Hedge Fund Assets Zoom Past $2 Trillion

Date: Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Author: Dailyii.com

Single-manager hedge funds assets under administration have zoomed to $2.1 trillion, according to the latest semiannual survey by HFMWeek. The report found that this group of hedge funds has soared 53% in the past year, compared with 37% a year earlier, even as the actual number of single HF under administration has increased by only 1% since April. In contrast, the number of single-managers surged 45% in the previous go-around. Funds of hedge funds, left for dead by some, have come alive thanks largely to infusions from institutional investors, and have added another 20% to their ranks in the past six months. Overall, there has been a 7% growth in the combined number of single-manager HFs and FoHFs since the previous survey. The top 10 single funds by AUA are Citco Fund Services ($310 billion), HSBC’s Alternate Fund Services ($174.4 billion), BISYS Alternative Investment Services ($151.47 billion), Investors Bank & Trust ($144.6 billion) and IFS, a State Street company ($142.5 billion.)

In other findings:

• JPMorgan Hedge Fund Services, at No. 15 with $37 billion AUA, recorded the biggest growth spurt in the past 12 months at 285%, while rank leader Citco saw 51%.
• Among the top 10 funds, No. 10 SS&C Fund Services had the largest gain in the past six months – 34% -- while No. 5 IFS inched up just 2%.
• BNP Paribas Securities Services heads the list of single funds in overall growth, with a 197% increase to $4.87 billion.
• Fortis Prime Fund Solutions top the list of funds of hedge funds with $134 billion AUA, a 20% increase since April, but the heftiest gainer among the top 10 was No. 7 Euro-VL, which climbed 64% to $51.6 billion.
• Olympia Capital at No.17 is the highest ranking single fund to record zero or negative growth, while among FoHFs, No. 9 PFPC holds that distinction, slipping 1% to $30.8 billion.