Hedge funds around the world generally continued delivering positive returns in July, starting off the second half of 2019 in the green with aggregate industry performance at +0.73 per cent, according to the latest eVestment hedge fund performance figures. 

July’s results bring year-to-date (YTD) aggregate performance to +7.67 per cent.
 
Managed Futures funds were among the performance leaders in July, returning an average of +2.29 per cent in July, with YTD performance hitting +8.60 per cent. The 10 largest funds in the Managed Futures group performed even better, returning +4.62 per cent in July and +12.24 per cent YTD.

Long/Short Equity funds produced another month of gains, +0.58 per cent in July, bringing YTD returns to +10.36 per cent. This YTD performance is the strongest among all primary strategies.

Among primary hedge fund strategies, only Relative Value Credit and Distressed funds saw negative performance in July, at -0.11 per cent and -0.26 per cent in July. However both types of funds are in the green, with returns above +4 per cent YTD.

Despite large losses from exposure to India (-7.73 per cent in July), Emerging Markets funds were positive in July, led by funds focused on Brazil, which returned +3.52 per cent in July. YTD Brazil-focused funds have returned +12.93 per cent.

While lagging a bit in July, hedge funds focused on Russia and China are the strongest performers in the hedge fund business YTD, returning +18.70 per cent and +17.03 per cent this year respectively.
 
The hedge fund industry’s strength may be tested in the coming months, however. With the S&P down over 3 per cent in the first week of August, it will be interesting to see how August unfolds for hedge funds, particularly how the two leading primarily strategies of 2019, Long/Short Equity and Managed Futures funds react.