Horseman Capital’s flagship fund jumped out of the red with a 13.5% rise in December and ended the year up 7.5%.

It was the second-best month in the eighteen-year history of Horseman Global, one of the longest-running long/short equity funds in London.

The $850m fund had been in negative territory for the year since a 6.9% loss in June.

“We are very net short cyclicals at the moment,” portfolio manager Russell Clark told EuroHedge in a short comment.

The fund, which had its best month in October 2011 when it made 18.5%, remains below its high watermark, having lost 24% in 2016 and gained 2.3% in 2017.

Its December turnaround came during a better month for the hedge fund industry, with managers dealing better with market volatility after losses in October and November.

“In the face of significant equity market declines, large parts of the industry held up,” said Man Group’s hedge fund investing unit, FRM, in a note. “Equity long-short managers had generally reduced both net and gross exposure aggressively in October and November, and as such were generally able to trade the volatility seen through December.”

Horseman’s other two funds, focused on Europe and Japan, experienced mixed fortunes last year.

European Select lost 33.8% after a 10.4% December loss while Japan Fund Limited made 18.3% after an 8.9% gain in December. Both funds manage less than $100m.

Horseman ends 2018 on high with 13% December gain on EuroHedge.