Hedge funds took in a net USD11.4bn (0.6 per cent of assets) in February, building on an inflow of USD4.3bn in January, according to BarclayHedge and TrimTabs Investment Research.
The results are based on data from 3,434 funds.
“The hedge fund industry continues to struggle with performance,” says Sol Waksman, president and founder of BarclayHedge. “The industry delivered a return of 0.4 per cent in February, less than half of the S&P 500’s 1.1 per cent rise. In the past 12 months, hedge funds earned 5.8 per cent, while the S&P 500 rose 10.9 per cent.”
The TrimTabs/BarclayHedge Hedge Fund Flow Report noted that stock-picking hedge fund managers performed well in February, just as they did in January.
“Managers of equity long only hedge funds rose 1.1 per cent in February, the best performers out of 13 major fund categories,” says Waksman. “Fixed income and multi-strategy are the only two strategies that posted inflows in the past 12 months.”
Funds of hedge funds continued to shed assets, losing USD3.3bn in February and USD54.3bn in the past 12 months. They underperformed the hedge fund industry by 216 basis points in the past 12 months.
The latest TrimTabs/BarclayHedge Survey of Hedge Fund Managers found managers are notably more cautious about April than they were about March. Opinions on the US Dollar Index, 10-year Treasuries, and several other indicators hint that hedge fund managers are turning more defensive.
