These volatility and macro-focused hedge funds are soaring as much as 14% so far this month as the spread of coronavirus sends markets reeling

• Chris Cole's Artemis Capital, an Austin-based hedge-fund firm with three funds, has racked up gains while the markets tank.
• A recent stat sheet shows that Artemis' Vega flagship fund has returned more than 14% in March through Wednesday.
• Other hedge funds that have done well in the choppy markets include macro shops like Brevan Howard and Kirkoswald, short-sellers like Odey and Horseman, and new commodity fund Quantix Commodities.
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Artemis Capital's flagship Vega Fund fell more than 13% last year when the markets markets relentless higher, minus a dip in early September.

But the volatility-linked fund is now in its element, as markets have been thrashed by the quickly spreading coronavirus and a glut of oil supply that has sent crude's price tumbling.

The $139 million Vega Fund has posted returns of 14.66% in March through Wednesday, according to a factsheet seen by Business Insider, after returning 6.1% in February, when the coronavirus selloff starting gripping markets. The firm's other strategies, all of which are volatility arbitrage, have also jumped in March so far - Hedgehog is up 11.94% and Hedgehog and the Fox is up 4.40%.

For the first time in years, hedge funds have been given the chance to prove that they do what they say they do - hedge the market. While the most popular stocks in the world have been the drivers for a lot of hedge funds' returns over the last decade, the new shakiness of the market has given managers with unique strategies a chance to shine.

"Artemis Vega is a form of defensive alpha and is intended to perform best when the rest of your portfolio is at its worst," the fund's factsheet reads.

Macro managers like Brevan Howard and Kirkoswald managed the February selloff well, sources told Business Insider, as each put up returns around 5% last month when stock markets fell nearly 9%. Both firms declined to comment.

Short-sellers that have been killed in recent years, including last year, have seen their fortunes turn around, with European managers like Odey and Horseman leading the way.

And Quantix Commodities, a hedge fund run by former Goldman traders, including former partner Don Casturo, is up for the year as of Monday, sources say. The fund, which follows commodity indices and bets on futures in different commodities, is up 2.35% for the month and 7.65% for the year.

Some of the biggest names in the hedge fund world have been taking more bearish positions, including Bridgewater, the world's largest hedge fund. Dalio's fund shorted dozens of Europe's biggest names earlier this week just before the US severely restricted travel to the continent.

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