"March was a strong month for risky assets, despite a strong mid-month hiccup driven by the Cyprus banking crisis," Philip Guziec, alternative investing strategist at Morningstar, said. "Statistical arbitrage strategies were able to capitalize on trading opportunities created by this mid-month action."
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The top three performing hedge fund strategies in March were statistical arbitrage, small and mid cap, and emerging markets. The Morningstar MSCI Statistical Arbitrage Hedge Fund Index rose 5.2%, largely driven by a few statistical arbitrage managers who harvested outsized gains from the volatility and the temporary dispersion in asset prices created by the crisis in Cyprus.
Positive U.S. employment and manufacturing data drove equities higher in first half of the March, before the Cypriot banking crisis temporarily spooked markets. Stock markets also largely ignored the brewing drama in the Korean peninsula. The Morningstar MSCI Small and Mid Cap Hedge Fund Index rose 3.3% in March but failed to beat the Russell 2000 or SandP 500 Indexes that rose 4.6% and 3.8%, respectively.
The Morningstar MSCI Emerging Markets Hedge Fund Index, which increased 2.7% in March, fared well in relation to the broad market benchmarks, namely the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, which dropped 1.7% during the month. Both good news and bad news came out of emerging markets in March, and hedge funds generally managed to stay on the right side of the unfolding events. Turkish equities outperformed, for example, as a result of strong economic data and a potential reconciliation with Israel and the Kurdish movement. A drop in commodities prices, including oil and copper, however, contributed to declines in other emerging markets as did concerns over banking relationships in Cyprus.
Hedge funds focused on Asian markets also posted decent results in March. The Morningstar MSCI Asia Pacific Hedge Fund Index increased 2.4% during the month, relative to the MSCI Asia Stock Market Index, which rose 1.1% in reaction to the aggressive quantitative easing program initiated by the Bank of Japan to fight deflation. The only Morningstar Hedge Fund Index to suffer a decline in March was the Morningstar MSCI Short Bias All Size Hedge Fund Index, which dove 5.0% as most stock markets rallied.
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By GlobalDataIn February 2013, single-manager funds in Morningstar’s Hedge Fund Database saw the second consecutive month of aggregate inflows, gaining $19 million in assets. Hedge funds in the Global Macro category saw the largest inflows in February, adding $382 million, followed by Event Driven hedge funds, which saw inflows of $207 million. After multiple years of poor performance, the Systematic Futures category again saw the greatest outflows, losing $664 million in February. The Long-Only Equity category saw the second greatest outflows, at $196 million for the month. Over the trailing 12 months, investors have pulled $2.0 billion in aggregate from hedge funds in the Morningstar database. About $3.9 billion were withdrawn from funds in the Systematic Futures category alone over that period.
March returns for the Morningstar MSCI Hedge Fund Indexes and February asset flows are based on funds that reported as of April 17, 2013. Hedge fund investors, managers, consultants, and advisors can access additional information through Morningstar Direct SM, the company’s global research platform for institutions.
Morningstar has approximately 11,000 hedge funds and funds of hedge funds in its database. Morningstar calculates hedge fund indexes by applying the MSCI Hedge Fund Index Methodology and Hedge Fund Classification Standard to Morningstar’s hedge fund database. These indexes demonstrate the performance of hedge funds to investors who have hedged their currency exposure back into U.S. dollars. The MSCI Hedge Fund Index Methodology classifies hedge funds by investment process, geography, and asset class. These indexes are not investible.
This release is not intended to be an offer or solicitation for the sale of hedge funds. The information is not warranted to be accurate, complete, or timely. When considering hedge funds, investors should consider various risks, including the fact that some products engage in leveraging and other speculative investment practices that may increase the risk of investment loss, can be illiquid, are not required to provide periodic pricing or valuation information to investors, may involve complex tax structures and delays in distributing important tax information, are not subject to the same regulatory requirements as mutual funds, often charge high fees, and in many cases the underlying investments are not transparent and are known only to the investment manager. The high degree of leverage that is often obtainable in trading can lead to large losses as well as gains. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
