Hedge Fund Firms and Funds News and Trends

Find the resources you need to track hedge fund firms and funds news and trends

Keeping up with hedge fund firms and funds news and trends can be a daunting task. Because the firms themselves employ such a wide variety of investment strategies to manage their funds, they each respond differently to economic stimuli and market fluctuations. Tracking these changes is essential for individual and institutional investors alike who wish to ensure efficient and intelligent management of their money.

In investing, the advice and market savvy of a seasoned broker or financial advisor are irreplaceable, but there are a variety of online resources you can use to conduct your own research and improve your chances of turning a profit. When tracking hedge fund news and trends on the Web, keep the following points in mind:

1. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) doesn’t require hedge funds to register with them, so the same federal laws as traditional investment vehicles, such as mutual funds, don’t bind these funds.

2. Business newspapers, performance indexes and hedge fund databases provide easy-to-access information on firms and funds.

3. Hedge fund journals and magazines publish in-depth research and analysis of the best-performing firms and funds. These offer deeper insight into hedge funds and other alternative investments than papers and databases.

 

Scan business papers for breaking news about hedge funds

Although they may not be hedge-fund specific, business newspapers contain the latest news about the financial industry. Since the papers and their corresponding websites are updated at least daily, there are few better sources for breaking news regarding the national and international markets where hedge fund companies do their investing.
Try: The Wall Street Journal is one of the leading sources of business and financial news online. Google Finance also provides investors a wealth of relevant information and offers excellent market summaries and charts, and a hedge fund company list. Finally, Reuters has a section of its website devoted to hedge fund firms and funds.

Use databases to track specific hedge funds

Business papers are helpful to investors by providing a broad overview of current events in the financial sector. However, when you need more information about a specific fund's performance, you're better off consulting a hedge fund directory or database. These are rarely free, but they occasionally offer free trials for short periods of time.
Try: Morningstar and Barclay Hedge both keep databases that track the performance of roughly 6,000 different hedge funds. Barclay Hedge also offers a global hedge fund database that tracks nearly 6,400 funds around the world.

Review performance indexes to track broad trends with hedge funds

Just as the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average measure the performance of stocks, certain indexes measure the performance of hedge funds. While they don't track specific firms or provide a list of hedge fund companies and their performance, they do provide an accurate glance at the hedge fund sector as a whole. Thus, they're an invaluable tool for tracking and monitoring hedge fund trends as they develop.
Try: The Dow Jones Hedge Fund Indexes organizes funds by strategy and provides both daily and monthly performance summaries. For a broader selection of indexes and tools, visit the website of Hedge Fund Research.

Find research reports in journals and magazines dedicated to hedge funds

Most daily financial papers, blogs and websites don't publish detailed research reports and analysis. To get deeper insight into the trends and developments in hedge funds, you'll need to consult specialized journals and magazines. These also often publish information on different firms for hedge funds, which can be helpful for people in the process of selecting a fund for their investment.
Try: Institutional Investor Magazine and its sub-publication Alpha Magazine are two of the leading online resources for hedge fund reports and analysis. Both offer a two-week free trial or premium online access with a paid subscription. HedgeFund.net, produced by Channel Capital Group, also publishes a variety of research reports available free of charge or for purchase. Additionally, the site maintains an extensive hedge fund listing.

 

• Sign up for Google Alerts and specify "hedge fund news" and "hedge fund trends" as the terms of its search. You'll receive daily emails compiling the latest blogs, articles and news reports on the hedge fund sphere.

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