FAIRFIELD, Iowa, March 10, 2008 – Hedge funds rose 1.58% in February according to the Barclay Hedge Fund Index compiled by BarclayHedge.
“After falling 3.24 percent in January, hedge funds regained some ground in February,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge.
“Although equity markets in the US declined in February, equity-based hedge fund strategies were still able to post profits for their investors.”
Overall, 16 of Barclay's 18 hedge fund indexes rose in value this month. The Equity Short Bias Index jumped 6.25%, Global Macro gained 3.81%, Emerging Markets were up 2.48%, Event Driven rose 2.39%, European Equities were up 1.99%, and Distressed Securities gained 1.89%.
“At this point, 74.4% of the hedge funds that have submitted a February return are reporting a profit,” says Waksman.
“This represents a major turnaround from January when 77.6% of the funds reported losses.”
The only losing hedge fund strategies in February were Convertible Arbitrage, which fell 2.50%, and Healthcare & Biotechnology, down 1.43%.
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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 known as The Barclay Group, was founded in 1985, and 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