Hedge funds continued their positive ways in June, riding a continuing stock market recovery and reopening economies to a 2.04% monthly return, according to the Barclay Hedge Fund Index, compiled by BarclayHedge, a division of Backstop Solutions. By comparison, the S&P 500 Total Return Index was up 1.99% in June.
Year-to-date, the hedge fund industry was down 2.71%. The S&P 500 Total Return Index was down 3.08% over the same period.
All sectors but one tracked by the Barclay Hedge Fund Indices were in the black for June. The lone exception was the Volatility Trading Index, which was down 1.23% for the month.
In spite of continuing bad news regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, there were encouraging economic signs in June. Businesses began to reopen and there were indications that the pandemic’s economic impact might have done its worst. The economy was beginning to turn upward.
“Although pandemic concerns remained, stock markets experienced their best quarter in more than 20 years, significantly recovering their pandemic losses” said Sol Waksman, president of BarclayHedge. “Businesses continued to reopen slowly and US retail sales jumped prompting optimism that the COVID recession might be short-lived.”
As China reopened, the country’s economic activity accelerated. Other Asian economies followed suit. The Emerging Markets Global Equities Index led the pack in June with a 5.65% return. Several other emerging markets indices were among June’s leading gainers, including the Emerging Markets Asian Equities Index, advancing 5.53% and the Emerging Markets Latin American Equities Index, gaining 4.81%.
Other notable gains were seen in the Technology Index, up 4.74% and the Emerging Markets Index, gaining 4.37%.
Although most hedge fund sectors remained in the red for the year-to-date through June, 8 posted gains. Leading the gainers were the Technology Index, up 9.75%, the Volatility Trading Index, gaining 8.71%, the Emerging Markets Global Fixed Income Index, posting an 8.19% return, and the Healthcare & Biotechnology Index, up 5.37%.
The Emerging Markets Latin American Equities Index posted the largest year-to-date percentage drop through June, down 18.22%. The Emerging Markets MENA Index was off 12.14% through June, the Emerging Markets Global Equities Index was down 10.18%, the Emerging Markets Eastern European Equities Index dropped 9.57%., and the Pacific Rim Equities Index was down 9.51%.
For a complete table of BarclayHedge Hedge Fund and Sub-Index results for June, as well as historical returns, click here.
About Backstop Solutions
Backstop’s mission is to help the institutional investment industry use time to its fullest potential. We develop technology to simplify and streamline otherwise time-consuming tasks and processes, enabling our clients to quickly and easily access, share, and manage the knowledge that’s critical to their day-to-day business success. Backstop provides its industry-leading cloud-based productivity suite to investment consultants, pensions, funds of funds, family offices, endowments, foundations, private equity, hedge funds and real estate investment firms.
BarclayHedge, a division of Backstop, currently maintains data on more than 7,100 hedge funds, funds of funds and CTAs. The BarclayHedge Indices are utilized by institutional investors, brokerage firms and private banks worldwide as performance benchmarks for the hedge fund and managed futures industries.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Sol Waksman
BarclayHedge division of Backstop Solutions Group
(641) 472-3456