Global macro is tipped to be the top-performing hedge fund investment style in 2012, a recent Global Alternative Investment Management (GAIM) survey has found.
Of the 55 hedge fund managers who responded to the GAIM Geopolitical Risk, Macro Economic Insight and Alternative Investment S
urvey, 22 per cent said they expected global macro to outshine 17 other competing strategies in 2012.
However, respondents also forecast event-driven, United States long/short equity and commodities-based strategies would do well.
"Hedge fund managers predict global macro strategies will deliver the best returns in 2012 and they continue to see Brazil, China and India as the most rewarding regions for investing," GAIM event director Amanda Rodrigues-Cheung said.
Market strategists have often cited good opportunities in those major emerging economies due to their strong fundamentals, less-efficient equity markets, the booming middle class and fast corporate profit growth.
Gross domestic product in Brazil, India and China is forecast to expand 4.1 per cent, 7.8 per cent and 9.5 per cent respectively next year, the International Monetary Fund said in its April outlook.
That compared to the 2.6 per cent growth projection for advanced economies.
The hedge fund managers in the GAIM survey managed assets ranging between less than $100 million to more than $5 billion.
So far this year, global macro and long/short equity strategies had underperformed their peers, according to the EDHEC Risk Institute.
The two strategies returned around 1 per cent on average since the beginning of the year to July, the financial research institution said in a report.
The best gains came from fixed income arbitrage and distressed securities strategies, which on average added 4.7 per cent and 4 per cent over the same period.
