After a string of strong performances this year, some hedge fund investors may be doing a bit of profit-taking, with redemptions of -USD2.9 billion from hedge funds in October, according to the eVestment October 2017 Hedge Fund Asset Flows Report.
However, performance gains continued pushing industry assets under management (AUM) up, with industry AUM at a record USD3.253 trillion according to the new report.
The proportion of funds losing assets in October was similar to the proportion seen in September, roughly 54 per cent. Both levels are higher than any other month of 2017, but again net redemptions were not generally high during October. Net flows for the industry year-to-date (YTD) in 2017 are strongly positive, with AUM up USD33.26 billion so far.
Fixed-income/credit funds saw AUM rise USD2.59 billion in October and have seen AUM rise USD10.99 billion YTD, bringing AUM for these funds to USD984.1 billion. Equity funds meanwhile, were were down nearly USD3 billion in AUM in October, but are still up+USD15.16 billion in AUM YTD.
Among primary strategies, managed futures funds were big winners in October, with AUM up USD2.85 billion for the month. Managed futures still suffered a big quarterly hit of -USD4.85 billion in 3Q so overall AUM for these funds is up just USD3.84 billion YTD.
Macro funds were among the big AUM losers in October, with AUM down USD3.96 billion for the month, but YTD AUM is still up USD12.58 billion.
Emerging markets-focused funds saw AUM up USD4.23 billion in October. For the year emerging markets-focused fund AUM is up USD7.38 billion, with the biggest gainers in new assets for the year being among products focused on credit opportunities.
