Greenwich Mid-Month Update: Hedge Funds Gain 0.81% in August

PRLog (Press Release) - Sep. 17, 2012 - Stamford, CT, USA, September 17, 2012 – Hedge fund managers posted positive results in August on average as the Greenwich Global Hedge Fund Index rose +0.81% for the month. Most strategies reported positive returns for August, with the exception of Managed Futures (-0.16%) and Macro (-0.25%) funds.  The GGHFI’s gain of +0.81% lagged global equity returns in the S&P 500 Total Return (2.25%), and MSCI World Equity (+2.29%) equity indices. 67% of constituent funds in the GGHFI ended the month with gains.

Global Index Strategy Highlights

•   Positive expectations propelled global stock markets upward in August, driven by anticipations of additional quantitative easing in the US and promises of bond buying from Mario Draghi in the EU. On average, Long/Short Equity funds showed improved results in August (+1.29%), though they continued to trail equity markets. Value strategies once again outperformed both Opportunistic and Growth strategies with a gain of +1.53%. Short-Biased funds struggled to profit in this bullish environment, losing -5.11% during the month on average.
•   Event-Driven strategies were one of the best performers during the month, gaining +1.74% on average. Managers in this space also benefited from the move upward in markets and firming of sentiments.
•   Long-Short Credit managers continued their streak as the best performing strategy year to date. Their August return of +1.21% brings them to a YTD result of 7.59%. On a 3 year annualized basis, these funds also lead the pack with an average return of +10.21%.
•   Funds focused on Managed Futures seesawed back to another negative return in August (-0.16%) after returning impressive results in July (+2.06%). After a year of uneven returns, these funds remain one of the weaker strategies, up only +1.25% YTD on average.
•   Regionally, funds investing in Developed Markets (+0.83%) fared similarly to those investing in Emerging Markets (+0.91%) on average in August. Managers investing in Latin America returned the strongest results on a regional basis, gaining +3.61% during the month. In the developed markets, North American focused funds led the way, gaining +1.78% on average.




Strategy Group Results            
                              August   YTD
Greenwich Global Hedge Fund Index      0.81%   3.66%
                  
Market Neutral Group                  1.00%   4.47%
   Equity Market Neutral               0.52%   1.67%
   Event Driven                     1.74%   4.98%
      Distressed Securities            3.03%   6.78%
      Merger Arbitrage               0.92%   4.29%
      Several Strategies            1.75%   4.58%
   Arbitrage                     0.54%   6.28%
      Convertible Arbitrage            0.54%   6.75%
      Fixed Income Arbitrage         1.04%   7.44%
      Other Arbitrage               -1.22%   2.22%
                  
Long-Short Equity Group               1.29%   3.54%
   Growth                        1.44%   3.91%
   Opportunistic                  0.96%   0.90%
   Short-Biased                  -5.11%   -13.58%
   Value                        1.53%   4.91%
                  
Directional Trading Group               -0.19%   1.68%
   Futures                        -0.16%   1.25%
   Macro                        -0.52%   2.18%
                  
Specialty Strategies Group            0.93%   5.58%
   Long-Short Credit               1.21%   7.59%
   Multi-Strategy                  0.76%   4.20%
                  
                  
                  
Greenwich Regional Hedge Fund Indices   August   YTD
Developed Markets               
   Composite                     0.83%   3.95%
   Global                        0.20%   2.71%
   Asia                        -0.24%   0.82%
   Europe                        0.95%   4.87%
   North America                  1.78%   5.69%
                     
Emerging Markets            
   Composite                     0.91%   2.09%
   Emerging Markets Global            0.52%   0.78%
   Emerging Markets Asia            0.12%   0.79%
   Emerging Markets Europe            1.41%   2.89%
   Emerging Markets Latin America/SA   3.61%   6.60%


The GGHFI is one of the oldest benchmarks of the hedge fund universe.  Final Strategy and Regional index results for August will be available in early October, once additional funds have submitted returns.  Past performance and indices construction rules for all Greenwich Hedge Fund Indices may be viewed at www.greenwichai.com.


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Greenwich Alternative Investments, LLC (and its affiliates) manages one of the world’s largest hedge fund databases and is among the oldest providers of hedge fund indices, asset management services, and research to institutional investors worldwide.



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