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From Precy Dumlao, Opalesque Asia – 2012 was a good start for the hedge funds industry as another data tracker posted positive returns in January. The Barclay Hedge Fund Index gained +2.93% in January, according to the data compiled by BarclayHedge (here).

Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge commented, "The Fed’s announcement that they will keep interest rates near zero percent through 2014 helped to fuel the equity rally that began in mid-December."

"Although investor money flowed into risk assets, bonds prices also rose with the JP Morgan World Government Bond Index gaining 61 bps. Favorable market conditions set the stage for a strong showing with roughly 85 percent of hedge funds reporting profits in January," Waksman added.

Only one out of the 18 indices tracked by BarclayHedge reported a loss in last month. "The Equity Short Bias Index suffered its worst January performance in 15 years, since we began tracking the returns of short sellers in 1997," said Waksman. "The previous low for January was a 3.36 percent loss in 2006."

Singapore-based Eurekahedge, another data tracker, said the Eurekahedge Hedge Fund Index posted a +2.15% gain last month, citing the strong resurgence in risk appetite. Last month’s figures were also the strongest monthly return for the index since December 2010. The MSCI World Index gained +4.96% as mar......................

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