12/09/19

HEDGE FUNDS: Showing Red for August.

As published on hedgeweek.com, Wednesday September 11, 2019.

Aggregate monthly performance for the hedge fund industry slipped into the red in August at -0.31 per cent, the second negative month the industry has seen this year (May was the first), according to the just-released eVestment August 2019 hedge fund performance data.

Year to date (YTD) 2019 industry performance sits at +6.97 per cent.

In spite of a mix of positive and negative monthly returns among hedge fund types in August, almost all segments of the industry are in the green for performance YTD, highlighting the continued comeback of the industry from 2018, when the industry and almost every segment ended the year in the red.

Managed Futures funds were the big performance winners in August, returning +4.40 per cent last month. And with YTD performance at +12.74 per cent, Managed Futures funds are among the big performance winners for the year so far as well.

China-focused hedge funds dipped into the red in August, returning -0.73 per cent, but with YTD performance at +15.14 per cent they are the strongest performing hedge fund segment eVestment tracks. Russia- and Brazil-focused funds are performing well YTD as well, at +14.89 per cent and +11.37 per cent so far this year.

India-focused hedge funds continued to suffer in August, with returns at -5.95 per cent for the month and racking up -9.69 per cent returns YTD. This continued the pain these funds experienced in 2018, when India-focused funds saw performance at -16.23 per cent.

Macro funds saw average performance of +1.54 per cent in August, bringing YTD performance to +6.55 per cent.

Long/Short Equity funds saw -1.56 per cent returns in August, putting them second to the bottom in performance among primary strategies for the month. However Long/Short Equity funds’ YTD performance of +8.42 per cent puts them among the strongest primary segments in YTD returns.