Charity Times – Putting it into perspective, at January 1 2008 there was $9.7trn of hedge funds assets invested, at the end of 2008 it was $3trn, a massive loss in capital.
This year, hedge funds gained 2.41 per cent in March, according to the Barclay Hedge Fund Index compiled by BarclayHedge. The index is now up 0.82 per cent in 2009. ”After an eight per cent sell-off in early March, the S&P 500 Index bounced back to gain 17 per cent from 9 March to 31 March, its largest three-week rally since 1987” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge. Overall, 15 of Barclay’s 18 hedge fund indices gained ground in March. Hedge funds took modest advantage of March’s upswings in the global equity and credit markets, according to Morningstar’s hedge fund performance summary for the first quarter of 2009.
Highbridge Capital Management, once the world’s biggest hedge fund, was a big winner, with $1bn of net inflows this year, including $225m from majority owner JPMorgan. It ended the quarter with $20bn under management.
