The hedge fund industry continued its recent run of consistent gains in June, returning 0.57 per cent for the month, according to the latest figures released by Preqin.
This is the eighth consecutive month of positive performance for the industry, surpassing the seven-month period recorded in March-September 2016.
These gains have pushed 2017 YTD returns to 4.87 per cent, the highest H1 performance since the first half of 2009 (+16.94 per cent). It is also the first time since 2007 in which the first six months of the year have all recorded positive returns.
Equity strategies funds recorded the highest returns for the month (+0.91 per cent), taking 12-month performance to 13.62 per cent. Event driven strategies made gains of 0.48 per cent, but have the highest 12-month returns at 14.11 per cent. CTAs, by contrast, recorded losses of 1.04 per cent, their lowest returns since October 2016. As a result, performance for CTAs is in negative territory at the mid-point of the year, returning -0.57 per cent for the year so far and -2.64 per cent over the past 12 months.
Discretionary funds continued to outperform systematic vehicles, with returns of 0.95 per cent and -0.22 per cent respectively in June. 12-month returns for discretionary funds are now 13.28 per cent, more than double that of systematic funds (+6.20 per cent).
Asia-Pacific hedge funds returned 1.53 per cent in June, higher than either North America (+0.59 per cent) or Europe (+0.20 per cent) funds.
Funds of hedge funds meanwhile, marked gains of 0.06 per cent, continuing a run of eight positive performance months. Overall returns for 2017 YTD now stand at 2.14 per cent.
UCITS funds gained 0.05 per cent through the month, while alternative mutual funds returned 0.24 per cent. 12-month returns for these fund types now stand at 6.42 per cent and 4.12 per cent respectively.
Amy Bensted (pictured), Head of Hedge Fund Products, says: “Despite negative investor sentiment at the start of the year, over the past six months the hedge fund industry has recorded one of its strongest H1 performance periods since the Global Financial Crisis. Although we have not seen large monthly gains, consistent performance has bolstered the asset class’ returns, and 12-month performance is now in double digits.
“Despite growing interest from hedge funds in AI and machine learning technology, the gap between the performance of discretionary and systematic funds continues to widen: over the past 12 months, discretionary funds have now made twice the gains seen by systematic vehicles. Continued investment themes globally – including a more hawkish attitude from central banks, as well as more settled markets in Europe and Asia – have allowed discretionary fund managers to pull ahead of their systematic counterparts.”