Introduction
The Eurekahedge Hedge Fund Index was down 0.17%1 in April; a month that saw risk-aversion return to global markets. Most regional mandates provided downside protection to their investors and outperformed the underlying market indices with the average hedge fund manager finishing the month ahead by 1.45%. The MSCI World Index declined 1.62%2 during the month.
Negative returns in April affected most regional hedge funds as market sentiment became more risk-averse leading to declines across global markets. After a short few months of strong growth, attention returned to European debt issues, soft US economic data and slowing Chinese growth. Although most regional hedge fund indices ended the month in the red, they delivered notable outperformance to their respective underlying market indices.
April 2012 and March 2012 returns
The Eurekahedge North American Hedge Fund Index finished the month with positive returns of 0.08%, beating the S&P 500 by 0.83%. Managers with positive returns banked on upbeat corporate earnings and the end of April saw a surge caused by speculation of further stimulus from the US Federal Reserve. European hedge funds provided significant outperformance during the month declining only 0.17% while the MSCI Europe Index lost 2.91%.
2MSCI AC World Index All Core (Local)
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