Introduction
The Eurekahedge Hedge Fund Index ended the month almost flat, gaining 0.09%1 with gains posted by North American mandated funds offset by losses suffered by managers focusing on Europe, Asia and Latin America. Roughly 28% of the hedge fund managers tracked by Eurekahedge managed to outperform the underlying global equity markets as represented by the MSCI AC World Index (Local) which gained 1.06% over the month. On a year-to-date basis, the Eurekahedge Hedge Fund Index was up 0.45% as of August 2018, with 10% of the constituent funds generating double-digit returns over the first eight months of the year.
Across geographic mandates, North American hedge fund managers distinguished themselves by gaining 0.88% as the only mandate to end the month in positive territory. Asia ex-Japan and Latin American mandates continued to suffer as the global emerging market rout grew deeper with Turkish lira and Argentine peso plummeting to their lowest points in recent years. The two mandates registered losses of 0.75% and 2.84% respectively in August. Over in Europe, hedge fund managers ended the month dipping into the red, losing 0.09% on average, outperforming the major European equity markets: the FTSE 100, the DAX Index, and the CAC 40 declined 4.08%, 3.45% and 1.90% respectively.
Figure 1: August 2018 and July 2018 returns across regions
On a year-to-date basis, North American fund managers were up 3.19%, followed by European and Latin American fund managers, both of which gained 0.60% over the first eight months of 2018. Meanwhile, the Eurekahedge Japan Hedge Fund Index which tracks hedge fund managers investing exclusively in Japan was down 2.75% as of August 2018 year-to-date, consecutive months of losses compounded and pushed them to the last place among the regional mandates.
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