With Tariff News Roiling Markets, Hedge Funds Find the Trend Isn't Their Friend
Turbulent markets have caught out trend-following investors—including funds run by Man Group, the world's largest listed hedge-fund firm. According to estimates from Man, which run through Tuesday:
AHL Alpha, a flagship trend-following strategy, is down about 5.7% for April. That brings losses this year to nearly 9.9%.
AHL Dimension, a multistrategy fund that incorporates trend-following algorithms, is down 5% this month, and 7% this year.
AHL Evolution, which mostly follows trends in over-the-counter markets, has lost 5% in April and 9.4% this year.
Trend-following funds aim to profit by latching onto and riding persistent market trends. That can get tough, however, when assets swing violently—and whipsaw moves in stocks, bonds, currencies and commodities have made life hard this year.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Hedge fund orders London-based analysts back to office five days a week
Man Group has ordered its London-based analysts to return temporarily to the office five days a week, as the world's biggest listed hedge fund seeks to recover from a period of poor performance amid Donald Trump's tariff war. Quantitative analysts working at Man AHL, the company's computer-run fund that aims to identify and follow momentum in markets, have been told they are expected to be in its offices daily until the end of July as part of an 'all hands on deck' project. The edict applies to about 150 staff in London, just under 10% of the overall group's 1,700 global employees, the Financial Times reported. 'Man AHL has asked its staff in London to work in the office five days a week for a three-month period to support an 'all hands on deck' cross-team research project,' the company said. 'While these cross-team initiatives are infrequent, experience has shown that a period of highly focused, in-person collaboration allows significant research progress to be made in a relatively short amount of time.' The company, which has been a champion of flexible working arrangements including working from home, said that its 'broader agile working policy remains unchanged'. Employees tend to be in the office three days a week, on average but this varies by role. Trump's destabilising tariff war has caused significant volatility in global markets, which has made it difficult for computer-based funds such as AHL to predict market trends. The company's most recent financial statement showed that the start of Trump's trade war in April wiped out all the group's assets under management gains of the first quarter. Its holdings were up $4bn (£3bn) in the first three months of the year but plummeted by $5.6bn in the first two weeks of April. The AHL Alpha programme, Man's institutional trend-following strategy, has lost 10% so far this year. Man Group's share price is down more than 30% over the past year. Man Group is the latest major financial services company to revisit its flexible working policies. Last month, BlackRock, the world's biggest asset management company, told its approximately 1,000 managing directors globally that they were expected to work from the office full time. The New York-based company told staff in 2023 that they had to go into the office at least four days a week. Earlier this year, JP Morgan Chase summoned all its workers back into the office. Jamie Dimon, the head of the bank, has long been a proponent of restoring pre-pandemic working patterns. Barclays also hardened its stance on remote working earlier this year, saying all staff should work from the office at least three days a week, up from two days.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Yahoo
Factbox-Hedge funds lifted by stocks, stymied by bonds in May, say sources
By Nell Mackenzie and Summer Zhen LONDON (Reuters) -Hedge funds made gains in May on a weaker dollar and by exploiting market dislocations following April's global trade shock but faced losses in whipsawed commodities and fixed income markets, according to sources and bank research. Stocks bounced back last month as tariff worries ebbed while bond markets sold off as worries about high debt levels in big economies such as the United States and Japan resurfaced. Hedge funds globally returned a positive monthly return of 3% as of May 29, a JPMorgan prime brokerage note sent to clients on Friday and seen by Reuters on Monday showed. Industry returns were up 5% for the year so far, the note said. Stock picking hedge funds posted a 3% performance in May, while multi-strategy hedge funds trading many different strategies under one roof returned 2.5% and quantitative equity funds using systematic strategies returned 4.2%, the note said. Singapore's $1.1 billion multi-strategy hedge fund Arrowpoint Investment Partners benefited from exploiting markets roiled by tariff shocks and sees more arbitrage opportunities ahead, its chief investment officer told Reuters. Billionaire investor Cliff Asness's $135 billion hedge fund AQR Capital Management saw gains from stock selection and corporate arbitrage in its Apex Strategy, which returned a 2.4% May return net of fees, said a source. Systematic and trend following programmes that traded in stock markets were helped by their stock holdings. AQR's Helix Strategy, which follows market trends, was flat in May but has delivered a 7% return for 2025 through the end of May, as positive returns from stocks were offset by reversals across interest rate derivatives and trades which play differences across different bond tenors, said the source. London-listed Man Group's AHL Alpha fund returned a negative 2.19% for May and is down around 11% while its multi-strat fund had a positive May and has returned around 5% so far this year, said the fund's website. Systematic funds, which have limits on how much volatility their fund can tolerate have in recent months had to ditch trades, both losing and winning, even when the uncertainty roiling markets has been temporary, said an article written by portfolio managers at Man Group's AHL strategy in April. Fund/Hedge fund May return YTD return Dymon Asia Capital 3.3% 8% Arrowpoint Investment Partners ~3% AQR Apex Strategy 2.4% 10.6% AQR Helix Strategy 0.0% 7.0% AQR Delphi Long-Short Equity Strategy 1.8% 13.9% Man Group AHL Alpha Programme -2.19% -10.61% Man Strategies 1783 1.11% 5.35% Transtrend -5.42% -19.07% Mount Lucas Management -0.80% 2.55% Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Yahoo
Do Anthony Edwards, Timberwolves have another level to offer in fantasy and reality next NBA season?
