Despite a horrible year in most global markets, these 100 funds all have three-year annualized returns that run to solid double digits; a majority were up in 2008. Remarkably, one firm, Paulson, has two funds in the top four, No. 1 Paulson Advantage Plus (event-driven) and No. 4 Paulson Enhanced (merger arbitrage). In second place is Balestra Capital Partners, a global macro fund, third is Vision Opportunity Capital, a merger arbitrage fund, and fifth was Quality Capital Management-Global Diversified. Strong performance in weak markets is hedge funds’ most basic appeal and these funds did nothing to dispel that idea last year.