Movements in equity, credit and commodity markets all contributed to positive performance for hedge funds in July, according to the Credit Suisse/Tremont hedge fund index.
Capitalizing on a broad set of opportunities across equity, credit, commodity and currency markets, directional, relative value and global macro strategies were the strongest performers for the month.
Convertible Arbitrage added a seventh month of positive monthly performance, posting 5.8% for July and an index-leading 31.1% year-to-date, as the convertible bond market has stabilized and valuations remained attractive overall.
The report also found that Long/Short Equity and Emerging Market managers continued to increase their gross and net exposures as fundamentals gained more traction. The largest gains in the Event Driven space came from trades in low rated securities that had been severely devalued in 4Q08 and 1Q09.
Global Macro hedge funds recovered from their negative monthly performance in June. Funds profited from a number of opportunity sets worldwide including de-stocking and re-stocking commodity themes, with many funds investing in base metals in the face of Chinese industrial demand.
The Credit Suisse/Tremont Hedge Fund Index (“Broad Index”) finished up 2.54% for the month, bringing year to date performance to 9.90%.
Full hedge fund industry commentaries and publications are available on the Research section of, www.hedgeindex.com.