Hedge fund values rose for the eleventh straight month, gaining 2.3 percent in May, according to flash estimates from the Barclay Hedge Fund Index.
“This is the third longest stretch of continuous profitable months since the Barclay Hedge Fund Index was launched in January 1997,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of The Barclay Group. “The record for consecutive profitable months by hedge funds was the 18-month period from October 2002 through March 2004.”
The strong performance in May was led by the emerging markets sector, which gained 4.70 percent. Emerging Markets is up 11.77 percent for the first five months of 2006.
“The equity indices for three of the four BRIC countries had strong gains in May,” Waksman says. “Brazil was up 11.56 percent, China gained 6.72 percent and India rose 6.91 percent. Only Russian equities were down, losing 7.23 percent.”
As of 5 June, 89 percent of funds reporting to Barclay were profitable for the month of May.