(Bloomberg) — Fast-money investors are rushing to unwind their global equity exposure amid diminishing hopes for a swift resolution of the war in the Middle East.
Hedge funds sold global stocks at the fastest pace in 13 years in March, according to data compiled by Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s prime brokerage unit. The pace of selling was the second-largest since the bank started collecting the data in 2011.
The move was largely driven by a pickup in short sales, underscoring concern that the stock market is prone to more weakness amid ongoing fighting in Iran. The MSCI All-Country World Index fell 7.4% in March in its worst month since 2022, while the S&P 500 Index dropped 5.1%.
Fast-money investors used exchange-traded funds to express their skepticism around the stock market’s trajectory. Shorting activity in large-cap equity exchange-traded funds helped fuel a 17% jump in short positions across US ETFs, the data show.
In the US, selling among hedge funds was broad-based across sectors, with eight of the 11 industries seeing net outflows. Weakness was especially pronounced in industrials, materials and financials, groups closely tied to the economy.
At the same time, fund managers rotated into defensive areas and bought consumer staples stocks at the fastest pace since July 2025, driven entirely by long positions.
They were net buyers of technology, media and telecom stocks for the first time in four months as investors covered their short positions rather than created new longs.
By Natalia Kniazhevich
