Hedge funds down slightly in Q1

Hedge funds were down 0.37% in Q1 2016, with total AUM declining by US$6.4 billion – the first Q1 decline in hedge fund assets on record since 2009.

Here are more highlights from the Eurekahedge Report.

• Hedge funds were up 1.33% in March, as underlying markets represented by the MSCI World Index gained 5.47%.

• Event driven hedge funds posted the best returns among all strategic mandates during the month, up 3.16%. On the other hand, CTA/managed futures managers posted the steepest decline during the month, down 1.61%.
• Distressed debt hedge funds were up for the first time after a four-month losing streak, posting returns of 3.03% during the month. Total AUM for the strategy has declined by almost US$8.0 billion over the last 12 months.
• Latin American hedge funds were up for the second consecutive month, leading the table with gains of 4.85% during the month. On a year-to-date basis, Latin American hedge fund managers also topped the tables gaining 6.15% – the only regional mandate to post positive year-to-date returns as of March 2016.
• European managers posted their third consecutive month of performance-based decline, totaling US$7.8 billion on a year-to-date basis. On the other hand, European managers also recorded the highest investor allocations across all regional mandates – US$8.1 billion on a year-to-date basis.
• Asia ex-Japan managers were up for the first time this year, gaining 4.78% during the month. Performance-based gains of US$1.2 billion were recorded while investors allocated US$ 1.5 billion into the mandate during the month.
• The global hedge funds industry grew by US$108.7 billion in 2015 with investor inflows accounting for three-quarters of the gain in assets.

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