For the third straight year, May proved a disaster for hedge funds that specialize in commodities as raw materials from copper to oil fell into bear markets.
Funds tracked by the Newedge Commodity Trading Index lost an average 3 percent last month, the most since September. Taylor Woods Master Fund Ltd., managing more than $1bn, retreated 4.2 percent, according to investors in the fund. Galena Asset Management Ltd.â??s metals fund dropped 2.6 percent in May, according to the company, and Brevan Howard Commodities Strategies Master Fund Ltd. fell 2 percent, according to a monthly report to investors.
The $4.4bn Astenbeck Capital Management LLC fund, based in Westport, Connecticut, slid 14 percent in May, according to an investor in the fund. The fundâ??s slide was reported earlier by Reuters.
The declines show that even the most lucrative traders failed to prosper as the Standard & Poorâ??s GSCI Spot Index of 24 raw materials had its biggest drop since November 2008 and stocks retreated the most in eight months. Last monthâ??s losses were worse than last yearâ??s 1.4 percent slide in the 75-member Newedge index during May and the 2010â??s 2.8 percent decline.
