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FAIRFIELD, Iowa, August 14, 2008– Hedge funds declined 1.99% in July according to the Barclay Hedge Fund Index compiled by BarclayHedge. Year-to-date, the index is down 4.44%.
“Hedge funds had another difficult month in July,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge.
“Stagnation in Europe, increasing risk of recession in Japan, and on-going mortgage problems in the U.S. drove equity prices lower and high yield credit spreads higher.”
Overall, 16 of Barclay’s 18 hedge fund indices lost ground in July. The Equity Long Bias Index fell 2.92%, Distressed Securities lost 2.79%, Emerging Markets dropped 2.58%, and the Technology Index was down 2.46%.
“Losses were widespread throughout most hedge fund sectors,” says Waksman. “The number of losing hedge funds outpaced winners by a three to one margin in July.”
However, Barclay’s Equity Short Bias Index rose another 0.89% in July, and is now up 17.38% in 2008.
The Barclay Fund of Funds Index lost 2.57% in July.
Click here to view five years of Barclay Hedge Fund Index data, or download 11 years of monthly data.
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 6,800 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 Barclay’s data as performance benchmarks for the hedge fund and managed futures industries.
