FAIRFIELD, Iowa, June 16, 2008– Hedge funds gained 1.91% in May according to the Barclay Hedge Fund Index compiled by BarclayHedge.
“More than 85 percent of the hedge funds on our platform reported a profitable return for May,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge.
“For profitable hedge funds, the average return in May was a gain of 2.57 percent.”
With one notable exception, all of Barclay's 18 hedge fund indices had positive returns in May. The Barclay Equity Long Bias Index was up 3.21%, Distressed Securities rose 2.73%, Healthcare and Biotechnology gained 2.58%, and the Technology Index was up 2.41%.
Performance in the equity markets was not equally distributed this month, and not all regions saw gains.
“The U.S. and Canadian equity markets had positive returns for May, whereas European markets were mixed, and in the UK prices actually declined,” says Waksman.
“Performance in the emerging markets was also mixed, with Latin America and Eastern Europe gaining while Asian markets suffered setbacks.”
The one losing strategy in May was Equity Short Bias, which fell 3.19%. Barclay’s Equity Short Bias Index still leads all other hedge fund strategies in 2008, with a 4.99% gain over the past five months.
The Barclay Fund of Funds Index rose 1.79% in May, but is still down by 1.74% for the year.
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.