New York (HedgeCo.Net) – September’s edition of The Eurekahedge Report reports that Asian hedge funds currently stand at $125.5 billion, they saw 800% growth between 2000 and 2007. The industry witnessed negative returns in 2011 but there were still some sectors providing exceptional opportunities such as Asian event driven hedge funds, which have returned 8.25% on an annualised basis over the last three years.
Other highlights from this month’s report:
- Relative value hedge funds are up 7.38% August year-to-date and have attracted significant assets in 2012 — total AUM now stands at US$60 billion.
- Event driven and distressed debt hedge funds posted their best return in six months.
- The Mizuho-Eurekahedge Emerging Markets Index rose 1.56% in August while the Mizuho-Eurekahedge Emerging Markets Long/Short Equity Index was up 1.22% during the month.
- CTA/managed futures funds witnessed 6 months of net negative asset flows, losing US$16 billion between February and August 2012.
- Long-only absolute return funds were up 1.84% in August and 7.59% year-to-date.
Hedge funds posted another month of positive returns for August as the Eurekahedge Hedge Fund Index gained 0.63% during the month. Market sentiment was optimistic for most of the month with prospects for QE3 increasing, positive signals from the Euro zone and stronger US economic data. The MSCI World Index was up by 1.64% in August.
Most asset classes posted excellent gains during the month amid an environment of resurgent risk appetite to the markets. The BofA-ML High Yield Index was up 1.21% in August while the S&P Goldman Sachs Commodity Index gained 6.37% during the month. The year-to-date (YTD) returns of the Eurekahedge Hedge Fund Index currently stand at 3.16%, while the MSCI World Index is up 7.79% YTD. While this may seem like an underperformance, hedge funds have provided these returns with less than a third of the monthly volatility witnessed in global markets.
