Asian hedge funds recorded a more muted set of returns for November against a backdrop of Korean peninsula tension and the ongoing debt crisis in the Eurozone, with stock markets such as Hong Kong&PARA_BREAK_SENTINEL_9f8e7d6c

Asian hedge funds recorded a more muted set of returns for November against a backdrop of Korean peninsula tension and the ongoing debt crisis in the Eurozone, with stock markets such as Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index falling 2.8 per cent. Figures released by Eurekahedge show Pan-Asian funds gained +0.71 per cent for the month, +6.61 per cent YTD (at the time of writing), with Asia ex-Japan funds coming in slightly lower at +0.18 per cent to leave them +9.09 per cent for the year. Significantly, this is the sixth consecutive monthly gain, equivalent to an uptick of 12 per cent suggesting that Asian ex-Japan funds have at least found some degree of consistency amidst this year’s volatile markets. Hedge Fund Research, however, puts the figure in negative territory, its HFRI Asia ex-Japan Index down -0.99 per cent to put it at +8.35 per cent YTD.

Greater China funds were up +0.95 per cent, leaving them at +8.80 per cent YTD, but Japanese funds were the region’s best performers: up +2.25 per cent to put them at a more respectable +3.42 per cent YTD. Japanese hedge fund managers played the markets well, particularly in equity l/s strategies, with most of the returns achieved by maintaining a net long bias. Event-driven strategies in Greater China didn’t perform well, falling -2.51 per cent to put them at +1.93 per cent for the year: that’s six losing months for 2010. Loses were also recorded for Asia ex-Japan event-driven funds, down -0.77 per cent. Multi-strategy funds contracted -0.12 per cent in November to leave them at +7.24 per cent for the year. The region’s best performing strategy, by some margin, was CTA/Managed Futures. With stocks and bonds lagging, the strategy locked in gains of +6.24 per cent for November to put it at +12.84 per cent YTD. According to BarclayHedge and TrimTabs, managed futures attracted USD7.9billion, globally, in assets for October: the eighth straight inflow. Asia ex-Japan fixed income funds were up +2.35 per cent, leaving them in a strong position of +21.75 per cent YTD, but relative value hedgies, having gained +3.61 per cent (+28.03 per cent YTD), remain in top spot.