Hedge funds gained 2.28% in April according to the Barclay Hedge Fund Index compiled by BarclayHedge.
“Overall performance of the hedge fund industry has been on-again off-again in 2008, with losses in January and March offsetting February and April gains,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge.
Sixteen of Barclay’s 18 hedge fund indexes had a positive return for April.
Technology soared 6.41% to erase a first quarter drop of 5.58%. The Pacific Rim Equities Index jumped 3.75% after three straight months of losses, and Fixed Income Arbitrage gained 3.00% after a 5.71% plunge in March.
The Emerging Markets Index rebounded 3.87% in April following a 4.64% loss in March.
“Global equity markets enjoyed a broad-based rally in April, raising stock prices in both developed and emerging markets. Stock markets in Brazil, China, and India saw double digit increases for the month,” says Waksman.
The Distressed Securities Index gained 1.99% in April after five straight months of losses.
“Market pundits are speculating that the financial sectors worst losses from the sub-prime meltdown may be behind us. As evidence, they cite recent price increases in credit default swaps for financial firms, as well as a narrowing of the interest rate spread between investment grade and high yield credits,” adds Waksman.
The BarclayHedge Fund of Funds Index rose 1.16% in April.
The Equity Short Bias Index was down 2.73% in April, however it leads all indices in 2008 with a 10.00% gain year to date.