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The global hedge fund industry AUM remained mostly flat as of July 2019 year-to-date. Final Q2 2019 net outflows figure stood at US$40.0 billion, as investor redemptions continued to slow down. Hedge fund managers recorded US$46.4 billion and US$94.7 billion of net outflows in Q1 2019 and Q4 2018 respectively.

The Eurekahedge North American Hedge Fund Index was up 6.90% year-to-date, as fund managers focusing on the region benefited from the equity market rally throughout the first seven months of the year.

The S&P 500 has gained 18.89% over the first seven months of 2019, while the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite was up 23.21% over the same period. North American hedge fund managers have recorded US$68.6 billion of performance growth year-to-date.

The Eurekahedge Greater China Hedge Fund Index gained 0.51% in July, bringing its year-to-date gain to 10.37%. Investor confidence in the US$28.4 billion mandate remained robust with US$0.9 billion of net inflows recorded in 2018, despite the US$2.3 billion performance decline over the same year.

The Eurekahedge CTA/Managed Futures Hedge Fund Index was up 1.44% in July, with mixed returns among its underlying regional mandates.

Long exposure to precious metals acted as a performance contributor for CTA/managed futures hedge funds during the month. Preliminary data showed that the mandate saw US$2.3 billion of net outflows in July.

Hedge fund managers utilising fixed income strategies ended the month of July up 0.47% on the back of strong government and corporate bond markets. Dovish remarks from the Fed and ECB leaders drove the US 10-year bond yield to its lowest level since 2016, as well as the German 10-year bond yield to a record low. On a year-to-date basis, the Eurekahedge Fixed Income Hedge Fund Index has returned 5.50%.

The Eurekahedge ILS Advisers Index was up 0.64% in July, bringing its year-to-date loss to 0.49%. Despite being a calm period of insurance losses, the first half of 2019 has seen ILS hedge fund managers crippled by loss creep from past events.

The Eurekahedge Crypto-Currency Hedge Fund Index slumped 5.88% in July, ending their five-month winning streak.

Crypto hedge fund managers benefited from the rally in crypto assets which saw Bitcoin breaching the US$12,000 level for the first time since the Q1 2018 crash. The index is still up 76.49% over the first seven months of 2019.