Barclay Hedge Fund Index Down 1.79%
FAIRFIELD, Iowa, December 10, 2007– Hedge funds gave back a third of their September and October gains during the month of November, according to flash estimates from the Barclay Hedge Fund Index. The Index dropped 1.79% in November.
“Global stock markets began to reflect uncertainty and fear in November, fueled by concerns of collateral damage from the meltdown in the sub-prime mortgage sector," says Sol Waksman, founder and president of The Barclay Group.
“Other than Portugal and Switzerland, all of MSCI’s Developed Markets Indices lost ground this month.”
“Even the Barclay Emerging Market Index, which is up 21.48% in 2007, fell 2.48% as investors sought to reduce risk exposures.”
Sixteen of Barclay’s eighteen hedge fund indexes had negative returns in November.
The Convertible Arbitrage Index dropped 4.16%, Technology fell 3.05%, Equity Long Bias was down 2.69%, and European Equities lost 2.60%.
“Credit spreads widened during the month, which had negative consequences for many fixed income related strategies such as Distressed, Event Driven, and Convertible Arbitrage,” says Waksman.
“There was no place to hide, except for the short-sellers, and they had a field day.”
Barclay’s Equity Short Bias Index had a strong 7.23% gain in November, and is now up 5.68% for the year.
“Equity shorts gained in value as the global markets declined. The bears were vindicated in November.”
The Barclay Fund of Funds Index lost 1.63% in November, but is still up 8.48% in 2007.
The Barclay Hedge Fund Index has returned 10.02% 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 sol@barclayhedge.com.
The Barclay Group, founded in 1985, actively tracks more than 6,600 hedge funds, fund 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.