Hedge funds took in a net USD817m (0.04 per cent of assets) in March, building on an inflow of USD11.4bn in February.
The results are based on data from 3,409 funds, according to TrimTabs and BarclayHedge.
“The hedge fund industry continues to struggle with performance relative to the S&P 500,” says Sol Waksman, president and founder of BarclayHedge. “The industry delivered a return of 1.1 per cent in March, less than one-third of the S&P 500’s 3.6 per cent rise. Although hedge funds delivered positive returns in 10 of the past 12 months, they trailed the S&P 500 by 450 basis points."
The TrimTabs/BarclayHedge Hedge Fund Flow Report noted that stock-picking hedge fund managers performed well in March, just as they did in the first two months of this year.
“Equity long only hedge funds rose 3.3 per cent in March, making them the best performing of 13 major fund categories,” says Waksman. “Fixed income and multi strategy were the only strategies that posted inflows in the past 12 months."
Funds of hedge funds continued to shed assets, losing USD2.6bn in February and USD53.2bn in the past 12 months. They underperformed the hedge fund industry by 230 basis points in the past 12 months.
The latest TrimTabs/BarclayHedge Survey of Hedge Fund Managers found managers are worried about the stock market’s prospects for May. Opinions on 10-year Treasuries and several other indicators suggest hedge fund managers are bearish.
