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FAIRFIELD, Iowa, November 15, 2012 – Hedge funds gained 0.32% in October, according to the Barclay Hedge Fund Index compiled by BarclayHedge. The Index is up 6.09% year to date.
“News flows continued to drive the markets in October,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge.
“Equity markets rallied early in the month on the ECB’s announced willingness to purchase unlimited amounts of Spanish government debt, but weak third quarter earnings contributed to economic growth concerns that caused equity prices to end mostly lower.”
Overall, 13 of Barclay’s 18 hedge fund indices gained ground in October.
The Barclay Distressed Securities Index was up 2.40%, Equity Short Bias gained 1.08%, European Equities rose 1.00%, the Event Driven Index added 0.78%, and the Multi Strategy Index was up 0.57%.
“Distressed Securities funds are benefiting from artificially low interest rates on government bonds that are driving yield-hungry investors into high-yield credits,” says Waksman.
On the negative side of the ledger, the Merger Arbitrage Index fell 1.89%, Technology was down 1.81%, and Global Macro lost 0.81%.
Year to date, the Healthcare & Biotechnology is up 13.60%, and Distressed Securities have gained 10.03%. The Equity Short Bias Index has lost 17.15% in 2012. All other strategies tracked by BarclayHedge have had positive returns this year.
The Barclay Fund of Funds Index lost 0.19% in October, but remains up 2.98% in 2012.
Click here to view five years of Barclay Hedge Fund Index data, or download 14 years of monthly data.
Sol Waksman is an experienced media source, providing perspectives on hedge fund and managed futures trends. For more commentary or background, call 641-472-3456 or email swaksman@barclayhedge.com.
BarclayHedge was founded in 1985 and actively tracks more than 6,200 hedge funds, funds of hedge funds, and managed futures programs. Each month Barclay provides updated performance rankings for 38 Hedge Fund categories, 16 CTA categories, and 7 UCITS categories.
Institutional investors, brokerage firms, and private banks worldwide utilize BarclayHedge indices as performance benchmarks for the hedge fund and managed futures industries.
