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From Komfie Manalo, Opalesque Asia – The month of February was rough sailing for many hedge funds asset classes and continued the same price trends in January, said the latest GAM Insight.

GAM said in the report, "Markets then reversed and consolidated, driven by concerns around the Italian elections and the release of the U.S. FOMC meeting minutes. The meeting minutes showed an unusually large number of committee members questioning the efficacy and risks associated with continued large-scale quantitative easing. Currencies continued to be volatile, with sterling weakening materially, the Japanese yen consolidating but weakening slightly over the month, and the trade-weighted US dollar index regaining some of its safe-haven appeal – ending up 3.5% for the month."

According to GAM, February offered the same result as January when equities saw a broad rally while the Japanese yen slid further.

It added that currencies remain volatile with the sterling continuing its downward spiral and the consolidated Japanese yen failed to bring the currency to a rebound. However, the trade-weighted U.S. dollar index regained some of its safe-haven appeal and was up 3.5% last month.

"The MSCI World index gave up its early gains and ended the month marginally positive, whereas the Barclays Global Aggregate Bond index was down 0.9%, both in U.S. Dollar terms. On the macroeconomic front, expectations for Eu......................

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