Equities Drive Credit Suisse-Tremont Hedge Fund Index Gains

by Carla Johnson, Investors Offshore.com

23 November 2006

The Credit Suisse/Tremont Hedge Fund Index is up 1.77% in October and up 1.77% for the third quarter, according to Oliver Schupp, President of the Credit Suisse Tremont, LLC.

“As the employment rate and fuel prices fell and the Dow Jones Industrial Average reached record highs, the economy was strengthened from last quarter's lacklustre returns," observed Schupp.

"With these upbeat market trends, the majority of hedge fund sectors ended the month on a positive note. Event Driven and Long/Short Equity managers enjoyed a positive performance of 2.23% and 2.19% respectively given the global equity market rallies and healthy levels of corporate activity," he added.

Robert I. Schulman, Chief Executive Officer of Tremont Group Holdings, Inc., added that: “With the worlds largest IPO of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the Emerging Markets sector benefited from an increased wealth accumulation and confidence by local companies."

"A decrease in oil prices also contributed to a favourable market environment and Emerging Markets managers ended the month up, 2.86%. Conversely, Dedicated Short Bias managers were inversely affected by positive global equity trends and ended the month down, 4.25% for the month of October," Schulman noted.

The Credit Suisse/Tremont Hedge Fund Index is comprised of 437 funds as of October 31, 2006. The Index is constructed using the Credit Suisse/Tremont database of more than 4,500 hedge funds. It includes both open and closed funds located in the US and offshore, but does not include fund of funds.

In order to qualify for inclusion in the index selection, a fund must have a minimum of US$50 million under management, have a 12-month track record, and audited financial statements. Index funds are selected using a formula based on assets under management.

Meanwhile, the Credit Suisse/Tremont Investable Hedge Fund Index gained an estimated 0.93% net for the month of October 2006.

Launched with 60 funds on August 1, 2003, the Investable Hedge Fund Index is designed to give investors broad exposure to hedge funds as an asset class. It is based on the broad Credit Suisse/Tremont Hedge Fund Index.

Recommended