Trends everywhere? The case of hedge fund styles.

Summary This paper investigates empirically whether time-series momentum returns can explain the performance of hedge funds in the cross section. Relying on the trend-following literature, a volatility-adjusted time-series momentum signal is applied on a daily basis across a large set of futures, covering the major asset classes. We build a hierarchical set of trend factors: the full version TREND can be split in summable factors across two dimensions: the horizon of the signals and the traded asset class. We show that Managed Futures, Global Macro and Fund of Hedge Funds strategies can be partly explained by a TREND exposure. Moreover, a TREND exposure is a significant determinant of hedge funds returns at the fund level, for Managed Futures and Global Macro but also, and more surprisingly, for the other styles.