Wall Street Journal Blogs – Although losses and redemptions are drastically shrinking the entire hedge fund world, global macro funds are garnering more interest because of their stronger returns and easy availability of liquidity.
Global macro funds — which make broad bets, such as playing one country’s currency or stock market indexes against others, often using derivatives — are one of the only strategies tracked by the Hennessee Hedge Fund Index that has posted a gain in 2008, including a rise of 1.23% for November. With cash reigning as king these days, investors are shunning funds that cannot return principal quickly, like those that specialize in fixed-income investments or merger arbitrage situations.
“If you look at the performance of hedge funds, global macro guys have shown the best performance. Certainly, wealthy people have taken notice,” said Quincy Krosby, chief investment strategist for Hartford Financial Services Group Inc.
Among the leaders, a $15 billion global macro fund run by Brevan Howard Asset Management gained 3.7% in November, and is up 21.2% for the year, according to investors. Other global macro shops that have done well include the Comac Global Macro Fund, which is up by more than 29% this year. And Bruce Kovner’s $6 billion Caxton Global Investment LTD Fund was up 11.5% year-to-date through Dec. 2, according to investors.
