Hedge funds delivered another month of positive returns in August, lifted by surging equity markets in the US and Asia and strong performances in healthcare and technology stocks, according to a report by Reuters citing a recent client note from Goldman Sachs.
Equity long-short managers gained more than 2.2% in the month and are up just over 10% year-to-date, while systematic funds returned 2.4%, extending annual gains to 12.3%, according to Goldman Sachs.
Despite the gains, leverage across strategies eased into September, with managers reducing exposure in most regions except China, Taiwan, India and South Korea, where flows into emerging Asia equities hit record levels.
Among individual names, Marshall Wace’s Eureka and Market Neutral Tops funds rose 0.41% and 1.95% respectively, while multi-strats also advanced, with Citadel’s Wellington fund up 0.9% and Millennium adding 1.2% in August.
