The hedge fund industry took in USD950 million (0.04 per cent of assets) in April, reversing March’s outflow of USD750 million (0.03 per cent of assets), according to BarclayHedge and TrimTabs Investment Research.
“Investors have been showing less interest in hedge funds even though the industry’s performance has improved lately," says Sol Waksman, president and founder of BarclayHedge. “Hedge funds redeemed USD13.8 billion in the first four months of 2015, a strong turnabout from the same period last year, when they hauled in USD65.6 billion.”
Hedge fund industry assets edged down to USD2.49 trillion in April from USD2.50 trillion the month before, BarclayHedge estimated based on data from 3,569 funds.
The monthly TrimTabs/BarclayHedge Hedge Fund Flow Report noted that the hedge fund industry gained 1.1 per cent in April and outperformed the S&P 500, which rose 0.9 per cent for the month.
“Emerging Markets funds rose 5.0 per cent in April, the best returns among the thirteen categories we track,” says Waksman. “Multi-Strategy funds had the strongest inflows in April, taking in USD2.5 billion.”
The latest TrimTabs/BarclayHedge Hedge Fund Sentiment Survey finds hedge fund managers turned more bullish on the S&P 500 in May, though neutral sentiment hit an eight-month high. The monthly survey finds mounting pessimism on US Treasuries, the US Dollar Index, and Emerging Markets. Bearishness on crude oil hit a two-year high, with more than three-quarters of respondents predicting oil prices will decline or level off in the next six months.
