Interval fund performance tracker puts BlueBay credit fund on top

The interval fund sector has gone through what Interval Fund Tracker calls unprecedented growth in recent years, yet coverage of how the funds perform has been scarce. The tracker has now published a broad performance review, with average annualized total returns by category and a ranking of the top funds. Its stated goal: separate the signal from the noise and see what works over the long term.

At the top, by a wide margin, is BlueBay Destra International & Event-Driven Credit Fund. Its Class I shares (CEDIX) have returned 14.95% annualized over five years and 18.09% over three, according to the tracker. Since inception in 2018, CEDIX has compounded at 12.74% annualized. Class A shares (CEDAX), which launched a few months after Class I, have returned 13.70% annualized since inception. The fund invests opportunistically in credit-related instruments around the world. It pays distributions of 7.67% annually on CEDIX and 7.45% on CEDAX.

The Private Shares Fund, which created the private equity and venture capital interval fund category, is second on the tracker's five-year list. Its Class I shares (PRIVX) have delivered 8.5% annualized since 2019, per the tracker. An 8% drawdown in 2023 pulled down the fund's three-year record; it is up 3.96% so far in 2024. Since its 2014 inception, PRIVX has compounded at 8.17% annually.

Stone Ridge Reinsurance Risk Premium Interval Fund (SRRIX) was the best performing interval fund for 2023, according to the tracker, with a 44.18% total return. The fund is designed to capture the reinsurance risk premium through a broad set of reinsurance-related securities; the tracker says most years it delivers a moderate single-digit return. Over three years, SRRIX has compounded at 11.33% annualized. But its fiscal year ended October 31, 2023, and the tracker notes the fund has not yet reported interim performance.

The tracker's article includes a chart of average annualized returns by interval fund category, and its Premium Plus tier adds the full underlying dataset. What the ranking shows so far is that the sector's leaders are patient-money strategies: credit dislocations for BlueBay, private-company exits for The Private Shares Fund, reinsurance premiums for Stone Ridge. The 8% drawdown at The Private Shares Fund in 2023 is a concrete reminder that patience cuts both ways. The incomplete scoreboard—Stone Ridge's interim numbers still to come—leaves the full picture unfinished.