Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – According to the April report from eVestment, hedge funds have returned an average of +0.66% for the month of April 2017 (+3.04% YTD), continuing a winning streak since the outset of the year. The proportion of managers with positive returns returned to around the 70% during the month, while volatility was extremely low, with the month registering the smallest difference between average gain and average loss in over five years.

Long/Short Equity and Activist strategies are the primary winners of 2017 so far, the report finds, with equity strategies leading the pack in a month that was positive for all major strategies, with the drag from European equity exposure on L/S equity managers in 2016 largely lifted.

However, the large macro and managed futures universes have experienced difficulties, with over half performing poorly in 2017, despite these being where the majority of new assets have been allocated this year due to their outperformance through 2016.  Seven of the ten largest reporting funds through April were down in 2017.

In addition, commodity strategies posted their third consecutive loss in April, making that universe the most negative of any asset class or primary strategy for the year thus far, following underperformance of its largest products.

Emerging Markets continued to roar ahead as they have done since the beginning of the year, producing returns double those of developed market strategies for the fourth month in a row. India vastly leads the pack of universally positive EM exposures, with returns nearly doubling any other regional focus. China-focused funds held their own, however, being up 10% in 2017 despite flows indicating cautious investor behaviour.

Read eVestment’s April report here.

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