Tuesday, December 16, 2008

 

Barclay CTA Index Adds 1.54% in November; CTA’s Thrive Amidst Market Meltdown

FAIRFIELD, Iowa, December 16, 2008– Managed futures gained another 1.54% in November, according to the Barclay CTA Index compiled by BarclayHedge.

Through November the CTA Index has gained 12.69 percent, in stark contrast to a 21.27 percent loss for hedge funds and the 37.66 percent collapse in the S&P 500.

“CTAs appear to be on track to achieve their best annual performance since 1995 when the Barclay CTA Index gained 13.64 percent,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge.

In November, the Barclay Financial/Metals Index gained 1.98%, Systematic Traders were up 1.87%, and the Diversified Traders Index rose 1.84%.

“In response to sharp declines in growth, governments focused on deflation, lowered interest rates, and bond prices rallied,” says Waksman.

Barclay’s Diversified Traders Index has gained 24.54% year-to-date, Systematic Traders are up 16.50%, and Discretionary Traders have gained 12.17%.

“As the economy continued to slow, the down-trend in commodities was extended as demand and prices for energy products, base metals, and agricultural products all declined,” says Waksman.

“Traders that shorted stock index futures had been able to take substantial profits as the S&P 500 dropped to levels not seen in more than a decade.”

The Barclay BTOP50 Index, which monitors performance of the largest traders, gained 1.74% in November and is up 11.86% year-to-date.

Click here to view 28 years of Barclay CTA Index data.

Sol Waksman is an experienced media source, providing perspectives on hedge fund and managed futures trends. For quotes, commentary or background, call 641-472-3456 or email swaksman@barclayhedge.com.

BarclayHedge (formerly The Barclay Group) was founded in 1985 and actively tracks more than 6,600 hedge funds, funds of hedge funds, and managed futures programs. Barclay has created and regularly updates 18 proprietary hedge fund indexes and eight managed futures indexes.

Institutional investors, brokerage firms and private banks worldwide utilize BarclayHedge data as performance benchmarks for the hedge fund and managed futures industries.

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Monday, December 15, 2008

 

Barclay Hedge Fund Index Slides 2.34% in November; Hedge Funds Down a Record 20.63% in Past Six Months

FAIRFIELD, Iowa, December 15, 2008– Hedge funds lost another 2.34% in November according to the Barclay Hedge Fund Index compiled by BarclayHedge, and are down an unprecedented 20.63% since June 2008.

“The past six months of losses have been the worst on record for the hedge fund industry,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge.

“Prior to 2008, the longest string of consecutive losing months was three. Hedge funds lost 4.25 percent from September through November of 2000, and then 3.30 percent from July through September of 2001.”

any hedge fund strategies experienced significant losses in November. Barclay’s Equity Long Bias Index dropped 4.81%, Healthcare & Biotechnology fell 4.50%, the Emerging Markets Index was down 4.22%, and Convertible Arbitrage lost 3.69%.

merging Markets has been the worst performing strategy in 2008, losing 39.34% year-to-date. Equity Long Bias is down 28.81%, and Convertible Arbitrage has lost 28.02%.

“Early in 2008, there was a great deal of discussion about how emerging markets had ‘decoupled’ from developed markets,” says Waksman.

"The current economic environment has clearly demonstrated that when consumption decreases in developed nations, exporting nations also feel the pain.”

Four of Barclay’s 16 hedge fund indices provided positive returns in November. The Barclay Equity Short Bias Index gained 3.51%, and is up 43.76% in 2008.

Barclay’s Global Macro Index rose 1.47% in November, Pacific Rim Equities gained 0.23%, and Equity Market Neutral was up 0.13%.

Equity Market Neutral is now down just 0.98% for the year, and Global Macro has a loss of 1.32%.

Through November, the Barclay Hedge Fund Index has fallen 21.27% in 2008, compared to a loss of 37.66% in the S&P 500.

The Barclay Fund of Funds Index was down 1.64% in November, and has lost 20.04% year to date.

Click here to view five years of Barclay Hedge Fund Index data, or download 11 years of monthly data.

Sol Waksman is an experienced media source, providing perspectives on hedge fund and managed futures trends. For quotes, commentary or background, call 641-472-3456 or email swaksman@barclayhedge.com.

BarclayHedge (formerly The Barclay Group) was founded in 1985 and actively tracks more than 6,600 hedge funds, funds of hedge funds, and managed futures programs. Barclay has created and regularly updates 18 proprietary hedge fund indexes and eight managed futures indexes.

