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February 9, 2006
HFR returns show good January
As if to answer their 2005 critics, hedge fund managers posted big gains across the board in January. The HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index tracked by Hedge Fund Research Inc. rose 3.65%, beating the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index's January return of 2.65%.
Strong equity performance no doubt buoyed hedge funds. The HFRI Equity Hedge Index was up 4.12% in January, while the Equity Non-Hedge Index rose 5.37%. The HFRI Market Neutral Index was up 1.54%.
Convertible arbitrage managers got off to a good start last month, posting a 2.59% gain. Short sellers lost 1.66% and were the only strategy tracked by HFR to post a negative return in January. Funds of funds in the index gained 2.64%.
Emerging markets hedge fund managers had a great month, as a group returning 6%. Managers specializing in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet states turned in the best performance, earning 7.98% in January. Latin American managers earned 5.71%. Global emerging markets managers earned 5.43% and Asia managers earned 5.33%, according to HFR data.
Relative value arbitrage managers turned in a 1.87% gain, while merger arbitrage managers earned 1.8% in January. Macro managers earned 1.38%. Fixed-income arbitrage returned 0.21%.
In 2005, the HFRI composite index earned 9.35%, and 2.13% in the fourth quarter.
-HedgeWorld.com-
Posted by su at February 9, 2006 5:26 PM