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Three of the five hedge fund strategies published by Dow Jones Hedge Fund Indexes posted net-of-fees losses in April 2009.
Considering the high volatility the market has faced in the past 6 months, hedge funds showed only small returns for the month, whether they were positive or negative.
Event driven, the strongest performer for the month, nearly broke 1% in gains, and now sits atop the other strategies for the year with a 3% return. Conversely, despite a modest 0.35% gain for April from distressed securities, the benchmark remains a distant laggard among the strategies for the year, returning -9%.
The three remaining strategies each lost less than 1% in April. Merger arbitrage moved out of the top spot on a YTD basis as the strategy fell 29 basis points for the month, lowering its 2009 return to 2.34%. Equity long/short fell nearly half a percent and is down -1,01% for the year. Lastly, equity market neutral rounded out the benchmarks with a loss of 85 basis points, increasing its YTD loss to -2.72%.
Convertible arbitrage was suspended on January 2, 2009 and remained suspended through the month of April.
|
DJHFSB |
2009 Net-of-fees Performance |
||
|
|
April |
1Q |
YTD |
|
Distressed
Securities |
0.35% |
-9.31% |
-9.00% |
|
Equity
Long/Short |
-0.40% |
-0.62% |
-1.01% |
|
Equity
Market Neutral |
-0.85% |
-1.90% |
-2.72% |
|
Event
Driven |
0.94% |
2.04% |
3.00% |
|
Merger
Arbitrage |
-0.29% |
2.64% |
2.34% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dow
Jones U.S. Total Stock Market Index |
10.52% |
-10.56% |
-1.16% |
|
Dow
Jones Global Total Stock Market Index |
12.44% |
-10.28% |
0.88% |
|
Dow
Jones Corporate Bond Index |
3.07% |
-1.87% |
1.14% |
On a float-adjusted basis, the Dow Jones U.S. Total Stock Market Index, the only broad measure of the domestic equity market, returned10.52% (10.64% on a full-cap basis) in April bringing its YTD loss to -1.16% (-0.55% on a full-cap basis).
The fixed income asset class, as measured by the Dow Jones Corporate Bond Index gained 3.07% this month for a cumulative gain of 1.14% for the year.
Finally, the Dow Jones Global Total Stock Market Index, the broadest measure of global equity markets, was up 12.44% for the month giving the index a positive YTD gain of 0.88% for 2009.
Note: April 2009 figures for the Dow Jones Hedge Fund Strategy Benchmarks are based on daily estimates net of fees. Final performance figures for April 2009 will be available towards the end of May 2009. The methodology used to calculate the Dow Jones Hedge Fund Strategy Benchmarks is available on www.djhedgefundindexes.com .
