BarclayHedge: Hedge Funds up in January, CTA Index Down

Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – According to the Barclay Hedge Fund Index compiled by BarclayHedge, hedge funds were up 1.35% in January. 15 of 17 Barclay hedge fund indices gained ground, with Emerging Markets surging 2.63%, Technology gaining 2.57%, Healthcare/Biotechnology up 2.22%, the Event Driven index adding 2.08% and Distressed Securities climbing 1.78%.

The only losing strategies in January were Merger Arbitage, down 0.38%, and Global Macro, slipping 0.02%.

“A global stock market rally pushed US equity prices to new all-time highs – again, as the promise of tax cuts and fiscal stimulus fuelled investor confidence and provided an ample tailwind for a profitable month,” said Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge.

The Barclay Fund of Funds Index gained 0.89% in January.

Meanwhile, BarclayHedge’s CTA Index was down 0.73% for the month, with seven of eight CTA indices losing ground. Among them were the Diversified Traders Index, down 1.20%, Systematic Traders, losing 0.87%, Currency Traders, down 0.51% and Financial/Metals Traders, conceding 0.33%.

The only managed futures strategy experiencing a gain in January was the Agricultural Traders Index, up 0.22%.

“Profits from the continuing rally in global stock markets were not enough to overcome losses resulting from trend reversals in energy, U.S. dollar weakness, and sharply rising European yields,” Mr Waksman commented.

The Barclay BTOP50 was down 1.44% in January.

Picture: (c) Sergey-Nivens—shutterstock.com