Hedge funds gain $16.3 bln in March, down from Feb

NEW YORK, May 9 (Reuters) - Investors poured an estimated $16.3 billion into hedge funds in March, down from February, reflecting investor uncertainty for the asset class after poor industry performance that month, an industry tracker said on Friday.

While the March inflows were down from February's $17.5 billion, they were well up from the $7.5 billion reported in January, according to industry trackers BarclayHedge and TrimTabs Investment Research.

But the $41.2 billion that flowed into hedge funds and funds of funds in the first quarter was still down 42 percent from the quarter a year ago when the industry's performance was better, the groups said.

"Inflows into hedge funds probably remained weak in April," predicted Sol Waksman, BarclayHedge CEO. "Extreme market volatility and March's poor hedge fund performance will probably deter investors from putting lots of money to work in hedge funds."

Hedge funds lost 2.5 percent overall in March, according BarclayHedge.

Of March's intake, hedge funds received $4.2 billion while funds dedicated to investing in hedge funds took in about $12 billion, the firms said. (Reporting by Dane Hamilton; Editing by Braden Reddall)