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Komfie Manalo, Opalesque Asia:

The steep losses in oil, the European Central Bank’s quantitative easing (QE) stimulus and the Swiss franc move helped push hedge funds to navigate the extreme macroeconomic dislocations across the global financial markets with positive gains in January, according to the data tracker Hedge Fund Research.

The HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index gained +0.5% for the month, led by macro trend following, quantitative CTA and currency exposures. HFRI gains occurred against a backdrop of mixed equity market performance in January, as U.S. equities declined and European equities primarily advanced, with notable exception of the Swiss equity market.

"The intense financial volatility which characterized late 2014 accelerated in January, with hedge funds effectively navigating the falling trend in oil, the impact of ECB quantitative easing, a surprise systemic shock of the removal of the CHF/Euro currency cap, and growing tension in EU about the impact of the election of anti-austerity leadership in Greece," stated Kenneth J. Heinz, president of HFR.

The HFRI Macro Index advanced +2.6% for the month, while the HFRI Macro: Systematic Diversified/CTA Index posted a strong gain of +4.5%, the best monthly return for CTAs since December 2010. Macro & CTA led all strategies for 2014 with strong gains in the second half of the y......................

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