Investors in the best-performing hedge fund strategy of the year so far could experience a reversal of fortunes, according to new research, as managers of highly-leveraged convertible bond funds find the debt they require to reach targets is less readily available.

Convertible bond arbitrage lost 24.5% as a strategy between last September and the end of 2008, according to index providers Credit Suisse /Tremont, as restrictions on short-selling and restrictions on lending, among other things, took their toll.