WEST PALM BEACH, FL (www.hedgeco.net) – The Van Global Hedge Fund Index rose 1.2% net of fees in May according to new preliminary data released by Van Global LLC (VAN), a leading hedge fund indexprovider. The gains in the Van�s Hedge Fund Index, comes at a time when many critics had begun to write obituaries for hedge funds, resulting from recorded losses in many arbitrage portfolios lastmonth.
Kevin Campbell, Vice President of VAN, said, “May saw a turnaround in hedge fund performance, on the strength of surging equity markets, particularly the NASDAQ and Russell 2000; long/short equity managers led the way. Macro managers also performed well in May. Short-biased long/short equity funds, on the other hand, struggled while convertible arbitrageurs continued their decline and will likely see outflows through the end of the second quarter.”
Equity markets also made advances in May, with the S&P 500 and the MSCI World Equity gaining 3.2% and 1.5%, respectively, while the Dow Jones Europe Stoxx 50 fell -0.4%. The NASDAQ and Russell 2000 gained 7.6% and 6.4%, respectively. Van also noted 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 May of 0.5% net while the S&P 500 sustained a -1.0% loss year to date through May. The MSCI World Equity Index, Dow Jones Europe Stoxx 50, NASDAQ, and Russell 2000 have lost -2.5%, -4.3%, -4.9%, and -5.4%, respectively, for the year.
Van will release an updated April return data using a larger sample of funds, in mid-June; final results for May will be calculated at the end of June. Van Money Manager Research, LLC (“VAN”) is a hedge fund index provider that constructs hedge fund indices based on performance information received from hedge funds domiciled in the U.S. and offshore.
Paul Oranika
Editor-in-Chief
HedgeCo.Net
Email: Editor@hedgeco.net
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