Hedge funds have begun 2026 with further inflows and strong performance, led by macro, as the sector extended its positive run to ten months.
The sector attracted net inflows of $6.9bn in January (subscriptions of $16.5bn exceeding redemptions of $9.6bn), according to new Citco data. Multi-strategy attracted net inflows of $3.3bn, almost half the total.
Funds posted a tenth straight month of gains, with a weighted average return of 0.9%. It is now almost a year since biggest deleveraging event since the early days of Covid dented performance in March.
Global macro continues to excel, delivering a weighted average return of 6.5% in January after returning 27.7% in 2025.
Meanwhile Europe led regional flows, attracting $4.6bn of January inflows, ahead of the Americas ($1.5bn) and Asia ($0.8bn). The largest funds continue to capture the bulk of capital, with funds over $10bn drawing the most inflows.
There was notable rising dispersion, with the performance spread between the best and worst performers widening to 9.9% in January (up from 6.3% in December).