According to alternative investment house Man Group, managed futures managers shone amid the turmoil, bouncing back from two consecutive down months to bring year-to-date returns to around flat.
“Strong trends were key, as was managers’ ability to maintain risk levels when managers in most other styles were taking risk off the table,” the firm said in a note to investors.
According to Man, gains were largely attributable to strong trends in fixed income. Other safe haven assets also drove positive returns.
Global macro managers also bounced back in July. However, Man said many managers were running at reduced risk levels as they waited for a clearer picture on major macro issues, leading to more muted returns.
“The best performers over the month tended to be those with more bearish outlooks,” said Man. “Emerging market-focused global macro managers posted small positive moves over the month, with commodities-focused managers also doing well.”
Data from EDHEC-Risk Institute confirmed global macro strategies were one of the few recent positive hedge fund performers.
Its July figures showed global macro returns were 1.49% in July.
Other positive performing strategies included short-selling funds (2.21%) and global commodity trading advisers (2.7%).
“In these mixed market conditions, after two difficult months, [some] hedge fund strategies delivered better performances,” the institute said. “Following five months of a strong rise and two months of record losses, the commodities market seemed to calm down somewhat with a nevertheless comfortable gain.”
