NEW YORK, Nov. 19, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- S&P Capital IQ®
+ SNL Financial, a leading provider of multi-asset class research
data and insights, today released its review of Q3 2015 13F
filings by pure play hedge funds. The quarterly S&P
Capital IQ Hedge Fund Tracker is an aggregate analysis of hedge
fund equity ownership that spotlights hedge fund investments in
specific stocks and sectors. As a complement to the
quarterly report, S&P Capital IQ also produced a Trends &
Ideas research note which calls out ETFs that give investors
exposure to hedge fund buying and selling trends.
The Q3 Hedge Fund Tracker analysis finds that the top 10 hedge
funds heavily sold-off their equity holdings. In Q3, the top
funds managed approximately $191
billion in equity assets, down $9
billion from Q2. This decline in equity holdings
reflects the market drop that occurred over the third quarter and
an aggregate decline in overall equity holdings. Top funds
held a total of 441 different stock positions in Q3, down from 471
in Q2. Tech sector stocks led the sell-off, with eBay earning
the distinction of most-sold stock among the top ten pure play
hedge funds. The top buy among hedge funds was Amazon.
"With their enormous volume of assets under management, the
largest pure play hedge funds serve as a microcosm for patterns of
buying and selling that may have far-reaching ramifications for
global markets," said Pavle Sabic,
Financial Risk Manager, S&P Capital IQ. "By consistently
tracking hedge fund buying and selling activity in this manner, we
seek to take the pulse of this vital segment of the marketplace to
give investors the insights they need to make better
decisions."
Based on these trends among hedge fund managers, S&P Capital
IQ also produced a Trends & Ideas research note which names
specific ETFs that are weighted toward the stocks named in the 2015
Q3 Hedge Fund Tracker. The note also spotlights significant
hedge fund outflows in two emerging market ETFs, the Vanguard
Emerging Markets (VWO) and iShares MSCI Emerging Markets (EEM)
during the quarter. It also highlights a number of ETFs,
including the Global X Guru ETF (GURU), the Global X Guru Activist
ETF (ACTX) and the AlphaClone Alternative Alpha (ALFA), which are
accessible investment vehicles through which individual investors
can participate in the hedge fund trends identified in the S&P
Capital IQ 2015 Q3 Hedge Fund Tracker.
"ETFs have become increasingly popular with individual and
institutional investors alike, with many of the trends we're seeing
in the quarterly Hedge Fund Tracker also manifesting themselves in
ETF inflows and outflows," said Todd
Rosenbluth, S&P Capital IQ Director of ETF
Research. "Whether investors are looking to tap into similar
themes as the large hedge funds or just monitor activity for clues
into overall investor sentiment, ETFs are a vital segment to watch
right now."
Following is a summary of findings in the Q3 2015 Hedge Fund
Tracker and the Trends & Ideas ETF research note:
- Hedge Funds Shed Equity Holdings: The top 10 hedge funds
had aggregate equity holdings totaling $191
billion in Q3, down from approximately $200 billion in Q2, reflecting a combination of
declining value of current positions and an overall decline in
total equity holdings from 471 stocks in Q2 to 441 stocks in
Q3.
- Amazon is Top Buy: Amazon was the most-bought single
stock among top hedge funds for the first time, with a total of
$2.6 billion in new hedge fund
investment this quarter.
- Consumer Staples Drive Buying Activity: Hedge funds
favored the non-cyclical, consumer staples sector in Q3, driving a
total of $3.7 billion in aggregate
buying. The consumer discretionary sector was the
best-performing sector in the S&P 500 for the last 12 months
though only 5th top buy for the hedge funds.
- Infotech Sell-Off: The information technology sector saw
the highest amount of selling among hedge funds with a total
sell-off of $1.4 billion in Q3.
This was the third consecutive quarter that information technology
led hedge fund selling, with eBay earning the distinction of
most-sold single stock.
- Notable New Positions Taken in Teva and PayPal: Teva
Pharmaceuticals and PayPal saw notable new positions taken by large
funds, with four funds collectively taking a $1.9 billion stake in Teva Pharmaceuticals and
one fund, Icahn Capital, taking a new $1.6
billion position in PayPal. Significant exits were
made in Priceline Group, Microsoft and MasterCard.
S&P Capital IQ analyzes the latest quarterly 13F filings to
determine the top ten largest hedge funds based on reported equity
assets. Further analysis isolates the universe to pure-play hedge
funds that focus on stock picks and hones that universe further to
isolate the hedge funds that overweight their biggest investments
by capping the number of stocks held at 100. S&P Capital
IQ performs this research quarterly in order to understand what the
most prominent hedge funds are buying, holding and selling.
The firm develops the analysis through an examination of both
industry filings as well as Excel-based holding models, allowing
clients to quickly spot global trends in asset category and
understand what some of the largest investors buying, selling and
holding.
S&P Capital IQ also provides rankings on approximately 1,100
equity and fixed income ETFs based on performance, risk and cost
factors, including holdings-level analysis and expenses.
About S&P Capital IQ + SNL Financial
S&P Capital IQ and SNL Financial, a business unit of McGraw
Hill Financial (NYSE:MHFI), is a leading provider of multi-asset
class and real time data, research and analytics to institutional
investors, investment and commercial banks, investment advisors and
wealth managers, governments, corporations and universities around
the world. The newly combined firm, previously S&P Capital IQ
and SNL Financial, integrates breaking news, comprehensive data and
analysis into a variety of tools to help track performance,
generate alpha, identify new trading and investment ideas, and
perform investment risk analysis. The firm offers the S&P
Capital IQ, SNL, Global Credit Portal and Market Scope Advisor
desktops as well as enterprise solutions, such as S&P Capital
IQ Valuations; and research offerings from Leveraged Commentary
& Data, Global Markets Intelligence, SNL Kagan, SNL Energy, SNL
Real Estate and SNL Metals & Mining. Together, S&P Capital
IQ and SNL sharpen financial intelligence into the wisdom today's
investors need. For more information, visit www.spcapitaliq.com or
www.snl.com.
DISCLAIMER
Form 13F Reports are required to be filed within 45 days of the
end of a calendar quarter by institutional investment managers
with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). An
institutional investment manager is an entity that invests in,
buys or sells securities for its own account, or a natural person
or entity that exercises investment discretion over the account of
any other natural person or entity. Only securities on the 13F
list provided quarterly by the SEC (13F Securities) are
required to be included in Form 13F Reports. Therefore, Form 13F
Reports may not reflect the most current holdings of institutional
investment managers because it is required that the 13F Report
include only 13F Securities, is filed on a lag, and some funds may
not meet the filing thresholds or other requirements. In addition,
because the 13F Reports are as of the last date of the quarter, the
13F Report may not describe intra-quarter activity.
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