Overall hedge fund industry returns dipped negative in May after a four-month string of positive results to start off the year, according to the just-released eVestment hedge fund performance data. Aggregate industry performance stood at -1.55% in May, with year-to-date (YTD) performance positive at +4.77%.
According to the report, equities created much of the pain for the industry during May. Among primary markets, Equity strategies fell sharply in May, coming in at -2.61%. YTD returns are still positive at +6.05%. Among primary strategies, Event Driven – Activist hedge funds and Long/Short Equity funds saw declines as well, of -3.16% and -2.71% in May respectively. These strategies are also still firmly in positive territory YTD, at +4.50% and +6.88% respectively.
Among primary markets, volatility strategies were best positioned to endure the difficult market environment in May. The group gained an average of +1.49% in May and are +4.22% YTD.
In the primary strategies spectrum, Quantitative Directional Equity funds, Distressed funds and Origination & Financing funds were all positive for May, but just barely.
However, May was a tough month for many managed futures strategies, led to the downside by the group of larger funds. Managed futures funds as a group lost an average of -1.20% in May and the 10 largest reporting products declined an average of -2.59%.
From a regional perspective, China focused funds declined an average of -7.51%, but the group is still up over 10% YTD 2019. Likewise, Russia focused funds slipped into negative territory as well, at -0.30%, but YTD results, as in the Chinese market, are still strong at +11.09% for these funds.
eVestment’s original research covers traditional and alternative asset classes, as well as private markets. Combining rich data from the eVestment platform survey-based data and industry trends, our research and research reports pull together interesting insights aimed at helping you understand and anticipate trends across the institutional investment industry.
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