Macro funds may be back in favour as investors eye diversification benefits

As investors seek to improve diversification, global macro funds appear poised for a renaissance after a decidedly mixed run over the past decade.

Global macro was the largest hedge fund strategy in 1990 when it accounted for a whopping 70% of industry assets. Its share of the hedge fund pie declined to just 15% in 2000 and has risen only slightly to 18% over the past 10 years, according to Hedge Fund Research.

The decline in popularity reflects an image problem that goes back almost 20 years. Global macro traders came to be seen as the gunslingers of the hedge fund world after George Soros and Stanley Druckenmiller famously broke the Bank