Hedge funds as measured by the Greenwich Global Hedge Fund Index advanced during the month of March and moved into positive territory for the year.
Hedge funds as measured by the Greenwich Global Hedge Fund Index advanced during the month of March and moved into positive territory for the year.
The index returned +1.50 per cent while the Greenwich Composite Investable Index declined (-3.17 per cent) during the month, compared to global equity returns in the S&P 500 Total Return +8.76 per cent, MSCI World Equity +7.24 per cent, and FTSE 100 +2.51 per cent equity indices.
Sixty per cent of constituent funds in the Global Hedge Fund Index ended the month with gains.
‘The majority of hedge funds were able to move up with equity markets during the month of March. Most managers tracked in our index are now positive on the year and continue to capitalize on market volatility,’ says managing director Margaret Gilbert (pictured).
Market neutral funds turned in another excellent month in March, with funds gaining +0.85 per cent on average and eight of nine sub-strategies showing positive returns.
Convertible arbitrage managers continued their success in 2009 with a gain of +2.92 per cent in March, bringing their YTD performance to nearly +10 per cent. Event driven managers also contributed to the gains in the strategy group, netting +1.77 per cent on average. Special situations managers were the best performing sub-group among these funds, climbing +2.50 per cent. Distressed funds also advanced by +1.80 per cent.
The only market neutral managers who declined during the month were other arbitrage funds, falling by (-1.74 per cent).
Long/short equity managers were the second best hedge fund strategy group in March, returning +2.45 per cent on the strength of surging global equity markets. Value managers outshined growth funds during the month, with both advancing +3.29 per cent and +2.69 per cent, respectively.
Short sellers suffered a difficult month as they fought a strong rebound in equity values and lost (-5.65 per cent) on average.
Directional trading funds were the only hedge fund strategy group to decline during March, losing (-1.08 per cent) on average.
Macro and market timing funds advanced with returns of +0.60 per cent and +1.44 per cent, respectively, but futures managers were the primary reason for the decline in the strategy group.
CTA managers struggled to find profitable trades within the commodity complex and as a result, this sub-strategy fell by (-1.96 per cent) in March.
Finally, specialty strategy managers were the best performing group of hedge funds during March, primarily due to strong returns from emerging market funds. These managers gained +4.76 per cent on average while fixed income and multi-strategy managers advanced +2.00 per cent and +0.49 per cent, respectively.
