Most Hedge Fund Strategies Lose Money During March

by Phillip Morton, Investors Offshore.com

13 April 2005

Data released by hedge fund data provider the Barclay Group has revealed that 13 out of 18 hedge fund strategies lost money during the month of March.

According to the Barclay Index Flash Estimates for March, Emerging Markets suffered one of the sharpest reversals last month, losing 2.76% after a 4.73% gain in February.

Meanwhile, Convertible Arbitrage lost 1.59% as the Barclays/GHS Hedge Fund Index declined by 0.70% during the month.

Managed Futures also suffered a setback in March, with four out of seven strategies losing money. The Barclay CTA Index was down 0.30% while the Barclay BTOP 50 Index, representing the performance of the largest CTAs, gained 0.30%.

However, Sol Waksman, president of the Barclay Group pointed out that, despite the losses, hedge funds still fared better than the major equity benchmarks.

“In an environment filled with uncertainty regarding inflation, energy prices, and trade imbalances, the March returns for major stock indexes such as the S&P 500 and the Russell 2000 were down 2.15 percent and 5.60 percent respectively,” he observed.

“Year to date, hedge funds have gained 1.31 percent while US stock market indexes across the board are in negative territory,” he added.

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