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FAIRFIELD, Iowa, May 10, 2007– Hedge funds doubled their strong March returns with a 1.77% gain in April, according to flash estimates from the Barclay Hedge Fund Index.
“Most of the world’s equity markets, both developed and emerging, measured gains in April,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of The Barclay Group.
“Recent figures for the companies that comprise the S&P 500 Index indicate that 50 percent of revenue comes from outside the US. So although economic growth at home has been slow, offshore revenues and a weak dollar have been significant contributors to profitability and to higher stock valuations.”
This is the tenth straight month of gains for the Barclay Hedge Fund Index, which has averaged a 1.08% monthly return since July 2006.
Seventeen of Barclay’s 18 hedge fund indices were up in April. Barclay’s Healthcare and Biotechnology Index gained 3.17%, Equity Long Bias rose 2.76%, Emerging Markets gained 2.58%, Multi Strategy was up 2.36%, and Technology rose 2.46%.
Equity Short Bias was the only loser in April, down 3.11% for the month.
“Typically, hedge funds underperform stock indices in strong up markets,” says Waksman. “The money invested in short positions is oftentimes the culprit.”
The Barclay Hedge Fund Index is up 4.66% for the year verses a gain of 5.10% for the S&P 500 Total Return Index.
Click here to view ten years of Barclay Hedge Fund Index data.
Sol Waksman is an experienced media source, providing perspectives on hedge fund and managed futures trends.
Call 641-472-3456 or email sol@barclayhedge.com for more commentary or background.
The Barclay Group, founded in 1985, actively tracks 6,100 hedge funds and managed futures programs. Barclay has created and regularly updates 18 proprietary hedge fund indexes and eight managed futures indexes.
Institutional investors, brokerage firms and private banks worldwide utilize Barclay’s indexes as performance benchmarks for the hedge fund and managed futures industries.
