Greenwich Mid-Month Update: Hedge Funds Gain 0.99% in September

Oct. 11, 2012 - PRLog -- Stamford, CT, USA, October 11, 2012 – Hedge fund managers mostly reported gains in September, with the Greenwich Global Hedge Fund Index up +0.99% for the month. September strategy returns are very similar to the August results, most strategies reported positive September returns, with the lingering exception of Managed Futures funds (-0.82%).  The GGHFI’s gain of +0.99% lags global equity returns in the S&P 500 Total Return (+2.58%), and MSCI World Equity (+2.52%) equity indices. 68% of constituent funds in the GGHFI ended the month with gains.

Global Index Strategy Highlights

·         Central Bank announcements in the US and EU again led equity markets higher in September. On average, Long/Short Equity funds reported their best month since February (+2.02%), making them the best performing group in September. In a reversal of the previous two months' trend, Growth funds (+2.60%) outperformed both Value (+2.07%) and Opportunistic funds (+1.73%). Short-Biased funds reported another month of weak results (-4.61%), still poorly positioned to perform in this bullish environment.

·         Event-Driven strategies reported another strong month (+1.45%). Distressed Securities managers performed particularly well, gaining +2.24%.

·         Long-Short Credit managers continued their streak as the best performing strategy year to date. Their September return of +1.06% brings them to a YTD result of +8.59%. On a 3 year annualized basis, these funds also lead the pack, with an average return of +9.93%.

·         Funds focused on Managed Futures reported another negative return in September (-0.82%) after returning disappointing results in August (-0.35%). Many managers struggled against declining commodity markets.

·         Regionally, funds investing in Emerging Markets (+3.43%) strongly outperformed those investing in Developed Markets (+0.76%) on average in September. Despite declining equity markets in China, managers investing in Emerging Asia returned the strongest results on a regional basis, gaining +4.54%. In the developed markets, North American focused funds led the way, gaining +1.55% on average. They were closely followed by Developed Asian funds (+1.53%).

Strategy Group Summary          September    YTD

         2012     Return

Greenwich Global Hedge Fund Index      0.99%     4.61%

Market Neutral Group          0.78%     5.23%

         Equity Market Neutral          0.51%     0.34%

         Event Driven          1.45%     6.20%

         Distressed Securities     2.24%     8.19%

         Merger Arbitrage          1.11%     5.04%

         Several Strategies         1.36%     5.62%

         Arbitrage          0.35%          6.94%

         Convertible Arbitrage     0.60%     7.75%

         Fixed Income Arbitrage  0.86%     8.51%

         Other Arbitrage         -1.00%         2.45%

Long-Short Equity Group          2.03%     5.54%

         Growth          2.60%     6.64%

         Opportunistic          1.73%     2.39%

         Short-Biased          -4.61%          -16.61%

         Value          2.07%     6.86%

Directional Trading Group          -0.46%         1.14%

         Futures          -0.82%          0.22%

         Macro          0.45%          2.84%

Specialty Strategies Group          0.76%         6.19%

         Long-Short Credit          1.06%     8.59%

         Multi-Strategy          0.60%          4.58%

Greenwich Regional Hedge Fund Indices          September   YTD

         2012    Return

Developed Markets

         Composite          0.76%        4.68%

         Global          0.05%        2.79%

         Asia          1.53%        2.66%

         Europe          0.76%        5.59%

         North America          1.55%        7.06%

Emerging Markets          

         Composite          3.43%        5.24%

         Emerging Markets Global          1.80%        2.37%

         Emerging Markets Asia          4.54%        5.26%

         Emerging Markets Europe          3.69%        6.14%

         Emerging Markets Latin America/SA 3.25%          9.06%

The GGHFI is one of the oldest benchmarks of the hedge fund universe.  Final Strategy and Regional index results for September will be available in early November, once additional funds have submitted returns.  Past performance and indices construction rules for all Greenwich Hedge Fund Indices may be viewed at www.greenwichai.com.

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Greenwich Alternative Investments, LLC (and its affiliates) manages one of the world’s largest hedge fund databases and is among the oldest providers of hedge fund indices, asset management services, and research to institutional investors worldwide.

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Greenwich Alternative Investments

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