The big trend funds are quickly fading from relevance. Another nail in the coffin of the trend following tribe-- inton, Cantab Decline in August as Stocks’ Slump Hurts Quants 2015-09-02 18:28:25.950 GMT By Saijel Kishan and Katherine Burton (Bloomberg) -- Winton Capital Management, David Harding’s $31.4 billion hedge fund firm, and Cantab Capital Partners, co- founded by the former head of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. quantitative strategies Ewan Kirk, posted losses last month as the stock market turmoil hit computer-driven investors. Winton lost an estimated 4.3 percent last month in its $11.8 billion Winton Futures Fund, the worst month since July 2008, according to a letter sent to investors. Cantab’s $2.6 billion CCP Quantitative strategy slumped 10 percent, another investor letter showed.
Yet another great call by Surf.... The big trend funds are quickly fading from relevance. Another nail in the coffin of the trend following tribe--Surf HFR: CTAs Shine as Hedge Funds Post Worst Start Since 2008 Feb 5 2016 | 9:40pm ET Hedge fund performance since the start of the year has been the worst since 2008, according to new data from Hedge Fund Research. HFR’s benchmark HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index closed January down –1.72%, as most strategies and sub-strategies saw declines, while the HFRI Asset Weighted Composite Index fell -1.2%. For comparison, the HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index fell 2.69%. The data will not come as much of a surprise to anyone following financial markets since the end of last year, as collapsing energy prices, fears of slower global growth and a tightening Fed have sent stock prices spinning. Trend-following CTAs post the strongest results as volatility spiked during the month, up 2.6%, while technology and healthcare funds posted their worst monthly losses since 2001, according to an HFR statement. Nonetheless, on balance hedge funds outperformed broader stock market measures such as the S&P 500, which lost 5% in January. Driven by CTA gains, the HFRI Macro Index posted a gain of +1.5% in January, while the HFRI Macro: Systematic Diversified/CTA Index was up +2.6%, both representing the strongest respective gains since January 2015. Also for the month, the HFRI Macro: Currency Index added +0.9%, while the HFRI Macro: Active Trading Index advanced +2.6%. Partially offsetting these, the HFRI Macro: Discretionary Thematic Index declined by -1.1%, while the HFRI Macro: Commodity Index fell -0.7%. Directional equity and credit strategies also declined, with the HFRI Equity Hedge Index falling -3.7%, the worst monthly performance since May 2012. Equity Hedge losses were led by the volatile Technology & Healthcare space, with the HFRI EH:Technology/Healthcare Index crashing -8.1%, the worst monthly decline since February 2001. Similarly, the HFRI EH: Fundamental Value and Fundamental Growth Indices fell -4.1% and -4.5%, respectively. Emerging Markets hedge funds, under pressure for more than a year now, also posted steep losses. The HFRI Emerging Markets Index declined -4.6%, led by Emerging Asia and Middle East exposures. Partially offsetting these losses, the HFRI EH: Short Bias Index advanced +2.9% and the HFRI EH: Equity Market Neutral Index gained +0.8%. Event Driven (ED) and fixed income-based Relative Value Arbitrage (RVA) strategies also struggled. The HFRI Event Driven Index fell -2.3%, while the HFRI Relative Value Arbitrage Index fell by -1.7%. Activist strategies were particularly hard hit, falling -6.1%, while RVA losses were led by HFRI RV: Yield Alternatives Index, which declined -5.2%. “Financial markets are currently progressing through a cyclical transition period which is likely to be defined by continued volatility, diverging regional economic cycles and increased opportunities in sophisticated, tactical, hedged strategies,” stated Kenneth Heinz, president of HFR, in a statement. “Hedge funds which have demonstrated their ability to preserve capital and generate uncorrelated gains through this environment will serve to reduce overall portfolio volatility and will continue to attract investor capital into early 2016,” he continued. Established in 1992, HFR produces the HFRI, HFRX and HFRU Indices, the industry’s most widely used benchmarks of global hedge fund performance. HFR calculates over 100 indices of hedge fund performance ranging from industry-aggregate levels down to specific, niche areas of sub-strategy and regional investment focus.
"quickly fading from relevance" LOL Trend following funds manage more money than ever before. Heck there's about $30 billion in trend following mutual funds (!) these days. And that's just a fraction of trend following assets.