Hedge fund capital increased in the first quarter of the year, rising to a seventh consecutive record as investors reduced equity market beta in favour of M&A-focused Event-Driven (ED) exposures and fixed income-based Relative Value Arbitrage (RVA) strategies. Total hedge fund industry capital globally increased USD4.5 billion to a new record of USD3.215 trillion, according to the latest HFR Global Hedge Fund Industry Report. Following inflows of nearly USD10 billion for 2017, Q1 2018 net inflows totalled USD1.1 billion, with the gain moderated by a concentrated capital outflow within Equity Hedge strategies.