Categories and criteria
To ensure the Hedge Fund Performance Awards | US continues to be the pre-eminent industry awards, the categories are developed in consultation with leading firms to ensure they reflect the fast-moving nature of the sector.
Recognizing the full breadth of the North American hedge fund sector with over 40 categories, entering the Awards provides a platform to demonstrate your achievements in front of investors and stand out from your competitors.
Showcase your outstanding performance
If you’re a hedge fund, CTA or FoHF with a track record of outstanding returns and excellent performance and growth over the past 12 months, then there's a category for you to enter.
Your fund must have its management team based in North America and the judges will need to see monthly performance data in USD for your share class.
The minimum AUM is set at $25 million for all the categories except for Newcomer and Digital Assets where the AUM is set at $10 million and FoHF is set at $50 million. The minimum track record is 3 years of monthly performance data for most categories
2026 Categories
Credit
Credit newcomer
Credit long-term performance over $1bn
Credit long-term performance up to $1bn
Distressed credit over $500m
Distressed credit up to $500m
Long/short credit
Relative value credit over $500m
Relative value credit up to $500m
CTA/Managed futures
Managed futures
Managed futures long-term performance
Managed futures newcomer
Equity
Equity newcomer
Equity sector specialist
Global equity
Global equity long-term performance over $1bn
Global equity long-term performance up to $1bn
US equity long-term performance
Event-driven
Event-driven merger arbitrage
Event-driven over $500m
Event-driven up to $500m
FoHF
FoHF long-term performance over $1bn
FoHF long-term performance up to $1bn
FoHF over $1bn
FoHF up to $1bn
FoHF specialist
Macro
Macro long-term performance over $1bn
Macro long-term performance up to $1bn
Macro over $1bn
Macro up to $1bn
Multi-strategy
Multi-strategy newcomer
Multi-strategy long-term performance over $1bn
Multi-strategy long-term performance up to $1bn
Multi-strategy over $1bn
Multi-strategy up to $1bn
Other
40 Act
Alternative risk premia
Digital assets
Volatility fund
Quant
Quantitative strategy over $1bn
Quantitative strategy up to $1bn
Outstanding achievement award
Nomination Only
Billion dollar fund of the year
Nomination Only
Management firm of the year
Nomination Only
* Open-ended funds only with at least quarterly redeemable share classes
** Discretionary global macro funds only
*** Open to funds trading multiple distinct hedge fund strategies. Excludes FoHFs
Entry criteria
1. Inclusion:
The Awards are open to all US and Canadian hedge fund, fund of funds, and CTA firms. Funds interested in participating in the awards program must submit all information via the official Hedge Fund Performance Awards | US online entry form. Please note that all funds must have submitted a completed entry form to be considered for the awards; incomplete information might lead to disqualification from the entry process. Please note that the “Management Firm of the Year”, “Billion-dollar Fund of the Year”, and “Outstanding Achievement” categories are not open to entries. The shortlist for these categories will be compiled by a panel of industry experts.
2. Criteria:
Any fund satisfying the following criteria is eligible for the Hedge Fund Performance Awards | US:
» Base of operations: Funds must have their management/advisory company or team based in the US or Canada.
» Share class: Funds must submit monthly performance data for their USD share class. If unavailable, EUR share class data will be accepted and With Intelligence will convert it to USD.
» Assets under management: Funds submitting for all categories (apart from newcomer, digital assets and fund of hedge funds categories) must have a minimum of $25m in AuM as of June 2026. Funds submitting for newcomer and digital assets categories must have a minimum of $10m in AuM as of June 2026. Funds submitting for funds of hedge funds categories must have a minimum of $50m in AuM as of June 2026.
» Track record: Funds entering any of the categories except newcomer, best digital assets and alternative risk premia must submit a 3-year track record of monthly performance data through June 2026. Funds entering the newcomer categories must have a track record of monthly performance data of at least 12 months and less than 36 months (that is between 12 and 35 months) through June 2026. Funds entering the best digital assets and alternative risk premia categories must have a track record of monthly performance data of at least 12 months through June 2026. Funds entering the long-term performance (5 years) categories must submit a 5-year track record of monthly performance data through June 2026. Funds entering the Long-term performance (10-years) need to provide that 10-year track record through June 2026.
Interested in booking a table?
If you have questions about table bookings or need more information please get in contact with us.