EQT Corporation attracted significant attention within Hazeltree's fund community as a top energy security holding
Market volatility and uncertainty further intensified in March as investor concerns reached a fever pitch. For global hedge funds, the Middle East war proved particularly devastating, yet energy stocks were one hedge fund bright spot, attracting inflows, according to Hazeltree, a leading provider of integrated treasury and liquidity management solutions for alternative asset managers. The firm's hedge fund community data noted that the energy sector saw a 55% increase in the number of funds long their stock, while 44% of companies saw an over 10% increase in the number of funds long their stock compared to February.
Key takeaways from the newly published March 2026 Hazeltree Crowdedness Report include:
The most crowded sectors where similarities emerged across the Americas, EMEA, and APAC included:
- Information Technology North America (Software Services) and APAC (Technology Hardware Equipment)
- Industrials North America (Capital Goods), EMEA (Capital Goods), and APAC (Capital Goods)
- Financials North America (Banks) and EMEA (Banks)
- In nearly every region, these sectors appear at or near the top of both long- and short crowdedness rankings, a pattern that has held since December 2025.
The monthly report provides a look back at hedge fund long and short crowdedness across the Americas, EMEA, and APAC, based on Hazeltree's analysis of anonymized data from approximately 16,000 securities on its proprietary securities-finance platform, representing more than 600 global funds. It includes the ten most crowded regional long and short positions, broken out by large-, mid-, and small-cap categories.
Hazeltree defines the crowdedness score as a relative metric that normalizes the number of funds in Hazeltree's community that are long or short a given security within a predefined group (by region and market cap) relative to its peers. When a fund is long on a stock, it generally means they either expect the stock's price to go up or use long to hedge their exposure to shorts. On the contrary, when a fund is short a stock, it generally means they either expect the stock's price to drop or are hedging their long exposure.
"When we analyzed our previous Crowdedness Report, the Middle East conflict had just begun on February 28 and little did we know what a significant impact it would have across broad global market sectors, with the exception of energy," commented Tim Smith, managing director, Data Insights, Hazeltree. "Energy stocks proved to be a magnet for hedge fund inflows likely due to a combination of macro positioning and geopolitical risk."
"We noted from our hedge fund community, EQT Corporation, the only large-scale, vertically integrated natural gas producer, emerged as a top energy security, receiving a 24% increase of funds long on the stock and 36% decrease of funds short on the stock compared to the prior month," added Smith.
Further Highlights at the Single-Name Level
North America: Top Movers (>10% MoM Change in Fund Counts)
Long crowdedness increases
- Large-cap: Microsoft Corp
- Mid-cap: Axis Capital Holdings Ltd, Onto Innovation Inc, and Darling Ingredients Inc
- Small-cap: Permian Resources Corp, AMN Healthcare Services Inc, Kemper Corp, Harley-Davidson Inc, Gentherm Inc, and Maxlinear Inc
Note: Inspire Medical Systems Inc from the Small Cap group saw a >10% month-over-month decrease in long fund counts.
?Short crowdedness increases
- Large-cap: Cloudflare Inc, Nebius Group N.V., Brown Brown Inc
- Mid-cap: Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd, MGM Resorts International, Terawulf Inc
- Small-cap: Eos Energy Enterprises Inc, Pagaya Technologies Ltd, Canadian Solar Inc, Xometry, Inc, Pacira Biosciences Inc
Note: Flowers Foods Inc and Neogen Corp from the Small Cap group saw a >10% month-over-month decrease in short fund counts.
EMEA: Top Movers (>10% MoM Change in Fund Counts)
Long crowdedness increases
- Large-cap: Natwest Group Plc, Axa SA
- Mid-cap: Rightmove Plc, Imi Plc
- Small-cap: Friedrich Vorwerk Group SE, Atalaya Mining Copper S.A., Central Asia Metals Plc, 4Imprint Group Plc
Note: Gamma Communications Plc from the Small Cap group saw a 10% month-over-month decrease in long fund counts.
Short crowdedness increases
- Large-cap:
- Mid-cap: AUTO1 Group SE
- Small-cap: Tate Lyle Plc, and Sinch AB
Note: HelloFresh SE from the Small Cap group saw a >10% month-over-month decrease in short fund counts.
APAC: Top Movers (>10% MoM Change in Fund Counts)
Long crowdedness increases
- Large-cap: HD Hyundai Electric Co Ltd, Winbond Electronics Corp
- Mid-cap: Samsung E&A Co Ltd, United Integrated Services, Capricorn Metals Ltd
- Small-cap: Stanmore Resources Ltd
Note: China Mengniu Dairy Co from the Mid Cap group, Bellevue Gold Ltd, Arcadyan Technology Corp, and Zip Co. Ltd. from the Small Cap group saw a >10% month-over-month decrease in long fund counts.
Short crowdedness increases
- Large-cap: Xiaomi Corp, Alibaba Health Information Technology Limited
- Mid-cap: Greentown China Holdings, Shanghai Microport Medbot Group
- Small-cap: IPH Ltd
Note: PWR Holdings Ltd from the Small Cap group saw a >10% month-over-month decrease in short fund counts.
To view the March 2026 Hazeltree Crowdedness Report and past reports, click here.
Methodology
The Hazeltree Crowdedness Report is based on anonymized and aggregated positioning data from Hazeltree's proprietary securities-finance platform, which reflects trading activity from its hedge fund client base of more than 600 global funds. It calculates the crowdedness score by sector and region (Americas, EMEA, and APAC) and analyzes both long and short crowdedness over the full month of March 2026.
Divergence Bar Chart
The divergence bar chart shows the March 2026 crowdedness score by sector and region. Long positions are represented on the blue side of the chart and short positions on the red side, enabling a clear comparison of long and short positioning within each sector.
Note to editors: To be added to the distribution list for this report, please contact btanner@hazeltree.com.
About Hazeltree
Hazeltree is the leading provider of treasury and liquidity management and optimization solutions purpose-built for the alternative investment industry. Trusted by more than 600 investment firms managing over $4 trillion in assets, Hazeltree empowers hedge funds, private markets firms, and asset managers to enhance operational efficiency, reduce risk, and unlock alpha. Hazeltree's cloud-based platform facilitates nearly $8 billion in daily transactions across more than 10,000 funds. By delivering seamless connectivity across counterparties and service providers, Hazeltree enables clients to optimize cash, credit facilities, margin, and fees-driving stronger returns and greater transparency across the investment lifecycle. Hazeltree is headquartered in New York with offices in London, Bournemouth, and Hong Kong. For more information, please visit www.hazeltree.com.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260415248541/en/
Contacts:
Media Contact:
Ben Tanner
Hazeltree
btanner@hazeltree.com
