Big Hedge Funds Get Bigger, Leaving Less for Small Rivals

The largest and best-known hedge funds are elbowing out their smaller and newer rivals for the cash pouring into the business.

The change is making it harder for smaller funds to attract deep-pocketed investors and is reducing the temptation for some Wall Street stars to leave to start their own funds.

Firms like D.E. Shaw & Co., Fortress Investment Group LLC, Farallon Capital Management LLC, Och-Ziff Capital Management Group, Tudor Investment Corp. and Citadel Investment Group LLC now manage between $13 billion and $31 billion each. At the beginning of 2004, each of these firms had less than $10 billion.