Hedge funds suffered redemptions of $34.4 billion in Q3, the sixth consecutive quarter of investors taking their money out of the asset class.

However, despite the continued drawdowns, positive performance across hedge fund strategies has led to a 3.5 percent increase in assets under management year-to-date.

According to data from alternative asset class information provider Preqin, its All-Strategies Hedge Fund benchmark posted returns of 8.5 percent as of October this year. This puts the oft under fire strategy on track for its second highest annual return since 2013.

The total AUM for hedge funds in Q3 was $3.57 trillion, a slight drop on a quarter-on-quarter basis. Outflows have affected all strategies apart from CTAs, niche strategies and credit strategies, with the latter enjoying inflows of $14.1 billion year-to-date.

Conversely, event driven strategies have seen the greatest outflows this year, with investors taking $24.1 billion from this style of hedge fund.

From a geographical point of view, all regions saw outflows in Q3 with the exception of North America, which saw net inflows of $10.6 billion. Europe and the rest of the world registered outflows of $17.9 billion with the Asia Pacific region recording redemptions of $9.3 billion.

Preqin stated that past performance continues to influence investor interest. Among funds that returned 5 percent or greater in H2 2018, 46 percent recorded net inflows in Q3 2019. Among those that returned less than -5.00%, 61 percent experienced outflows.