WEST PALM BEACH, FL (www.hedgeco.net) – The Van Global Hedge Fund Index dropped -1.6% net of fees in April according to a preliminary report from Van Money Manager Research, LLC (VAN), a leadinghedge fund index provider. George Van, Chairman of VAN, said, “April continued a difficult period for hedge funds, Convertible arbitrageurs and long/short equity managers suffered the biggest lossesin the month thus far.
Van explained that, �Outflows from convertible arbitrage have intensified, resulting in increased selling and depressed convertible prices. Following these losses, investors will likely continue to reduce their allocation to this strategy, putting further pressure on these managers over the short term. The loss of assets of such magnitude, however, often results in attractive opportunities over the long term�, he added.
The new preliminary results also showed that the S&P 500 lost -1.9% last month, while the MSCI World Equity Index and the Dow Jones Europe Stoxx 50 fell -2.4% and -2.2%, respectively. For the year to date, hedge funds continue to beat those benchmarks. The Van Global Hedge Fund Index has a preliminary year-to-date return through April of -0.8% net while the S&P 500 sustained a -4.0% loss year to date through April. Both the MSCI World Equity Index and the Dow Jones Europe Stoxx 50 have sustained losses of -3.9% for the year.
An updated version report will be released in mid May. Such report will be based on a larger pool of hedge funds. Since its inception through last month, the Van Hedge Fund Index has produced a compound annualized return of 15.6% net. Historical performance of the Index may be viewed at www.vanhedge.com.
Paul Oranika
Editor-in-Chief
HedgeCo.Net
Email: Editor@hedgeco.net
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