Opalesque Industry Update - The HFRU Hedge Fund Composite Index posted a gain of +0.85% in March, with leading contributions from Equity Hedge strategies. HFRU Equity Hedge Index rose +1.20% in March with contributions from exposure to Japan, Emerging Eastern European and Emerging Asian equities partially offset by Western European and Latin American exposure. HFRU Event Driven Index gained +0.68% in March, with contributions from European M&A, Distressed, Special Situations and hedged Credit exposures. HFRU Macro Index gained +0.58% in March, with contributions from multi-commodity exposures, currency focused long-US dollar exposure and trend-following, quantitative CTA strategies. HFRU Relative Value Index gained +0.61% in March, with contributions from US and Global Convertible Arbitrage, event driven convertibles and gamma trading and real estate exposures. HFR's performance notes found that Global financial markets continued to extend gains through March as developed markets generally outperformed emerging markets, with US equities including both Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 closing the month and concluding 1Q13 at all-time record levels. Banks in Cyprus were closed for an extended period in March, as lenders, creditors, depositors and legislators negotiated a bailout for the EU member's largest banks to avoid a banking collapse. Both European and Asian equities posted mixed performance in March; European gains in UK, Netherlands, Germany & Switzerland were offset by declines in Italy, Spain & Russia. Japan continued to lead Asian & global equity performance for 2013, with the Nikkei gaining over 8% for the month and 20% for the quarter, Australia, China, Hong Kong and Korea posted declines in March. Broad based March gains in US were led by Technology, Cyclical and Energy, with additional strength from Financials, Commodity and Small Cap exposures. The US dollar extend gains against the Euro, British Pound Sterling, and Japanese Yen, reaching highs of 4, 33 and 45 months, respectively. European yields fell across the UK, Germany & Netherlands while Italian bond yields rose for the month; US fixed income yields and credit spreads were little changed for the month, with modest declines on the front end contributing to a steepening. Natural Gas led commodity gains for the month, which were complemented by gains in Oil, Gold, Wheat and Cotton. Press release bc |
Industry Updates
HFRU Hedge Fund Composite Index up 0.85% in March, 2.36% year to date
Wednesday, April 03, 2013
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