Mon, Jun 29, 2026
A A A
Welcome Guest
Free Trial RSS pod
Get FREE trial access to our award winning publications
Alternative Market Briefing

The flaw of lumping hedge funds together: Macro, credit and relative value actually posted gains in 2018

Friday, February 22, 2019

Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia:

The negative returns for the hedge fund industry as a whole in 2018 have masked an improvement in the overall environment for the asset class.

While equity strategies funds did experience losses for the year, macro, credit and relative value strategies all made gains, albeit small gains, said the 2019 Preqin Global Hedge Fund Report.

Over the longer term, hedge funds have posted returns comparable with the S&P 500, while seeing significantly lower volatility.

Additionally, given that the majority of hedge fund investors feel that the market cycle is at a peak, many are looking to lean on hedge funds to offer diversification for capital protection as they position themselves in expectation that a correction is imminent.

In fact, more investors are looking to increase rather than decrease investments in hedge funds - the largest proportion of investors which have reported this since 2014.

"It's hard to deny 2018 was a challenging year for hedge funds, with a particularly difficult Q4 taking the All-Strategies benchmark into negative territory for the year. Examining the data in more detail, however, reveals a more nuanced picture; equities strategies carried the bulk of the losses, while other strategies made small gains," Amy Bensted, Head of Hedge Funds said.

"Although the majority of investors reported that their return expectations had not been met in 2018, investors are turning to hedge funds to protect against ......................

To view our full article Click here

Previous Opalesque Exclusives                                  
Previous Other Voices                                               
Access Alternative Market Briefing

 



  • Top Forwarded
  • Top Tracked
  • Top Searched
  1. Other Voices: Nvidia extraordinary growth and the challenge of sustaining demanding valuations over time[more]

    Antonio Di Giacomo, Senior Market Analyst at XS.com, writes: Nvidia has established itself as one of the most extraordinary growth companies in the global technology sector. Over the past two fiscal years, its revenues have risen from levels close to $60 billion annually to well above $120 billi

  2. Secondaries take center stage: What the 2026 PE landscape means for GPs and investors[more]

    Matthias Knab, Opalesque for New Managers: The 2026 edition of Dechert's Global Private Equity Outlook - "Signs of a Gradual Thaw" - marks a notable shift in industry sentiment. After years of compr

  3. And, finally: Time to share it with the people[more]

    From Newsoftheweird: Leavenworth, Washington, has become a tourist destination because of the Bavarian theme businesses have adopted there, NPR reported. One shop, the Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum, houses the world's largest nutcracker collection, thanks to 101-year-old Arlene Wagner. Wagner sta

  4. Opalesque Exclusive: Private Markets Evergreen Funds - An Insider's View[more]

    Matthias Knab, Opalesque for New Managers: Private Markets Evergreen Funds: What Investors Need to Know Before They Dive In The democratization of private markets is well underway. Structural barriers t

  5. Opalesque Exclusive: Governance, Scale, and Boutique Resilience in a Consolidating Hedge Fund Industry[more]

    Matthias Knab, Opalesque for New Managers: The hedge fund industry has undergone significant consolidation in recent years, with capital increasingly concentrated among large multi-strategy platforms. Yet boutique m