The Eurekahedge Hedge Fund Index was up 0.95% in March 2021, supported by the robust performance of the global equity market as represented by the MSCI ACWI (Local) which gained 3.24% over the same period. Long-dated US treasuries continued to sell off, resulting in the yield of the 10-year treasury note rising by 34bp to end the month at 1.744%.
Returns were mostly positive across geographic mandates in March with North American and European hedge funds gaining 1.56% and 1.37% respectively while Asia ex-Japan hedge funds were down 0.90%. Across strategies, event-driven and long/short equities outperformed their strategic peers with returns of 1.59% and 1.26% respectively throughout the month.
Roughly 64.3% of the underlying constituents of the Eurekahedge Hedge Fund Index posted positive returns in March, and 15.3% of the hedge fund managers in the database were able to maintain a double-digit return in 2021.
Fund managers focusing on cryptocurrencies were up 19.19% in March as tracked by the Eurekahedge Crypto-Currency Hedge Fund Index, underperforming bitcoin which gained 25.92% over the same period. In terms of 2021 return, cryptocurrency hedge funds gained 116.81%, outperforming bitcoin which returned 104.16% over the first quarter.
