Investors redeemed an estimated net USD9.45 billion from hedge funds in March. Total Q1 asset flows remain positive at +USD14.33 billion, bringing overall industry AUM to USD3.32 trillion, according to the March 2018 eVestment Hedge Fund Asset Flows Report.
Among hedge fund types, Equity funds were big winners in March, with assets up USD3.95 billion for the month and USD10.43 billion for Q1. Multi-Asset funds were among the big losers for the month, with AUM falling USD10.55 billion in March.
Among primary strategies, Long/Short Equity funds were among the big winners in March, with AUM up +USD2.37 billion for the month, bringing quarterly AUM up USD6.26 billion.
Market Neutral Equity funds also saw AUM increase, up USD1.79 billion in March and USD2.91 billion for the quarter.
Inventors seem to finally be responding to performance challenges in Managed Futures funds, with these funds seeing among the biggest drops in AUM in March: -USD6.04 billion. This contrasts sharply with the 12-month span ending February 2018, during which an estimated USD11 billion flowed into these funds, despite performance losses in the prior six-month period.
Among firm domiciles, European-based firms saw strong asset flows in March, up USD7.16 billion for the month and USD11.84 billion for Q1.
