Investing August 14, 2003

Van: US Hedge Funds 1% Better In July

August 14, 2003 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The Van US Hedge Fund Index edged up 1% in July on the backs of Aggressive Growth and Opportunistic funds.
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July’s increase represents a slight decline over June’s 1.2% (See  MSCI, Van Global Hedge Fund Indices Up in June ).   Year to date, the Van US Hedge Fund Index – which includes only hedge funds domiciled in the United States – has returned 9.8%, according to a news release.

Among the winners for the month was the 2.7% gain notched by Aggressive Growth strategies, followed by Opportunistic’s 2.5%.   For the year, Aggressive Growth leads all other strategies, up 16.8%, followed by Emerging Markets 14% YTD performance (1.9% in July) and Opportunistic funds gaining 14.4%.   Other winners in July were (with year-to-date returns):

  • Value – 2% (12.7%)
  • Special Situations – 1.2% (10.7%)
  • Distressed Securities – 1.4% (14.0%)
  • Market Timing – 0.1% (4.4%)

At the other end, was the 3.3% July slide in Short Selling strategies.   Overall, 2003 has not been the year for the short sellers, as these fund represent the only category in the red year-to-date, down 13.7%.   Also among the July negative returns (with year-to-date returns):

  • Income –  down 1.7% (4.6%)
  • Macro –  lower by 1.7% (5.9%)
  • Market Neutral – Arbitrage –  lost 0.3% (5.1%)
  • Market Neutral – Securities Hedging –  down 0.1% (2.7%)
  • Several Strategies –  off by 0.1% (12.3%).

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