The hedge fund industry took in a net USD8.2bn (0.4 per cent of assets) in July, reversing a USD8.9bn outflow in June, according to estimates based on data from 3,327 funds, according to BarclayHedge and TrimTabs.
"July’s volume was well off the blazing pace set in May, when the industry took in a net USD18.8bn, the largest inflow in the past two and a half years, ” says Sol Waksman, president and founder of BarclayHedge. “Nevertheless, industry assets climbed to a five-year high of USD1.97trn in July.”
The TrimTabs/BarclayHedge Hedge Fund Flow Report noted that equity long only funds gained 2.9 per cent in July, reversing a 1.5 per cent loss in June, but trailed the Russell 3000 Index’s 5.5 per cent gain for the month.
“Equity long bias funds however gained 3.9 per cent in July, their best showing since gaining 4.2 per cent in April,” says Waksman.
Funds of hedge funds shed USD4.1bn (0. 9 per cent of assets) in July, building on a USD1.5bn outflow in June. Funds of funds have attracted net inflows in just three of the past 24 months.
Meanwhile, the monthly TrimTabs/BarclayHedge Survey of Hedge Fund Managers found that managers grew notably more bearish on US stocks in August. Also, nearly half of the managers surveyed in August were bearish on US Treasuries while a similar proportion were bullish on the US Dollar Index.
