South African hedge funds endured a grim March as global markets capitulated, with the HedgeNews Africa South Africa Single Manager Composite declining a median 3.23%, its worst month since March 2020.
By comparison the FTSE/JSE All Share Index declined by -10.45% and South Africa’s All Bond Index fell -6.91%.
The MSCI All World Index lost -5.49% while the MSCI Emerging Markets Index fell 13.26% and the MSCI Frontier Markets Africa Index fell 7.83%.
Fixed income hedge funds were the best performing category for the month, returning a median -0.37%.
Market neutral and quantitative funds protected against the worst of March’s market decline, with the category returning a median -0.74%.
Multi-strategy funds declined by a median -3.45% in March, their first negative month since dipping -0.08% in March 2025.
The long/short equity category came in with a median decline of -4.04%, the first negative return since January 2025 when the category dipped -0.72%.
South African fund of hedge funds declined by a median -3.44% in March, their first negative month since October 2024, when the HedgeNews Africa South African Fund of Funds Composite lost 0.15%.
Copyright. HedgeNews Africa – April 2026.