Hedge Funds Take in Lackluster $852 Million in May 2012

BarclayHedge and TrimTabs Investment Research reported today that the hedge fund industry took in a lackluster $852 million (0.05% of assets) in May, but that was an improvement over April’s net outflows of $3.2 billion. Based on data from 3,001 funds, the May TrimTabs/BarclayHedge Hedge Fund Flow Report estimated that the hedge fund industry assets stood at $1.72 trillion in May, down 2.0% from $1.76 trillion in April and down 29% from the peak of $2.4 trillion set in June 2008.

“The small inflows of May did not really buck the larger hedge fund industry trend of meager returns, flat asset growth, and net outflows over the past year,” said Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge. Outflows from the industry totaled $18.8 billion from June 2011 to May 2012, compared to inflows of $96.2 billion for the previous 12 months while assets hovered around $1.7 trillion for the past nine months.