Relationship of Commodity and Equity Indices on Hedge Fund Performance

Abstract

The golden times of the hedge fund industry ended with the beginning of the financial crisis of 2007/08.Since then hedge funds have underperformed against the S&P 500. This study shows that the Dodd Frank Act regulation was responsible for a completely changing environment for hedge funds. We have developed a model where equity indices and the CRB index are explanatory variables for hedge fund performance. Concerning methodology, data of two different phases are considered, namely the time period from 1990 to July 2010 (implementation of Dodd Frank Act) and the time period from August 2010 to April 2015. Surveys for the second time period showed that regulation was a major issue for the hedge fund industry. Especially small hedge funds find it problematic to get leverage from prime brokers and capital from investors. Another trend shown with the surveys is a general increase in the long only strategy (especially of small hedge funds). Our hypothesis assumes that the explanatory character of the MSCI Emerging Market (MSCI EM), the S&P 500, and the CRB index for hedge fund performance is increasing in the second period. The hypothesis is found to be correct.