A new survey by the industry data provider reports that global hedge fund assets under management reached $2.65 trillion at the beginning of 2008, a hefty increase of 27% from the year-ago figure of $2.079 trillion. But in spite of the uptick in capital, the survey observed that:
The "credit crunch" has impacted investor appetites, and there was undoubtedly a marked slowdown in the industry's rate of growth during the second half of the year...according to HFI's 2007 mid-year Review, industry assets had already grown to $2.48 trillion by last July, so while assets grew by only 6.6% in the second half, overall growth for the year remained impressive.
Other insights from the report include the observations that:
- hedge funds on average return about 8% to investors
- there are 390 hedge funds with over $1 billion under management that control close to 80% of the industry's global aggregate
- New York remains the large players favorite city, with 123 firms of $1 billion-plus funds located in the Big Apple.
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George White
See the HedgeFund Intelligence reportSee TheDeal.com story on the Treasury's Hedge Fund guidelines
