Hedge funds see record inflows in February

Date: Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Author: Alistair Barr, MarketWatch

Hedge funds saw record inflows in February as institutional investors allocated more money to the industry, BarclayHedge and TrimTabs Investment Research said Monday. Managers pulled in $34.9 billion in February, leaving industry assets at $1.73 trillion, the highest level since October 2008, the firms added. Funds of hedge funds, which allocate money to a range of managers, raised $7.3 billion in February, the heaviest inflow into this niche since March 2008. Commodity trading advisors, known as CTAs, pulled in $7.5 billion, the heaviest inflow since June 2009. Equity long-bias funds posted a "particularly huge inflow," while macro funds took in money for the eighth straight month, the longest streak of all fund strategies, TrimTabs and BarclayHedge said. "Flows are doubtless following performance," Sol Waksman, president of BarclayHedge, said in a statement. "Public pension plans -- many of which are underfunded -- are devoting much more capital to the hedge fund space."