The playoffs are where stars rise and weaknesses get exposed. For every team sent packing, we'll analyze the standout players primed for growth and a major question mark that could impact the team's fantasy value ahead of the 2025-26 season. Up next, the Minnesota Timberwolves ... Making consecutive trips to the Western Conference finals is an accomplishment, not a disappointment. The Wolves were one of the best teams during the final quarter of the NBA regular season and won a couple of rounds in decisive fashion. The unexpected run ended on Wednesday night, as the Oklahoma City Thunder completed the gentlemen's sweep over Minnesota, closing them out in a 124-94 blowout in OKC. That's no knock on the Wolves, as they inevitably had to face off against the NBA's best who were an unstoppable force on both ends all season long. Still, there's a lot to like about the Timberwolves moving forward. I'm not engaging in the exhaustive debate on whether he should or shouldn't be the face of the league. What I do know is that Ant-Man has taken major strides year-over-year and is quickly establishing himself as a star in real life and fantasy. He led the league in 3s made and put up career-highs in points and shooting efficiency (59.5 TS%). He sported a 30-plus percent usage rate again, only adding to his versatility as a secondary playmaker. The high turnover rate is baked into his floor price, and its worth noting that he received a few votes for the NBA's All-Defensive Team. I have Edwards as a top-15 option in most points and 9-category formats when factoring his durability —playing 79 games in three consecutive seasons and never less than 72 games per year in his career. Edwards' offensive growth, highlighted by improvements in assist rate and shot selection, signals continued upside in both scoring and secondary stat contributions. McDaniels was a hidden gem in fantasy this season, returning a seventh-round value after going undrafted in 68% of Yahoo leagues. Since he's not a volume scorer who carries a sub-20% usage rate, his skillset caters more to category over points leagues. That aside, his postseason play showed he can turn up offensively when given the chance. Jaden McDaniels this season➡️playoffs:12.2 ➡️ 15.4 PPG5.7 ➡️ 6.1 RPG1.3 ➡️ 1.4 SPG47.7 ➡️ 55.4 FG%Stepping up. — StatMuse (@statmuse) May 20, 2025 McDaniels doesn't hurt you anywhere — he's efficient, gets stocks and has a low turnover rate. He's a core member of the Wolves' future and any bump in production would have him replicating a top-80 type of season. I'm in on him being an option in the seventh round. Then there's Julius Randle — the wildcard. With a $30.9 million player option looming, his decision to stay or test the waters will be another situation to monitor this offseason. The Thunder managed to revert Randle back to Playoff Julius of the Knicks in this series, holding him to two of his worst scoring performances of his postseason career. Those down moments shouldn't minimize his overall impact in the postseason, though. He was arguably the Wolves' most consistent player prior to the OKC series. Julius Randle appreciation post — Brett Usher (@UsherNBA) May 9, 2025 When it comes to fantasy, however, he vastly underperformed, finishing six rounds lower than his average draft position (ADP) of 62. The production dropoff is understandable given the change in role and environment, but fantasy managers missed on a guy who typically has 20-10-5 upside. The usage rate remains strong, so a bounce back is more likely than not if he stays in the Twin Cities. I'm more inclined to draft Randle around the sixth round in points leagues. Category formats? I'd avoid paying that cost. It's a pivotal offseason for Minnesota, especially following another Western Conference finals exit, where it's clear that tweaks are necessary to become a champion. The rotation could undergo some significant changes with Naz Reid's imminent extension, Nickeil Alexander-Walker's impending free agency and, of course, Randle's player option. Still, the Timberwolves had four players inside the top 100, proving they're a solid place to glean fantasy value.