Hedge Funds See 2nd Consecutive Month of Positive Performance in April

April saw a second consecutive month of positive aggregate hedge fund performance at +1.10%, bringing year-to-date returns to +0.83%. Two thirds of global funds reporting to eVestment saw positive returns in April, with Russia- and Brazil-focused funds showing extraordinary strength, returning 8.51% and 6.01% respectively.

Some other interesting points from the just-released April report, according to report author Peter Laurelli, eVestment VP and global head of research, include:

· Commodity hedge funds produced average aggregate returns of +4.10% in April, bringing YTD returns to +6.01%. The group benefitted from a surge of higher prices across the commodity spectrum during the month.

· Hedge funds focused on energy equities continued to rebound in-line with the commodity’s price. Average gains of +3.04% bring YTD returns to +1.29% after losses of -11.27% in 2015.

· After a significant stretch of losses, creating a drawdown dating back to July 2014, credit hedge funds posted their second consecutive large gain in April. The group returned an average of +2.15%, which brings YTD returns positive, +1.92%.

· Activist hedge funds posted a second consecutive positive month in April, returning an average of +1.27%. Gains in April followed a significant rise in March and the group is now +1.13% in 2016, slightly underperforming the S&P 500 TR and global equity benchmarks.

· Russia- and Brazil-focused funds lead emerging markets funds in April and for the year funds focused on those countries have returned more than 20%. Emerging markets funds as a whole returned +2.50% and year-to-date stand at +2.73%.

To download a full copy of the report, please click here.