HEDGE FUNDS POST FIRST DECLINE FOR 2013 IN JUNE

HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index declines -1.3 percent, snapping seven-month advance; Losses led by Emerging Markets, Commodity, interest rate-sensitive exposures

Hedge funds posted the first monthly decline for 2013 in June, ending a streak of seven consecutive months of gains, the longest run of positive performance seen by the industry since 2011, according to data released today by HFR, the established global leader in the indexation, research and analysis of the hedge fund industry.     

The HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index declined -1.3 percent for the month, only the second decline in the trailing thirteen months. All four main HFRI Strategy Indices posted losses for June, with declines led by Macro and Equity Hedge strategies. The HFRI Macro Index posted a decline of -1.5 percent with negative contributions from Trend Following strategies, Fixed Income, Emerging Markets and Commodity Metals exposures. Emerging Markets posted losses across equity, sovereign bond and currency markets, as US yields rose significantly for the month; HFRI Emerging Markets Index declined by -4.0 percent, led by declines in Emerging Asia and Latin America, which declined -5.7 and -5.2 percent, respectively. The HFRI Systematic Diversified/CTA Index declined -1.8 percent, erasing the previous YTD gain of +1.3 percent through May. Commodity-focused strategies also declined by -1.4 percent, while Discretionary Macro strategies declined -1.9 percent.

HFRI Equity Hedge Index fell by -1.4 percent, led by a decline of -2.7 percent in Fundamental Growth strategies. However, the Equity Hedge sub-strategies of Short Bias, Technology/Healthcare and Equity Market Neutral posted gains of +0.7, +0.7 and +0.4 percent, respectively.

HFRI Event Driven Index declined -1.2 percent in June, its first decline following 12 consecutive months of gains, with performance adversely impacted by a significant widening of high yield credit spreads, as well as equity market losses. Activist strategies posted gains which only partially offset other Event Driven losses, while HFRI Merger Arbitrage Index posted a decline of -0.5 percent.

Fixed income-based Relative Value Arbitrage posted its first decline in 13 months, with the HFRI Relative Value Index declining -0.9 percent; the HFRI RV: Multi-Strategy Index, including credit multi-strategy funds, declined -1.4 percent, offsetting a positive contribution from Yield Alternative strategies, which gained +1.7 percent. The HFRI RV: Fixed Income - Corporate Index was the weakest area of RVA sub-strategy performance, falling nearly -2.7 percent, while the HFRI Asset Backed and Convertible Arbitrage Indices posted more moderate declines of -0.7 and -0.4 percent, respectively.
Comments from Kenneth J. Heinz, President of HFR:

"Risk-off sentiment dominated June hedge fund performance as investors and fund managers positioned for curtailment of stimulus efforts by the U.S. Federal Reserve, resulting in increased volatility and pressuring emerging market, interest rate-sensitive and commodity-focused funds, while tactical positioning and effective short hedging mitigated a portion of the losses across these areas, June performance was significant in that the trends of the previous six months across most asset classes were reversed as bond yields posted a sharp increase. Many hedge funds have and continue to be actively and conservatively positioned for the complex impacts of stimulus extraction, and investors are likely to benefit from this positioning in the second half of the year."

Comments reference Flash Update performance figures as posted on July 8, 2013.