Hedge funds were up 0.26 per cent for the year in September, their weakest performance on record since 2011 when they declined -2.96 per cent in the nine months through to the end of Q3, according to the October 2018 Eurekahedge Report.
Almost 49 per cent of the managers are in the green for the year with roughly 11 per cent of these managers posting double digit gains as tracked in the Eurekahedge Global Hedge Funds Database.
Total assets under management have increased by USD8.0 billion as of September 2018 year-to-date, down from USD150.7 billion over the same period last year as performance-driven losses and subdued allocations from investors cap asset growth. Barring January earlier this year, investors have redeemed USD31.4 billion from hedge funds globally through to September.
Emerging markets focused mandates are in the red for the year down 3.43 per cent YTD, with Asian managers down 4.05 per cent for the year and the underlying Eurekahedge Greater China Hedge Fund Index posting losses of 8.16 per cent as of September 2018.
Across strategies, distressed debt, relative value and fixed income hedge funds lead for the year up 8.63 per cent, 3.37 per cent and 1.66 per cent respectively.
Assets under management for CTAs/managed futures strategies have shrunk by almost 8 per cent in 2018 – corresponding to a decline in AUM of USD21.3 billion in the first eight months of the year. Meanwhile, multi-strategy hedge funds have recorded the steepest redemptions for the year totalling USD19.4 billion.
Across both equities and fixed income assets, North American hedge fund managers remain the bright spot with underlying long/short equity managers up 5.74 per cent whilst fixed income focused mandates have gained 5.35 per cent as of September 2018 year-to-date. In contrast, emerging markets focused equity long/short managers are down 6.32 per cent while fixed income mandates have lost 1.56 per cent for the year.
The Eurekahedge Crypto-Currency Hedge Fund Index is down 54.5 per cent for the year. The index has lost more than half of its value over the first nine months of 2018, as fund managers struggled to mitigate the damage caused by the crypto-currency market crash following gains of 1708.5 per cent in 2017.
