Performance Gains Push Hedge Fund Industry to Record AUM

After a string of strong performances this year, some hedge fund investors may be doing a bit of profit-taking, with redemptions of -$2.9 billion from hedge funds in October, according to the just-released eVestment October 2017 Hedge Fund Asset Flows Report. However, performance gains continued pushing industry assets under management (AUM) up, with industry AUM at a record $3.253 trillion according to the new report.

The proportion of funds losing assets in October was similar to the proportion seen in September, roughly 54%. Both levels are higher than any other month of 2017, but again net redemptions were not generally high during October. Net flows for the industry year-to-date (YTD) in 2017 are strongly positive, with AUM up $33.26 billion so far.

Some other interesting points from the new report include:

• Fixed-income/credit funds saw AUM rise +$2.59 billion in October and have seen AUM rise +$10.99 billion YTD, bringing AUM for these funds to $984.1 billion.
• Equity funds were down nearly -$3 billion in AUM in October, but are still up +$15.16 billion in AUM YTD.
• Among primary strategies, managed futures funds were big winners in October, with AUM up +$2.85 billion for the month. Managed futures still suffered a big quarterly hit of -$4.85 billion in 3Q so overall AUM for these funds is up just +$3.84 billion YTD.
• Macro funds were among the big AUM losers in October, with AUM down -$3.96 billion for the month, but YTD AUM is still up +$12.58 billion.
• Emerging markets-focused funds saw AUM up +$4.23 billion in October. For the year emerging markets-focused fund AUM is up +$7.38 billion, with the biggest gainers in new assets for the year being among products focused on credit opportunities.

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