FAIRFIELD, Iowa, August 13, 2009– Hedge funds rose 3.11% in July according to the Barclay Hedge Fund Index compiled by BarclayHedge. The Index now has five consecutive months of gains in 2009 resulting in an increase of 16.23% since March 1.
“During July, we continued to see improving liquidity, a tightening of credit spreads, and a decrease in risk aversion among investors,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge.
“These trends provided support for a continuation of the rallies in global equity and credit markets.”
Overall, 16 of Barclay’s 18 hedge fund indices were profitable in July. The Barclay Convertible Arbitrage Index jumped 6.99%, Emerging Markets gained 5.52%, Equity Long Bias was up 5.34%, the Event Driven Index gained 4.46%, and Multi-Strategy rose 3.26%.
“Convertible Arbitrage has gained 35.38% in 2009, far surpassing last year’s 27.66% loss,” says Waksman. “The Index has not had a losing month since November 2008.”
The Barclay Emerging Markets Index has gained 28.23% in 2009, the Event Driven Index is up 18.65%, Equity Long Bias has added 18.37%, and the Multi-Strategy Index is up 16.91%.
The Equity Short Bias Index lost 8.08% in July, and is down 13.22% in 2009. Equity Market Neutral slid 0.14% and has lost 0.67% year-to-date.
“In spite of the out-sized gains in several hedge fund sectors, many hedge funds remain below previous high water marks and are not yet earning performance fees,” says Waksman.
“If current trends continue, most of last year’s losses will soon be recouped by diversified hedge fund investors who stayed the course.”
The Barclay Fund of Funds Index gained 1.51% in July, and is up 5.84% year-to-date.
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Sol Waksman is an experienced media source, providing perspectives on hedge fund and managed futures trends. For more commentary or background, call 641-472-3456 or email swaksman@barclayhedge.com.
BarclayHedge (formerly The Barclay Group) was founded in 1985 and actively tracks more than 6,000 hedge funds, funds of hedge funds, and managed futures programs. Barclay has created and regularly updates 18 proprietary hedge fund indexes and eight managed futures indexes.
Institutional investors, brokerage firms and private banks worldwide utilize BarclayHedge data as performance benchmarks for the hedge fund and managed futures industries.