- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -

Last Meal for Hedge Funds?

- Advertisement -

Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Hedge funds gained 2.8% on average in January, notching up the strongest monthly return since September 2010 and enjoying the best first month for the industry since 2006. The strong performance comes on the back of a wild run for equity markets in January, which recorded their strongest January since 1997.

According to hedge fund data provider HFR, the hedge fund industry has now recorded 15 consecutive months of positive returns. The HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index, an equal-weighted index that includes more than 1,500 single-manager hedge funds, gained 8.6% in 2017.

“After a historic year in 2017, hedge funds began 2018 extending strong gains, even as realized and implied volatility associated with global equities, currencies (including cryptocurrencies), commodities, fixed income and the outlook for global inflation all increased,” Kenneth J. Heinz, the president of HFR, said in a statement. “Hedge funds will continue to navigate these volatile markets and asset classes in 2018, monetising opportunities generated by US tax cuts and infrastructure spending, US monetary policy, and corporate M&A and special situations. These themes are likely to drive performance and industry growth in 2018,” he added.

Macro hedge funds collectively formed the best-performing group within the industry, recording the best monthly gain since February 2008. Macro strategies gained 3.7% last month, with quantitative trend-following CTA strategies leading the pack regarding performance. Equity-focused hedge funds also delivered strong gains, advancing 3.0% during the month.

U.S. equity markets rallied sharply in January before entering correction territory on Thursday this week, with global equity markets following suit. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 2,776 points from its all-time high reached on January 26, equating to a 10.4% drop. The Dow posted a quadruple-point drop twice this week. The S&P 500 Index has also officially entered correction territory, with the benchmark closing 10% below its high on January 26.

 

Picture © alphaspirit—shutterstock.com

Subscribe to HedgeBrev, HedgeNordic’s weekly newsletter, and never miss the latest news!

Our newsletter is sent once a week, every Friday.

Eugeniu Guzun
Eugeniu Guzun
Eugeniu Guzun serves as a data analyst responsible for maintaining and gatekeeping the Nordic Hedge Index, and as a journalist covering the Nordic hedge fund industry for HedgeNordic. Eugeniu completed his Master’s degree at the Stockholm School of Economics in 2018. Write to Eugeniu Guzun at eugene@hedgenordic.com

Latest Articles

First Non-Swedish Family Office Investment for Protean Small Cap

Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – About one year after the successful launch of their long/short equity fund Protean Select, Pontus Dackmo and Carl Gustafsson introduced a...

Atlant Högräntefond Leads Peers on Third Anniversary

Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Around mid-March 2021, Swedish hedge fund boutique Atlant Fonder launched a UCITS-structured fixed-income fund investing in Nordic corporate bonds, drawing from...

Rhenman Welcomes Brummer & Partners Sales Veteran

Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – After close to 18 years as an institutional sales professional at Brummer & Partners, Tom Josephson is set to join healthcare-focused...

Untapped Potential in Symmetry’s Small-Cap Portfolio

Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Small-cap-focused hedge fund Symmetry Invest has achieved an annualized return of around 20 percent over the past five years and over...

Navigating Asia-Pacific’s Transition to Sustainable Growth

Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Emerging markets in the Asia-Pacific region, such as China, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, have experienced significant economic expansion...

The Performance of US Equities in Election Years Over the Last Century

By Daniel Ung, Kartik Chawla, and Jędrzej Miklaszewski – SPDR: The 2024 US presidential election is on the horizon, and investors are keen to...

Allocator Interviews

Latest Articles

In-Depth: Emerging Markets

Voices

Request for Proposal

- Advertisement -