For hedge funds, the news is getting worse.

Investors pulled an estimated $25.2 billion from hedge funds last month, the biggest monthly redemption since February 2009, according to an eVestment report.

The withdrawals were the second straight for the beleaguered industry, which saw $23.5 billion pulled in June. They bring total outflows this year to $55.9 billion, driven by “mediocre” performance after a number of funds lost money last year, according to Wednesday’s report.

“Unless these pressures recede, 2016 will be the third year on record with net annual outflows, and the first since the outflows in 2008 and 2009 -- a result of the global financial crisis,” eVestment said.

Hedge funds, which charge some of the highest fees in the money-management business, have faced mounting criticism from clients over steep costs and performance that mostly hasn’t kept pace with stock markets since the financial crisis. The 10 funds with the highest redemptions in July lost an average of 4.1 percent in the first seven months of this year. Industrywide, funds returned an average of 1.2 percent this year through July, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, compared with about 7.6 percent for the S&P 500 Index.

Last month’s withdrawal was the highest since a net $28.2 billion was redeemed in February 2009, according to eVestment.

David Fuller's view

I would not want to read too much into any one statistic, but unless all of this capital coming out of hedge funds has gone straight into long-only funds, ETFs or privately managed accounts, it does not sound like an encouraging stock market statistic to me. 

On the other hand, money rushing into hedge funds near the top of a market has often warned that stocks were becoming unsustainably overextended.  Conversely, heavy unloading of hedge funds in the teeth of an obvious bear market was a sign of climactic selling prior to an eventual recovery. 

I do not think the current data will add to investor confidence, which was already conspicuous by its absence.