Global Hedge Funds now Over 2 Trillion in Assets

Assets in global hedge funds have now reached more than $2 trillion according to new research compiled by HedgeFund Intelligence, publisher of the newsletters and databases of EuroHedge, AsiaHedge, South AfricaHedge and InvestHedge, as well as the U.S.-based magazine Absolute Return.

The findings of this research, which is published in a new Global Review from HedgeFund Intelligence, shows a rise in global hedge fund assets from just over $1.5 trillion in January 2006 to $2.079 trillion by January of this year - a rate of growth in assets of just over 30% in the past year.

According to the latest research from InvestHedge - which tracks investors in hedge funds - an increasing proportion of this money is coming from institutional investors, with the majority of the assets allocated to hedge funds (over $1 trillion) now coming via the fund of funds sector.

The HedgeFund Intelligence research process was completed with the latest EuroHedge asset survey, which showed that assets in European hedge funds had reached almost $460 billion by January of this year - up from $325 billion the year before, and at the fastest rate of growth in the past year (about 40%) among the major regions around the world.

The latest AsiaHedge asset survey showed that combined assets in Asia-Pacific hedge funds had reached $147 billion (including Asia-Pacific funds managed from the U.S. and Europe) - up from $115 billion the year before.

In the U.S., HedgeFund Intelligence calculated that total hedge fund assets have now reached almost $1.5 trillion - including some $1.198 trillion accounted for the Absolute Return Billion Dollar Club alone (which was up from about $850 billion a year earlier).

After adjusting for a small amount of double-counting (such as for funds managed in one region but investing into another), the combined assets of hedge funds in the U.S., Europe and the Asia-Pacific now stand at $2.006 trillion. Adding in other regions - including Canada, Latin America and South Africa - takes the combined total to $2.079 trillion.