Five of the ten strategies in the index performed positively, with overall performance up 0.12 per cent.

The Japanese earthquake caused early losses for equity market neutral managers, but re-risking towards the end of the month meant they finished March up 1.11 per cent.

Global macro managers benefited from the earthquake, as the resulting market dislocation created a number of shorter-term tactical trading opportunities, and they finished the month up 0.15 per cent.

Managers gained from long currency and equity positions bolstered by better than estimated earnings in emerging markets - the best performing sector in March, up 2.12 per cent.