Hedge funds grow bearish amid economic slowdown jitters, Goldman says

By Carolina Mandl

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Global hedge funds continued to add bearish equity bets to portfolios in the week to Aug. 1 when fresh data sparked fears the U.S. economy is slowing faster than anticipated, Goldman Sachs said in a note to clients.

It marks the third consecutive week that hedge funds’ bets that stocks will fall outpaced the addition of long positions, Goldman said, noting one long position was added for every 3.3 short bets.

The fell into correction territory on Friday after economic data for two consecutive days pointed to a faster-than-anticipated slowdown. Fewer jobs than expected were added and manufacturing activity dropped. It closed down 2.43%.

Hedge funds reduced their exposure in seven of 11 global sectors. These included financials, industrials, real estate and energy. Healthcare stocks were also sold at the fastest pace in roughly a year.

Hedge funds have been unwinding risk bets for a couple of weeks and on Friday fundamental long/short hedge funds had their worst day since June 2022, with their performance falling 1.8% on average, Goldman Sachs said in a separate note.