Opalesque Industry Update - Global financial markets gained through mid-January to begin 2017, discounting expectations for new policies from the Trump administration and PM May's policies regarding Brexit implementation. Global equity markets gained through mid-month led by Biotechnology, Technology and commodity sensitive, though broad based gains included most equity sectors. European equities were led by gains in Spain, UK and Germany, while Asian equities also gained. US treasury yields fell, as bond prices partially recovered from the year end selloff, while the US Dollar pulled back against the British Pound Sterling on a combination of Trump strong dollar comments, as well as outlining to Brexit implementation policies by PM May. Metals commodities gained on the weaker dollar, led by Platinum, Copper and Aluminum; Agriculturals gained led by Coffee, Soybeans ad Sugar, while Energy commodities fell. Hedge funds posted gains through mid-January with the HFRX Market Directional Index rising +1.03% and the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index gaining +0.31% for the period. HFRX Event Driven Index posted a gain of +1.15% through mid-January from gains in Special Situations equity and Distressed/Restructuring managers. The HFRX Special Situations Index posted gain of +1.34% from core positioning in Yahoo, Alibaba, Penn West, ClubCorp, NXP Semiconductors and Reynolds American. The HFRX Distressed Index gained +0.69% through mid-month from exposure to the U.S. Consumer, Industrial and Technology sectors. The HFRX Merger Arbitrage Index had a narrow decline of -0.12% with core exposures to Suffolk/People's United Financial, Samsung/Harman Int. and Symantec/LifeLock transactions. HFRX Equity Hedge Index posted a gain of +0.77% through mid-January as global equity markets rose through mid-month. The HFRX Fundamental Growth Index posted a gain of +1.62% from gains in Global Healthcare, Emerging Asia and Latin America exposure. The HFRX Fundamental Value Index posted a gain of +0.48% from gains in US large-cap in the Consumer, Technology and Communication sectors. The HFRX Market Neutral Index gained +0.13% with gains from mean reverting, factor based strategies and fundamental managers. HFRX Relative Value Arbitrage Index posted a gain of +0.51% through mid-January from gains in Convertible and Fixed Income strategies. The HFRX Convertible Arbitrage Index gained +0.90% through mid-month as gains from declining yields were partially offset by declines in volatility. The HFRX RV: Multi-Strategy Index and the HFRX Fixed Income - Credit Index gained +0.44% and +0.30%, respectively, as yields declined modestly for the period. HFRX Macro/CTA Index posted a decline of -1.80% through mid-January from systematic trend-following managers as Energy commodities declined, Metals and Agriculturals posted gains and the British Pound Sterling recovered from earlier declines while the USD declined against other major currencies.
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Industry Updates
Hedge funds posted gains through mid-January
Friday, January 20, 2017
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