90% Of Hedge Funds In Profit In October, Says Barclay

by Phillip Morton, Investors Offshore.com

13 November 2007

Hedge funds were up 2.90% in October, adding to their 2.51% gain in September, according to flash estimates from the Barclay Hedge Fund Index.

“Global stock markets lead the way in October. All of the developed markets except Japan, Sweden and New Zealand posted gains for the month, ” stated Sol Waksman, founder and president of the Barclay Group, which actively tracks more than 6,500 hedge funds, fund of hedge funds, and managed futures programs.

Waksman revealed that seventeen of Barclay’s eighteen hedge fund indexes gained ground in October, and 90% of the funds that have submitted their returns for October have reported a profit for the month.

The Emerging Markets Index soared 5.16% in October, and leads all hedge fund strategies in 2007 with a 25.01% gain.

“With the exception of Hungary, all emerging market equity indices saw increases during October, and many of those increases were quite large. Equity markets in Brazil, Russia, India and China all registered double digit gains in October," Waksman reported.

Barclay’s Technology Index jumped 5.04%, Healthcare and Biotechnology rose 3.83%, Global Macro gained 3.67%, Equity Long Bias was up 3.29%, and the Multi-Strategy Index gained 3.08%.

The only losing strategy in October was selling the market short.

“A strong equity market presents serious challenges for short-sellers,” noted Waksman. “However, in spite of the strong rally in equity prices, the Barclay Equity Short Bias Index was down only 0.60% for the month.”

The Barclay Fund of Funds Index was up 2.87 % in October, and has gained 10.19% in 2007. The index is up 12.02% year to date.

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