The diversification and return benefits of macro-related alternative investment strategies — both Global Macro and Managed Futures implementation — have been on full display this year, with the HFRX Macro and HFRX Systematic Macro Index gaining 5.9 percent and 9.6 percent respectively year-to-date, wrote Jina Yoon, chief alternative investment strategist of LPL Research, in a recent firm’s blog post.
These strategies are often overlooked during beta-driven market rallies, where investors place less of a focus on diversification and are content with participating in the upward price action of concentrated benchmarks. However, when long-traditional markets reach inflection points or experience major reversals, Macro’s value-add is truly appreciated, given the breadth of markets traded and their ability to invest long and short. The HFRX Equity Hedge Index measures the performance of the hedge fu