The top 10 hedge funds were hit hard by US stock market performance in Q4, according to the latest addition of the S&P Global Market Intelligence Hedge Fund Tracker, In total, the top funds managed approximately USD159 billion in Q4, down USD44 billion from Q3 2015.
The funds also decreased the total number of stock positions held from 441 to 427, the fewest stock positions held throughout 2015. Financial stocks led the sell-off, with Lloyds Banking Group ranking as one of the most sold-off individual stocks of the quarter. The highest volume of buying occurred in the energy sector, with Pioneer Natural Resources ranking as the top energy buy among hedge funds.
"Our Quarterly Hedge Fund Tracker provides a valuable window into the seismic trends that are currently moving the markets," says Pavle Sabic, Head of Market Development, S&P Global Market Intelligence. "By consistently tracking hedge fund buying and selling activity in this manner, we seek to shed insight on market moves that may impact investors of every type."
Based on these trends among hedge fund managers, S&P Global Market Intelligence also produced a Trends & Ideas research note, which names specific ETFs that are weighted toward the stocks named in the 2015 Q4 Hedge Fund Tracker. The note also spotlights significant ETF inflows into the energy sector, with the three largest energy ETFs gathering $1.4 billion in new assets during the fourth quarter.
"Looking at ETF inflows and outflows through the lens of the largest hedge fund investors in the world, provides tremendous supporting evidence for current market sentiment," says Todd Rosenbluth, S&P Global Market Intelligence Director of ETF Research. "With both hedge fund and ETF investors signalling a pattern of buying in the energy sector, it will be important for all investors to watch that sector closely in the coming days and weeks."
