MCSI Hedge Fund Index Reports Gain In February

by Carla Johnson, Investors Offshore.com

01 April 2005

Hedge funds in the MSCI Hedge Fund Composite Index returned a 1.5% gain during the month February, recently released final monthly performance figures have revealed.

According to MSCI, all process groups gained during February, with the largest return seen by the Security Selection Index, a strategy combining long positions and short sales with the aim of hedging downside risk, which finished the month up 2.13%.

Under MSCI Security Selection Index, the Long Bias and Short Bias funds posted gains of 2.55% and 0.48% respectively.

The Relative Value Index posted the lowest return of 0.36% among process groups, within which Statistical Arbitrage posted the highest gain of 1.16%, while Convertible Arbitrage was the only process posting a loss with a return of -0.61%.

By asset class, the Equity Index and the Fixed Income Index posted gains of 1.89% and 1.10% respectively.

By geography, the Emerging Markets Index posted the largest gain of 4% followed by the Japan Index and the Global Markets Index, which gained 3.37% and 2.58% respectively.

The MSCI Hedge Fund Database has grown to over 2,000 hedge funds and more than 190 indices representing more than $260 billion in assets. Over 98% of the funds in the database reported performance as of February’s index calculation.

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