Barclay Hedge Fund Index Gains 2.28% In April

by Carla Johnson, Investors Offshore.com

19 May 2008

Hedge funds gained 2.28% in April according to the Barclay Hedge Fund Index compiled by BarclayHedge.

“Overall performance of the hedge fund industry has been on-again off-again in 2008, with losses in January and March offsetting February and April gains,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge.

Sixteen of Barclay's 18 hedge fund indexes had a positive return for April.

Technology soared 6.41% to erase a first quarter drop of 5.58%. The Pacific Rim Equities Index jumped 3.75% after three straight months of losses, and Fixed Income Arbitrage gained 3.00% after a 5.71% plunge in March.

The Emerging Markets Index rebounded 3.87% in April following a 4.64% loss in March.

“Global equity markets enjoyed a broad-based rally in April, raising stock prices in both developed and emerging markets,” says Waksman.

“Stock markets in Brazil, China, and India saw double digit increases for the month," he added.

The Distressed Securities Index gained 1.99% in April after five straight months of losses.

“Market pundits are speculating that the financial sector’s worst losses from the sub-prime meltdown may be behind us. As evidence, they cite recent price increases in credit default swaps for financial firms, as well as a narrowing of the interest rate spread between investment grade and high yield credits," Waksman observed.

The BarclayHedge Fund of Funds Index rose 1.16% in April.

The Equity Short Bias Index was down 2.73% in April, however it leads all indices in 2008 with a 10.00% gain year to date.

BarclayHedge (formerly The Barclay Group) was founded in 1985 and actively tracks more than 6,800 hedge funds, funds of hedge funds, and managed futures programs.

http://www.barclayhedge.com/research/press_releases/PR_May_08_2008.html

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