Shafaqna English– A Goldman Sachs note seen by Reuters indicates that global hedge funds are on the verge of another profitable year, aiming to outperform their 2025 returns. This upward trend has been fuelled by the artificial intelligence boom, which bolstered first‑half performance for investment managers across the majority of strategies. Goldman’s data shows that hedge funds delivered an average return of 7% in the first six months of this year, substantially exceeding the 4.1% 10‑year average. This performance has only been surpassed during the pandemic‑driven years of 2020 and 2021, when market volatility spiked. This marks the sixth consecutive half‑year period in which hedge fund returns have outperformed their long‑term average, signalling a sustained upward trend in the industry.