BarclayHedge Blog

Check back each month to read the latest article related to hedge fund administration, long term trends, basic fundamental situations or some other topical study written by Dermot Butler of Custom House Global Fund Services Ltd.

In this month's paper, Butler discusses the pros and cons of independent versus self-administration of hedge funds, taking into account a number of factors, and considering the questions - Does independent administration add value? And, what does it cost?

Read the full study here.

Labels: Barclay Insider Report, CTA, Fund Administration Research Articles, Hedge Fund Administration, hedge funds, managed futures

Investors Still Need FoFs as Transparency and Managed Accounts Increase Complexity

From the First Quarter, 2010 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.

By the looks of the capital markets’ returns in 2009, it’s hard to imagine that a material amount of shrapnel from the global market crisis of 2008 still remains. With a US unemployment rate hovering above 10%, banks still attempting to clean up their balance sheets and repay their government rescue funds, and a cornucopia of regulatory change on the horizon, the S&P 500 still managed to return more than 26% in 2009, and higher risk assets, including high-yield bonds and emerging market equities, earned impressive returns of 58% and 78% respectively.

Hedge funds, despite continued redemption queues, also rebounded during the year with the Barclay Hedge Fund Index returning 23.90%. Funds of funds, while earning a favorable 10.28% return for the year, trailed their single strategy counterparts by a wide margin. Given that both single strategy hedge funds, in aggregate, and funds of funds posted similar losses of approximately 22%
in 2008, one might have expected the rebound in funds of funds in 2009 to have been healthier.

In order to dissect this performance disparity and evaluate the future role of funds of funds within the alternative investment universe, we have assembled the following panel of experts:


Jeffrey Holland, Liongate Capital Management
Scott C. Schweighauser, Aurora Investment Management LLC.
Lance Teitelbaum, Financial Risk Management

The complete article will be available on the BarclayHedge.com website in May 2010. Subscribe to receive each issue of the Barclay Managed Funds Report as it comes out.

Labels: Barclay Managed Funds Report, Barclay Roundtable, hedge funds

FAIRFIELD, Iowa, March 17, 2010– Managed futures gained 0.19% in February according to the Barclay CTA Index compiled by BarclayHedge.

“Although commodity indexes gained nearly 3.5 percent in February, the profits for CTAs came largely from the financial markets,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge.

Read the entire Managed Futures Press Release by clicking here.

Labels: BarclayHedge press release, managed futures

FAIRFIELD, Iowa, March 15, 2010– Hedge funds gained 0.78% in February according to the Barclay Hedge Fund Index compiled by BarclayHedge. Hedge funds are up 0.42% year-to-date, after gaining 23.74% in 2009.

“Hedge funds bounced back in February, more than making up for their 0.34 percent loss in January,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge.

Read the entire Hedge Fund Press Release by clicking here.

Labels: BarclayHedge press release, hedge funds

By Ron Suber, Sr. Partner and Head of Global Sales & Marketing, Merlin Securities

In his paper, Suber provides a checklist – the Merlin Necessary Nine – designed to help hedge fund managers understand and articulate their edge to institutional investors.

Download the full article here.

From the March 2010 issue of Barclay's Insider Report. Accredited investors can subscribe to the full newsletter for free.

Labels: Barclay Insider Report, Barclay Insider Report Guest Article, hedge funds, money under management

By Ludwig Chincarini, CFA, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, Pomona College

In his paper he examines the difference between quantitative and qualitative hedge funds in a variety of ways, including management differences and performance differences.


Download the full article here.

From the March 2010 issue of Barclay's Insider Report. Accredited investors can subscribe to the full newsletter for free.

Labels: Barclay Insider Report, Barclay Insider Report Guest Article, hedge fund research, hedge funds

Hedge funds had a positive month in January reflected by gains in twelve of our eighteen indices. The average return for the 2,636 hedge funds (ex. FoFs) that have so far reported a January return is -0.35%. The estimates for February, 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, 15 of 18 hedge fund sectors are showing positive returns for February.

Commodity Trading Advisor performance for January as measured by the Barclay CTA Index averaged -1.58%. February's estimate based on the performance of the Barclay BTOP50 Index is +0.89%.

Hedge Fund Indices Managed Futures Indices

From the March 2010 issue of Barclay's Insider Report. Accredited investors can subscribe to the full newsletter for free.

Labels: Barclay Insider Report, commodity trading advisor, hedge fund performance

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New York, NY – March 9, 2010 – TrimTabs Investment Research and BarclayHedge reported that the U.S. dollar is the currency on which hedge fund managers are most bullish in the near term. Six in 10 fund managers cite the greenback as their preferred currency investment over the next three months, according to the February TrimTabs/BarclayHedge Currency Survey of Hedge Fund Managers.

“The debt crisis in Greece, the creditworthiness of other countries in Europe, and the U.S. dollar rally have market participants focused on currencies,” said Vincent Deluard, Global Equity Strategist at TrimTabs. “We think currencies will dominate other investment themes throughout 2010.”

Read the entire TrimTabs Asset Flows into Hedge Funds Press Release by clicking here.

Labels: BarclayHedge press release, CTA, flows into CTAs, flows into hedge funds, hedge fund flows, hedge fund research, hedge funds

New York, NY – March 8, 2010 – TrimTabs Investment Research and BarclayHedge reported that all hedge funds posted an estimated inflow of $7.1 billion, or 0.5% of assets, in January 2010.  Total hedge fund assets stand at $1.5 trillion, up 23.6% from the April 2009 low, thanks to an unprecedented 11-month winning streak.

“January bucked the trend,” said Sol Waksman, CEO of BarclayHedge.  “The first month of the year typically delivers a redemption-driven outflow.  The fact that hedge funds managed to attract money is a good sign.”

Read the entire TrimTabs Asset Flows into Hedge Funds Press Release by clicking here.

Labels: BarclayHedge press release, CTA, flows into CTAs, flows into hedge funds, hedge fund flows, hedge fund research, hedge funds

BarclayHedge is now posting new fund launches on our website. Check back often, as we’ll be updating this information daily. To see the latest hedge funds, fund of funds and CTAs that have launched recently or will be launching soon click here. Fund Managers who would like to see their new fund listed on Barclay’s website and featured in the next Insider Report, can submit new fund launch press releases directly to rmiller@barclayhedge.com. Below is a list of the latest fund launches:

• DGC Flexible Asset Allocation


• Goldvest Bullion Fund Ltd


• Taurus Global Resources Hedge Fund Ltd

From the March 2010 issue of Barclay's Insider Report. Accredited investors can subscribe to the full newsletter for free.

Labels: CTA, hedge funds, New Fund Launches

The topical study from the March 2010 issue of The Hedge Fund Flow Report. Gain insight into industry trends and hedge fund asset flows before you make your next important decision.


The Greek sovereign debt crisis and the U.S. dollar rally have drawn attention to currencies in the past month. We expect currencies to dominate other investment themes throughout 2010. Massive government spending and extreme monetary policy choices halted the 2008 crisis, but they also dramatically altered government balance sheets and monetary outlooks. We believe the market will adjust to these new realities through trial and error.

We surveyed hedge fund managers and currency traders in the BarclayHedge database about their expectations for the currency market. Specifically, we asked about their favorite currency in the short term, their opinion of the Greek debt crisis, and their view on long-term U.S. interest rates.

Our findings . . .

Accredited investors can read the entire article for free.

From the March 2010 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.

Labels: CTA, Hedge Fund Flow Topical Study, hedge funds