After a positive February, hedge fund performance measured by the S&P Hedge Fund Index finished March down 0.55% and the year through March 31 down 0.20%, Standard & Poor's said Tuesday.
Negative returns in the S&P Directional/Tactical Index, down 0.86%; S&P Arbitrage Index, 0.52%; and S&P Event-Driven Index, 0.28%, contributed to the down month overall, the ratings agency said.
Equity long-short managers had the biggest losses in March within the directional/tactical index. Uncertainty about the Federal Reserve's stance on interest rates, the movements of rates in general, and uneasiness about inflation and rising energy prices led the long-short portion of the index down 1.32% last month.
The S&P Managed Futures Index, comprising 14 predominantly medium- to long-term trend followers, ended the month in slightly positive territory, up 0.29%.
The index has 41 constituents grouped into three subindexes: arbitrage, event-driven, and directional/tactical.
