Hedge funds and investors whose bearish trades on housing helped them profit amid the credit crisis were among those that benefited from a U.S. government emergency rescue program to kick-start lending, according to Federal Reserve data released Wednesday.

That program, known as the Term Asset-Backed Securities Lending Facility, or TALF, and established during the financial crisis, provided low-cost loans from the Federal Reserve to investors buying bonds backed by student, auto and commercial-property loans and other assets. The program, which lasted from March 2009 until June 2010, was aimed at helping banks move loans off their books by repackaging them into bonds and selling them.

Funds managed or backed by Evanston-based Magnetar Capital, Tricadia Capital and FrontPoint Partners, which made large profits betting on a downturn in the U.S. housing market before the crisis, were among those who obtained low-cost loans from the Fed to buy securities, according to the Fed data. Get the full story »