the data showed.

Funds speculating on macroeconomics or so-called macro hedge

funds were the only strategy listed with higher returns during

Republican presidents, according to HFR.

The dispersion between hedge fund performance, or the

difference between the best and worst performing funds differed

the most during years when the president was a Democrat, it

added.

Hedge funds' annualized performance averaged the highest

during the first year of a president's term and came in lowest

during two term presidencies in the second, sixth and last

year.

With 2008 and the financial crisis removed, the result skewed

marginally towards Republicans. Hedge funds returned 10.7% with

Republicans during these years, compared to a 10.2% result with

presidents from the Democratic Party, HFR said.