Industry Updates

Barclay Hedge Fund Index up 0.32% in October (+6.09% YTD)

Thursday, November 15, 2012

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Opalesque Industry Update: Hedge funds gained 0.32% in October, according to the Barclay Hedge Fund Index compiled by BarclayHedge. The Index is up 6.09% year to date. “News flows continued to drive the markets in October,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge.

“Equity markets rallied early in the month on the ECB’s announced willingness to purchase unlimited amounts of Spanish government debt, but weak third quarter earnings contributed to economic growth concerns that caused equity prices to end mostly lower.”

Overall, 13 of Barclay’s 18 hedge fund indices gained ground in October.

The Barclay Distressed Securities Index was up 2.40%, Equity Short Bias gained 1.08%, European Equities rose 1.00%, the Event Driven Index added 0.78%, and the Multi Strategy Index was up 0.57%.

“Distressed Securities funds are benefitting from artificially low interest rates on government bonds that are driving yield-hungry investors into high-yield credits,” says Waksman.

On the negative side of the ledger, the Merger Arbitrage Index fell 1.89%, Technology was down 1.81%, and Global Macro lost 0.81%.

Year to date, the Healthcare & Biotechnology is up 13.60%, and Distressed Securities have gained 10.03%. The Equity Short Bias Index has lost 17.15% in 2012. All other strategies tracked by BarclayHedge have had positive returns this year.

The Barclay Fund of Funds Index lost 0.19% in October, but remains up 2.98% in 2012.

BarclayHedge

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