February 2018 will be legendary for the hedge fund industry. The combination of an extreme spike of volatility and a sharp turn in many markets was dramatic, especially for the CTA managers. In total our CTA funds lost almost 9%. Not only the CTA managers had a negative month. Also Equity Long/Short and Event Driven & Risq Arbitrage suffered from the market downturn. Only our Multi Strategy funds produced remarkably positive returns. Next tot the positive contribution we got some support from the US dollar and most of all our cash position of more than 30%.
In January we sold some positions which gave us not the right level of comfort. Also we see possibilities in a couple of funds which are rightly positioned for the current markets. After the increasing turbulence on the financial markets started in the end of January we decided to delay our new investments for at least one month. This turned out to be a good move. However after the turn we are at the moment working to be fully invested as soon as possible. Now more than ever the addition of alternatives to a portfolio of equities and bonds has great added value. A portfolio of equities in an uncertain climate and bonds during a period in which we expect rising interest rates needs a diversifier.