•  
• Tweet
•  
•  
•        Print
•  
•        Email
•  
•         Track Keywords

October was dominated by resurgence in equity markets across the board as investor sentiment showed signs of improvement, helped largely by accommodating views aired by key central banks. The ECB and BOJ in particular remain dovish, reiterating their intent to meet their inflation targets as part of their broader strategy to support growth in their respective economies. On the other hand, the Fed appears to be hinting at a long overdue rate hike in December which seems likely given the encouraging employment numbers coming out from the US as well as the stabilising outlook overseas - mainly China which appears to have weathered the worst for the moment. 

Key takeaways for the month of October 2015:

• On a year-to-date basis, hedge funds are up 1.77%, which compares with a gain of 3.52% seen over the same period last year.

• Total industry AUM has increased by US$95 billion as of October 2015 YTD, almost US$10 billion lower compared to the same period last year. However, capital inflows have accounted for almost 73% of this growth as net investor flows for the year stand at US$70 billion in comparison to US$50 billion over the same period last year

• Among developed market investment mandates, Japanese and European managers lead with year-to-date gains of 4.93% and 4.19% respectively, while North American hedge funds trail behind with gains of 0.52%.

• Greater China investing hedge funds were up 4.84% in October and 8.86% year-to-date, outperforming the CSI 300 Index by almost 9%.

• On a year-to-date basis, distressed debt funds have posted the worst return among all hedge fund strategic mandates, down 3.13% and are on track to post their worst performance since 2008.

• Asia ex-Japan hedge funds were up 3.13% in October and 6.94% year-to-date - the best return among all hedge fund regional investment mandates. In comparison, the MSCI AC Asia ex Japan is down 3.84% year-to-date.