China Beats Japan As Asia's Top Hedge Fund Destination

According to Alpha Magazine's list of the region's biggest single-manager hedge funds, investors are rushing into China to capitalize on the country's soaring equity market, and Asia's native hedge funds are cashing in on the action.

Tokyo-based Sparx Group Co. topped the ranking for the second year in a row. Sparx, one of Japan's first money managers to get into hedged investing, now manages $6.7 billion. The next two firms, Hong Kong-based Value Partners and Singapore's Arisaig Partners, make their debut on the Asia Hedge Fund 25, managing $4.8 billion and $2.1 billion, respectively.

Despite their domination in the 2006 Asia 25 ranking, Japanese firms clearly take a back seat to China-based firms this year. A year ago four of the top ten firms were headquartered in Japan and accounted for one-third of the total assets managed by the Asia 25. his year, weakened by poor Japanese equities performance, only two of the top ten firms are Japanese.

China's equity market picks up where Japan's leaves off; the MSCI China index returned 78.7 percent in 2006, spurring the growth of China-focused funds under firms like Value Partners and Arisaig Partners.

The ten biggest firms in Alpha's exclusive Asia Hedge Fund 25 are:

Rank; Firm Name; Firm/Fund capital ($ millions)
1: Sparx Group Co.; (Tokyo, Japan); $6,651
2 Value Partners; (Central, Hong Kong); $4,772
3 Arisaig Partners; (Singapore); $2,100*
4 Penta Investment Advisors; (Central, Hong Kong); $1,910
5 Ward Ferry Mgmt; (Central, Hong Kong); $1,781
6 Lapp Capital; (Singapore); $1,400*
7 Tree Line Investment Mgmt.; (Central, Hong Kong); $1,300*
8 Artradis Fund Mgmt.; (Singapore); $1,220
9 Tantallon Capital; (Singapore); $1,092
10 Asuka Asset Mgmt.; (Tokyo, Japan); $1,034

Alex Akesson
Editor for HedgeCo.Net
Email: alex@hedgeco.net