Hedge funds posted gains in April, with the HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index rising 1.86 per cent, boosted by positive contributions from all strategies, according to Hedge Fund Research.

In April the strongest strategy was macro, with the HFRI Macro (Total) Index clocking up gains of 3.36 per cent, with strong directional trends in a number of asset classes helping trend-following strategies. Short US-dollar positioning and long commodity exposure, in particular to silver, natural gas and oil, were primary drivers of performance, HFR said.

The HFRI Equity Hedge (Total) Index gained 1.21 per cent in April, with positive performances from all sub-strategies except dedicated short-bias exposure. HFRI’s short-bias index declined 3.15 per cent over the month.

Among equity sub-strategies, sector exposure to technology/healthcare provided the best performance, with the HFRI EH: Technology/Healthcare Index increasing 3.04 per cent in April.

Meanwhile, event-driven strategies posted positive gains, with the HFRI Event Driven (Total) Index rising 1.15 per cent, in its eighth month of consecutive growth. These strategies were bolstered by M&A and IPOs, with significant transactional announcements and developments in the financial exchanges, telecommunications, technology and Asian listings, according to Hedge Fund Research.

Emerging markets, as measured by the HFRI Emerging Markets Index, rose 1.63 per cent for the month, with the strongest contributions coming from emerging Asia and Latin America.

In other strategies, the HFRI Relative Value (Total) Index edged up 0.80 per cent last month, making April the twenty-seventh out of the last 28 months when the index has delivered positive returns, while the HFRI Fund of Hedge Funds Index posted a gain of 1.46 per cent.