Hedge funds, as measured by the Dow Jones Credit Suisse Hedge Fund Index, finished February up 1.61%, with 9 out of 10 strategies in positive territory.
In total, the industry saw estimated inflows of approximately USD3.25 billion in February, bringing overall assets under management for the industry to approximately USD1.75 trillion; February experience the first month of asset inflows since August 2011.
The Convertible Arbitrage and Managed Futures sectors experienced the largest asset inflows on a percentage basis in February, with inflows of 0.97% and 0.64% from January 2012 levels, respectively.
Directional strategies, such as Long/Short Equity, experienced positive performance for the second month in a row. Managers noted that the market appeared to trade more on fundamentals as stock correlations declined and stock prices reacted in line with post earnings announcements.
Tactical trading managers showed positive performance. Global Macro managers and Managed Futures funds posted gains with the continuation of positive market sentiment driven by further global monetary easing and macroeconomic data coming in above expectations.
On the relative value front, managers showed positive performance in February. Fixed Income Arbitrage managers posted gains as managers have, in some instances, been able to benefit from the risk-on environment through model convergence trades as volatility compressed over the course of the month.
