Hedge funds in Barclay’s Bank’s Hedge Fund Index continued their strong performance in 2007, gaining 0.84% in February according to flash estimates of the index. The Index is up 1.97% for the year.
“The ripple effects from a one-day collapse in the prices of Chinese equities, coupled with concerns about sub-prime lenders in the US, had many market participants wondering whether this was a correction or the beginnings of a contagion,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of The Barclay Group. “In spite of the month-end drama, most hedge fund strategies were able to post profits for February.”
Sixteen of Barclay’s 18 hedge fund indices performed well in February. Barclay’s Event Driven Index jumped 3.24%, Distressed Securities rose 1.75%, Equity Short Bias gained 1.65%, and the Multi Strategy Index was up 1.37%.
“The spill-over effect of the correction in equity prices produced increased volatility in the equity, interest rate, and currency markets,” says Waksman. “Under the circumstances, many were pleasantly surprised to see that macro funds were able to contain losses as well as they did.” Only two hedge fund indices lost value in February. The Technology Index was down 0.48%, and Global Macro slid 0.17%.