Australian hedge funds return +3.07 per cent in April

Date: Thursday, May 28, 2009
Author: Hedgeweek.com

Australian hedge funds recorded an average return of +3.07 per cent in April, bringing year-to-date performance to +3.73 per cent, according to Australian Fund Monitors.

Almost 75 per cent of all funds were positive last month, and nearly 70 per cent are positive year-to-date.

Single funds can now point to their 12 month negative returns being back into single figures at -8.21 per cent. Whilst not spectacular, this is significantly better than most asset classes or the market itself.

Equity-based funds returned 3.64 per cent in April (-12.32 per cent YTD), while non-equity based funds returned 1.32 per cent (-10.14 per cent YTD) and fund of funds 0.06 per cent (-20.95 per cent YTD).

Australian Fund Monitors says there are signs that markets are returning to normal. Leading the charge were equity-based strategies, with only two strategies recording negative numbers for the month and year to date.

ASIC's decision to lift all bans on covered short selling at the start of the week was welcome to most in the industry - whether fund manager or investor. Although ASIC threatened to re-impose the bans should market conditions deteriorate again, the question now is what disclosure regime surrounding short selling will be introduced.