Hedge fund investors pulled an estimated $15.2 billion from funds in January, equal to around 0.9 per cent of all assets, as these vehicles lagged behind the US equity market in that month, new figures show.

Hedge funds achieved a 3.1 per cent return in January, compared with a 4.2 per cent return from the S&P 500 index over the same month. In total, hedge fund assets stood at $1.7 trillion in January.

“January marked the biggest monthly outflow since July 2009, when hedge funds redeemed $17.7 billion,” said Leon Mirochnik, an analyst at TrimTabs. “The hedge fund industry has experienced net outflows in four out of the last five months.”

Fixed income, multi-strategy, and merger arbitrage hedge funds are the only investing strategies that have seen net inflows since September 2011, the survey found.

Funds of hedge funds underperformed their hedge fund counterparts by 140 bps, returning 1.7 per cent in January.

The latest TrimTabs/BarclayHedge survey of hedge fund managers showed that hedge fund managers remain bullish on the prospects for US equities. The survey of 105 hedge fund managers found bullish sentiment on the S&P 500 at 40.0 per cent in February 2012, down from 45.4 per cent in January.