Institutional investors, brokerage firms and private banks worldwide utilize BarclayHedge data as performance benchmarks for the hedge fund and managed futures industries.

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Thursday, December 11, 2008

 

Barclay Roundtable: Bailouts and Privatizations of US Financial Firms Shift Landscape

What is the Future of Traditional Banking & Investment Banking in an Era of Regulation?


From the Fourth Quarter, 2008 issue of Barclay Managed Funds Report. The full report also includes 24 hedge fund and managed futures performance ranking tables and in-depth manager profiles. Subscribe. View Roundtables from back issues.


Unprecedented – a word not lost on the investment world recently to describe the global capital turmoil as we have entered a new era of change, fear, illiquidity, selling, and volatility that has not been seen in decades. It may not be easy to exactly pinpoint where it all started, but it’s safe to say that the heart of the problem was, and remains, within the financial sector. Inflated real estate values, a flood of new mortgages, overextended borrowers, highly levered securitizations, and tenuous bank balance sheets. All of the above seemed harmless, and routine, as long as the investment community continued to feed the liquidity machine. But once the music stopped, it didn’t take long for things to unravel and spark a severe chain of events: mortgage delinquencies, defaults, margin calls, bank insolvencies, frozen lending, widespread global market sell offs, and government interventions. Where does it all end? As of the writing of this article, the events have only begun to unfold, and the light at the end of the tunnel remains hazy.


From chaos and irrationality, however, comes great opportunity. Many a hedge fund manager has been uttering this sentiment for the last several weeks. No greater potential, for that matter, may be more prevalent than within the financial sector from whence the trouble started. Battered banks, high yielding REITs, severely discounted mortgage pools, stressed asset management organizations, and more. There is undoubtedly a great deal of profit to be made, but not without sidestepping some landmines.


In order to better understand the current environment and opportunity set within the financial sector, we have assembled a panel of experts with experience trading equities in this troubled area. Our panelists are:


Len Riddell, Martin Currie Investment Management, Ltd.
Nick Watkins, Texas Capital Limited.
Bo Thiara, Peninsula, LP.




The complete article will be available on the BarclayHedge.com website in January. Subscribe to receive each issue of the Barclay Managed Funds Report at it comes out.

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Funds with Shortest Redemptions Periods Post the Highest Outflows

The topical study from the December 2008 issue of The Hedge Fund Flow Report. Gain insight into industry trends and hedge fund asset flows before you make your next important decision.

Many market strategists blamed October’s late day sell-offs on hedge fund eleveraging. Though hedge funds sold equities to meet redemptions requests, those redemptions totaled $87 billion between September and October, against $128 billion from equity mutual funds. How do we reconcile these relatively low redemptions with unprecedented market volatility?

Due to long redemption terms, only a fraction of hedge funds returned cash to investors who redeemed in September and October.

We have seen only the tip of the iceberg in redemptions . .

Accredited investors can read the entire article for free.

From the December 2008 issue of The Hedge Fund Flow Report. The Hedge Fund Flow Report combines the accuracy of the BarclayHedge database with the analytical insight of TrimTabs Investment Research. The report is generated by TrimTabs Investment Research using the most current data on thousands of hedge funds. An annual subscription includes 12 monthly updates as well as a spreadsheet containing historical flow aggregates by category.

To download a free sample of the entire TrimTabs Hedge Fund Flow Report, simply fill out this short request form.

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The Impact of Hedge Fund Family Membership on Performance and Market Share

By Nicole M. Boyson, Assistant Professor of Finance, Northeastern University

The paper investigates why hedge funds from small fund families outperform those from large fund families.


Download the full article here

From the December 2008 issue of Barclay's Insider Report. Accredited investors can subscribe to the full newsletter for free.

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Tuesday, December 9, 2008

 

October Commodity Trading Advisor and Hedge Fund Performance

Commodity Trading Advisor performance for October as measured by the Barclay CTA Index averaged +3.62%. November's estimate based on the performance of the Barclay BTOP50 Index is +1.74%.

Hedge funds had another down month in October reflected by losses in fifteen of our eighteen indices. The average return for the 2,653 hedge funds (ex. FoFs) that have so far reported an October return is -8.07%. The estimates for November, along with the number of funds reporting for each of our 18 sectors can be found at the link below. These indices are being continually updated as current returns for the underlying hedge funds are recorded into our system. As of this writing, 14 of 18 hedge fund sectors are showing negative returns for November.

Hedge Fund Indices and Managed Futures Indices


From the December 2008 issue of Barclay's Insider Report. Accredited investors can subscribe to the full newsletter for free.

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