WEST PALM BEACH, FL (www.hedgeco.net) – The Standard & Poor’s Hedge Fund Index (S&P HFI) rose 0.29% for the month of May, according to Standard & Poor’s new data. S&P said, �HedgeFund managers were able to capture a large portion of strong directional moves in global equity, bond and currency markets after experiencing small gains and losses for much of the month.�
S&P also explained, �That rising global equity market that shook off the effects of the May 5th GM/Ford rating downgrade and mixed economic data, helped hedge fund performance in May. The largest gains in the index occurred among Managed Futures and Equity Long/Short managers.�
The S&P Directional/Tactical Index gained 1.0 percent for the month. Managed Futures and Equity Long/Short also made registered impressive advances according to the new released data. Macro managers were flat to slightly down for the month. S&P explained, �The focus in the marketplace shifted from China and its revaluation to the European Union and France’s constitutional vote.�
Justin Dew, Senior Hedge Fund Specialist at Standard & Poor’s said, �Some managers are becoming increasingly long U.S. dollar vs. Euro in part on the continued difficulty in passing the constitution in France and the Netherlands.� Dew added, �The long bias which hurt U.S. equity managers in April, was beneficial in May as it allowed for the capture of gains in the surging equity markets.� He also said, “The historically low net exposure of European funds, combined with profit taking earlier in the month, prevented European managers from seeing the same level of gains as found in the United States.”
The S&P Arbitrage Index lost 0.22% for May, resulting from losses in Convertible Arbitrage Portfolios. Some analysts believe that trading in the index may have hit the bottom because valuations and slowing rate of redemptions will once again make the strategy profitable. The S&P event driven Strategy gained 0.12 percent for the month, as the credit spreads continue to tighten.
Paul Oranika
Editor-in-Chief
HedgeCo.Net
Email: Editor@hedgeco.net
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