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Index Press Release - 08 May 2012

Large hedge funds gain 0.47% in April, while smaller hedge funds finish in negative territory

Hedge fund returns were flat to slightly negative in April as most regions and strategies witnessed marginal movements during the month. As managers provided downturn protection amid declining markets globally, the Eurekahedge Hedge Fund Index¹ was down 0.07% and the MSCI World Index² declined 1.62%.

Key highlights for April 2012:

The asset-weighted Mizuho-Eurekahedge Top 100 Index increased 0.28% in April 2012, confirming a better month for larger funds.
Relative value and fixed income hedge funds are a bright light in the industry - they have now witnessed five consecutive months of positive returns with gains of 5.91% and 4.56% respectively.
Launch activity has remained strong in 2012 with more than 150 funds launched worldwide as at the end of April 2012.
Assets in distressed debt hedge funds were back above US$60 billion.
The Eurekahedge Latin American Hedge Fund Index saw a surge of 6.45% at end-April 2012.

Main Indices

Main Indices	April 2012*	2012 Returns	2011 Returns
Eurekahedge Hedge Fund Index	-0.07	3.78	-3.81
Eurekahedge Fund of Funds Index	-0.44	2.40	-5.59
Eurekahedge (Long-Only) Absolute Return Fund Index	-0.71	10.25	-14.17
Eurekahedge Islamic Fund Index	-0.29	5.51	-3.48

Regional Indices

Regional Indices	April 2012*	2012 Returns	2011 Returns
Eurekahedge North American Hedge Fund Index	-0.07	4.47	-0.66
Eurekahedge European Hedge Fund Index	-0.23	4.29	-6.26
Eurekahedge Eastern Europe & Russia Hedge Fund Index	-4.87	2.87	-20.37
Eurekahedge Japan Hedge Fund Index	-1.30	3.34	-1.40
Eurekahedge Emerging Markets Hedge Fund Index	0.54	6.30	-8.08
Eurekahedge Asia ex-Japan Hedge Fund Index	-0.23	6.01	-12.35
Eurekahedge Latin American Hedge Fund Index	1.09	6.45	2.49

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.

The Eurekahedge North American Hedge Fund Index finished the month dropping by 0.07%, beating the S&P 500 by 0.68%. 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 with declining only 0.23% while the MSCI Europe Index lost 2.91%.

Emerging market hedge funds were up 0.54% in the month, bucking the trend from other regions and underlying markets and the MSCI Emerging Markets Index was down 0.96% in April. Latin American hedge funds once again delivered substantial outperformance with gains of 1.09% while the Brazil IBovespa saw sharp losses of 4.17% while the Eurekahedge Latin American Hedge Fund Index shot up 6.45% by end-April 2012.

Strategy Indices

Most strategies were marginally positive in April with risk neutral and fixed income strategies posting the highest gains. The Eurekahedge Relative Value Hedge Fund Index increased 0.82% backed up by profits made from market neutral trades within the bond space and from special situations. Fixed income managers captured healthy returns of 0.43% as weak growth continued to weigh on many countries, sending more inflows into bond products. Australia and Brazil for example, displayed evidence of a weakening domestic economy leading central banks to soften monetary policy. Unemployment in Spain spiked to nearly 25% prompting S&P to downgrade the country’s debt two notches to BBB+. Multi-strategy hedge funds also registered a net gain for the month of 0.39% as most managers kept diversified portfolios and adopted short term investment styles. CTAs on the other hand witnessed a flat month attributed from losses in long US dollar, commodity and equity positions.

Strategy Indices	April 2012*	2012 Returns	2011 Returns
Eurekahedge Arbitrage Hedge Fund Index	-0.11	3.09	1.07
Eurekahedge CTA/Managed Futures Hedge Fund Index	-0.01	-0.53	-2.38
Eurekahedge Distressed Debt Hedge Fund Index	-0.37	5.23	-2.53
Eurekahedge Event Driven Hedge Fund Index	-0.11	4.76	-4.68
Eurekahedge Fixed Income Hedge Fund Index	0.43	4.23	0.93
Eurekahedge Long/Short Equities Hedge Fund Index	-0.46	5.41	-6.96
Eurekahedge Macro Hedge Fund Index	0.23	2.09	-1.32
Eurekahedge Multi-Strategy Hedge Fund Index	0.39	4.67	-2.06
Eurekahedge Relative Value Hedge Fund Index	0.82	5.40	-0.11

Mizuho-Eurekahedge Indices	April 2012*	2012 Returns	2011 Returns
Mizuho-Eurekahedge Index - USD	0.15	3.27	-2.07
Mizuho-Eurekahedge TOP 100 Index - USD	0.21	2.28	1.87
Mizuho-Eurekahedge TOP 300 Index - USD	0.16	2.35	0.04

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Footnotes

¹ Based on 27.97% of funds which have reported April 2012 returns as at 8 May 2012

² MSCI AC World Index All Cap Local Currency.