Monthly commentary BMS July 2017
Brummer Multi-Strategy (BMS) returned 0.6% in July which brings performance year-to-date to 3.4%. Hedge Fund Research’s fund-of-fund index gained 1.6% during the month bringing its performance during 2017 to 4.2%.
July was a positive month for global equity markets driven by both Asian and US stocks while the Federal Reserve left the US key interest rate unchanged and gave a more cautious outlook. The US dollar declined against most currencies during the month. Oil and other energy markets increased in prices towards the end of the month.
Among the funds that BMS invests in, the top contributors for the month were the systematic macro fund Florin Court and the TMT focused fund Manticore. Florin Court performed well with profitable positions in power futures and emerging market interest rate swaps while Manticore’s strongest sector was Software. Negative for the month were the L/S equity funds Black-and-White and Bodenholm.
BMS’s net exposure towards equities and commodities ranged between +25 and +32 per cent and closed out the month at around +32 per cent. The portfolio managers redeemed BMS’s investment in Talarium while the allocations to Black-and-White, Nektar, Manticore and Observatory were increased.
