Sad Hedge Funds Continue to Droop
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Following on negative reports on November hedge fund performance from BarclayHedge
and Greenwich, Morningstar's MSCI Composite Hedge Fund Index has now reported
a 0.1% fall in November. But as Mallory Horejs, alternative investments analyst
at Morningstar, points out, the MSCI World NR Stock Index posted a 2.4% decline
for the month.
"In contrast to strong market performance last month, global equities
struggled in November as ongoing debt woes and weakening macroeconomic data
plagued investor sentiment; skittish investors sought out safe-haven assets
such as gold and Treasuries, and the US dollar appreciated against almost every
major currency,"said Horejs.
Weakening belief in the counter-cyclical strength of emerging markets took
its toll, with worrying news arriving from India and China. The Morningstar
MSCI Emerging Markets Hedge Fund Index was down 3.2%, while the comparable MSCI
EM Stock Index dropped 6.7%.
Europe saw a somewhat less dispiriting picture, with all bad news already
factored in, perhaps, despite poor unemployment figures and the Cameron/Sarkozy
debacle. So the markets went sideways, with The Morningstar MSCI Europe Hedge
Fund Index off only 0.8%. Stocks faredd worse, though, falling 4.5%.
Funds of funds continued to leak assets in November: Morningstar says that
they have lost $4.4bn through redemptions, year to date. |
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