Hedge Funds "Only" Shed $8.9 Billion in January
“Best showing in seven months.” Not bad compared to the $28.1 billion outflow in December.
Traders Magazine Online News, March 10, 2015
Phil Albinus
Hedge Fund redeemed $8.9 billion or 0.4 percent of assets in January. This is down from December’s outflow of $28.1 billion (1.1 oercent of assets), which was the largest redemption since April 2009.
These are the findings of market research firms BarclayHedge and TrimTabs Investment Research in a press statement released today
“The hedge fund industry has not suffered two consecutive monthly outflows since mid-2012,” said Sol Waksman, president and founder of BarclayHedge. “Hedge funds added $57.8 billion from February 2014 through January 2015, down 24 percent from $75.7 billion in the previous twelve-month span.”
Hedge fund industry assets dipped to a nine-month low of $2.43 trillion in January, according to BarclayHedge estimate based on data from 3,547 funds.
The monthly TrimTabs/BarclayHedge Hedge Fund Flow Report noted that the hedge fund industry lost 0.1 percent in January, outperforming the S&P 500, which fell 3.1 percent. In the past 12 months, hedge funds returned 3.3 percent, while the S&P 500 rose 11.9 percent, according to a press statement.
“Fixed Income funds had their best showing in seven months, rising 0.8 percent in January,” said Waksman. “These funds also had the strongest January inflows at $2.6 billion.”
But not all is good news. The same press stamement adds, “The latest TrimTabs/BarclayHedge Hedge Fund Sentiment Survey finds that hedge fund managers’ optimism on U.S. stocks faded a bit in February, breaking a four-month streak of increases. Bullishness on the U.S. dollar eased from January’s record high.”
Managers are also less bullish on gold prices, and many believe that oil prices may have hit their bottom, according to the press statement.
