Thu, Mar 28, 2024
A A A
Welcome Guest
Free Trial RSS pod
Get FREE trial access to our award winning publications
Industry Updates

Billion dollar hedge funds: larger funds ahead of smaller funds during turbulent July

Wednesday, August 18, 2021
Opalesque Industry Update - The average Billion Dollar Club (BDC) hedge fund gained 0.1% in July but could not prevent the broader HFM Global Composite Index from slipping 0.1% off the back of underperformance among sub-BDC funds.

In what was a turbulent month for markets, few hedge funds added significantly to YTD gains in July, although most protected what had been for the industry a 13-year high half-year advance in H1. After seven months, hedge funds globally are averaging 9.0% gains for the year, with BDC funds up 7.2%.

Markets were unsettled by the Covid-19 Delta variant, China's crackdown on domestic tech companies and sharp moves in FX. But hedge fund allocations movement was positive, with net inflows of more than $18bn in July after June witnessed the biggest redemptions for nine months.

Event-driven setback: Event-driven funds running more than $1bn have been the top performers so far this year but had some of the biggest declines in July as the merger arb outlook declined. Most notably, the collapse of the Aon/Willis Towers Watson deal led to losses in the strategy, which was down 0.6% across all funds.

However, $1bn+ event-driven funds are now up 12.1% after seven months of 2021 compared to 10.9% among event-driven hedge funds with less than $1bn. It encapsulated the mixed returns last month that many of the leading performers YTD posted declines in July.

Managed futures lead returns Middle of the pack so far in 2021, CTAs were the top industry performers last month, up 0.8% (7.9% YTD). Long equity positions and exposure to longer-date bonds boosted performance in the strategy, allowing CTAs to more than offset losses from FX volatility.

What do you think?

   Use "anonymous" as my name    |   Alert me via email on new comments   |   
Previous Opalesque Exclusives                                  
Previous Other Voices                                               
Access Alternative Market Briefing

 



  • Top Forwarded
  • Top Tracked
  • Top Searched
  1. KKR raises $6.4bn for the largest pan-Asia infrastructure fund[more]

    Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia: The New York-based global investment firm KKR has raised a record $6.4bn for its second Asia-focused infrastructure fund, underlining investors' continued appetite for private markets. According to a media release from the alternative assets manager, the figure top

  2. Bucking the trend, top hedge fund makes plans for a second SPAC[more]

    From Institutional Investor: SPACs aren't dead. At least not to the folks at Cormorant Asset Management. The life sciences firm, whose hedge fund topped its peers in 2023, is confident it will match the success of its first blank-check company. Last week, the life sciences and biopharma speciali

  3. Benefit Street Partners closes fifth fund on $4.7 billion[more]

    Bailey McCann, Opalesque New York: Benefit Street Partners has closed its fifth flagship direct lending vehicle, BSP Debt Fund V, with $4.7 billion of investable capital across the strategy. Benefit Street invests primarily in privately originated, floating rate, senior secured loans. The fun

  4. 4 hedge fund themes that are working in 2024[more]

    From The Street: A poor earnings report from Tesla (TSLA) has not hurt the indexes on Thursday. The decline in Tesla stock, which is losing its position in the Magnificent Seven pantheon, is more than offset by strong earnings from IBM (IBM) and ServiceNow (NOW) . In addition, the much higher-t

  5. Opalesque Exclusive: A global macro fund eyes opportunities in bonds[more]

    Bailey McCann, Opalesque New York for New Managers: Munich-based ThirdYear Capital rebounded in 2023, following a tough year for global macro. The firm's flagship ART Global Macro strategy finished the year up 1