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FAIRFIELD, Iowa, July 15, 2013 — After twelve consecutive months of gains, hedge funds lost 1.35% in June, according to the Barclay Hedge Fund Index compiled by BarclayHedge. The Index remains up 4.26% year to date.
“A comment by Fed chairman Ben Bernanke that the Fed may begin to taper its asset purchases caused interest rates to skyrocket while prices for equities, commodities, and emerging market currencies plummeted,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge.
Overall, 14 of Barclay’s 18 hedge fund strategies lost ground in June. The Barclay Emerging Markets Index dropped 3.97%, Distressed Securities lost 2.00%, Global Macro gave up 1.75%, Fixed Income Arbitrage was down 1.28%, and European Equities lost 1.21%.
“Downward moves in currency prices and sharp increases in local interest rates hit Emerging Markets hard in June,” says Waksman.
On the positive side, the Barclay Technology Index gained 0.98% in June, Equity Market Neutral was up 0.66%, Equity Short Bias rose 0.61%, and Convertible Arbitrage added 0.47%.
The Barclay Fund of Funds Index lost 1.66% in June, but is still up 3.08% year to date.
After the first two quarters of 2013, the Pacific Rim Equities Index has gained 13.08%, Healthcare & Biotechnology is up 10.60%, the Equity Long Bias Index has gained 8.41%, and Distressed Securities have returned 7.74%.
Equity Short Bias has lost 15.80% year to date. Emerging Markets slipped into negative territory in June, and is down 0.40% for the year. All other hedge fund strategies tracked by BarclayHedge are all in positive territory for 2013.
Click here to view five years of Barclay Hedge Fund Index data, or download 16 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 was founded in 1985 and actively tracks more than 6,200 hedge funds, funds of hedge funds, and managed futures programs. Each month Barclay provides updated performance rankings for 38 Hedge Fund categories, 16 CTA categories, and 7 UCITS categories.
Institutional investors, brokerage firms, and private banks worldwide utilize BarclayHedge indices as performance benchmarks for the hedge fund and managed futures industries.
