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Beverly Chandler, Opalesque London:
GAM’s latest hedge funds’ Insight finds that asset prices drifted lower on seasonally light volumes during August. The firm writes that equities and bonds sold off, with the MSCI World
index down 2.1% and the Barclays Global Aggregate Bond index down 0.5%, both in US dollar terms. Commodities gained
in aggregate, led by energy and precious metals, while wheat and corn declined on the month.
Hedge fund performance for August was negative as measured by the HFRX Global Hedge Fund index, which was down
0.8%, bringing year-to-date performance to 3.4%. Performance for each of the four main hedge fund strategy categories
was negative between -0.2% and -1.7%, according to HFRX strategy index data.
Anthony Lawler, Portfolio Manager at GAM, said: "Volumes were light as expected during August and investors remained
focused on the lingering issue of the timing and magnitude of Fed tapering. Given this focus, markets were volatile as
investors assessed new growth-related data and expected central bank reactions to that data. Coming into August,
managers were positive on US equities and the US dollar, and negative on China-related emerging markets growth
plays. Most of these trades were choppy and did not produce much in August, with even emerging markets weakness being
concentrated in a few specific countries rather than a broad sell-off."
Lawler stated that hedge fun...................... To view our full article Click here
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