The global hedge fund business continues to set, then break, new overall AUM records as investors pour more money into hedge funds and performance gains bolster industry AUM further.
In the week ending April 30th 2021, eVestment Hedge Fund Asset Flows Report revealed that hedge funds strong performance so far this year, which has sparked renewed interest in the business, has helped lifting total hedge fund business AUM to $3.417 trillion at the end of Q1. While investors pulled -$9.36 billion from hedge funds in March, quarterly flows for the business remained positive at +$17.68 billion.
Meanwhile, hedge fund managers ended month of March up 1.04% on an equal-weighted basis, and down 0.63% on an asset-weighted basis, said Eurekahedge. Global equity markets were supported by the implementation of the Biden administration s US$1.9 trillion economic stimulus package and the continued speedy rollout of vaccines.
In the week ending April 2nd 2021, eVestment Hedge Fund Asset Flows Report said that global hedge funds continued their strong start to 2021 with elevated asset flows in February. Positive flows for the industry in February have been the norm since 2009, but the $16.44 billion investors added to hedge funds last month, coupled with January s inflows, made this the best two-month start for the business since 2014. Strong performance in January and February was also a plus, bringing the hedge fund industry s overall AUM to $3.407 trillion.
Meanwhile, the HFM Long/Short Equity Composite is up 6.0% YTD through February 2021, overtaking the S&P 500 on a 12-month basis after another strong month. The HFM Managed Futures Composite Index was up 3.0% in February, after posting -0.2% in January, as the average CTA returned to positive territory YTD (2.8%).