Global hedge fund flows were positive in July, with investors adding an estimated USD5.85 billion to funds around the world and bringing overall industry AUM to USD3.307 trillion, according to the July eVestment 2018 Hedge Fund Asset Flows Report.
However, looking across all funds reporting to eVestment, signs of consolidation continue: 42 per cent of funds reporting to eVestment logged AUM inflows, while 58 per cent had outflows. This shows an acceleration of a consolidation trend that has been ongoing for some time: the prior 30-month average was 49 per cent of funds with inflows and 51 per cent with outflows.
Among types of hedge funds, Equity funds were the big winners in July, with inflows of USD7.51 billion. This brings YTD inflows to +USD9.85 billion. Fixed-Income/Credit funds and Commodities funds also saw positive flows last month, while Multi-Asset funds saw outflows of USD5.78 billion in July. Multi-Asset funds are now down USD12.60 billion for the year.
Among primary strategies, Market Neutral Equity funds saw strong inflows of USD4.95 billion in July, bringing YTD inflows to +USD11.92 billion. Long/Short Equity funds also saw positive inflows of +USD3.16 billion in July, although they still are just barely negative for flows YTD.
Multi-Strategy and Macro funds were both negative in July, both serving up outflows of more than -USD2 billion for the month. Multi-Strategy funds are the big losers among primary strategies so far YTD, with outflows of -USD10.08 billion.
