Hedge funds receive meagre USD430m in April

 
The results are based on data from 3,393 funds.
 
The industry delivered a return of 0.6 per cent in April, one-third of the S&P 500’s 1.8 per cent rise. The trend was similar over the past 12 months, when hedge funds earned 8.1 per cent and the S&P 500 rose 14.3 per cent.
 
The TrimTabs/BarclayHedge Hedge Fund Flow Report noted that stock-picking hedge fund managers performed well, just as they did over the past 12 months.
 
“Equity long only hedge funds rose 4.4 per cent in April, making them the best performing of 13 major fund categories,” says Sol Waksman, president and founder of BarclayHedge. “Fixed income and multi strategy continue to be the only strategies to post inflows in the past 12 months."
 
Funds of hedge funds continued to shed assets, losing USD4.2bn in April and USD53.2bn over the past 12 months. Funds of funds outperformed the hedge fund industry for the first time in 10 months in April, outpacing the industry’s gains by 20 basis points.
 
The latest TrimTabs/BarclayHedge Survey of Hedge Fund Managers found that bearish sentiment on the S&P 500 dived by 25 percentage points in the wake of the relentless rally in May. Nevertheless, while bullishness for June slightly outstrips bearishness, most managers are neutral.