Hedge Funds Plod Along in April
The CSFB/Tremont Hedge Fund Index edged up 0.79% in April, bringing the year-to-date return to 1.5%, as traditional, long-only strategies continue to disappoint.
Over the month:
- the S&P 500 stumbled -6.14%
- the Nasdaq Composite lost a further -8.51%
- the Dow Jones Industrial fell by 4.40%.
Eight of the nine strategies tracked by CSB/Tremont clocked positive numbers in April, with only managed futures, which involves investments in global listed financial and commodity futures markets and currency markets, posting a negative return.
Dedicated short-bias was April’s winning strategy, managing to eke out a 2.05% gain. Managers employing this strategy maintain a net short as opposed to a pure short exposure, taking short positions in mostly equities and derivatives.
Emerging markets remained the bright spot among the nine strategies, adding 0.12% over April and bringing the year-to-date total to 10.03%.
Performance for the CSFB/Tremont Hedge Fund Index, which comprises 381 funds, and the nine style-driven sub-indices are calculated monthly for capitalization and return. The index is reselected quarterly.