The FTSE Hedge Global Index gave back some of its recent gains in January, posting a return of -0.6% in US$ and -0.4% in GBP.
The biggest contributor to this performance was the directional style (-1.2%), largely due to the disappointing performance of the CTA/managed futures and global macro strategies.
January proved a challenging month, says FTSE, with equity markets declining on fears of slower growth and higher energy costs.
Fixed-income markets ended the period virtually unchanged, whilst in currency markets, the US Dollar strengthened initially but then became directionless. The non-directional style delivered a small negative return, but within the style, equity arbitrage (+0.7%) and fixed-income relative value (+0.2%) managers performed well.
In event-driven strategies, distressed and opportunity managers gave back some of their strong returns from the previous year.