LONDON (Reuters) - Hedge funds posted their worst performance in 20 months in November, after a global market selloff sparked by concerns over the Omicron COVID variant, according to data from HedgeFund Research.
Financial markets went into a tailspin in the final week of November with U.S. stocks losing nearly 4% in the last five trading sessions of the month, after news of the variant hit headlines. Currency and bond market volatility also jumped.
The HFRI fund weighted composite Index slipped 2.2% in November, its biggest monthly fall since March 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic first slammed into financial markets, the hedge fund research consultancy said in a report received on Wednesday.
Equity hedge funds which invest in a mix of long and short strategies led broad declines as they were caught off guard by Omicron. The findings echo those of other hedge fund research firms such as PivotalPath.