AR Launch Includes New Hedge Fund Report Card

Date: Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Author: Absolute Return.net

Bridgewater Associates is both the largest hedge fund in the U.S. and the most highly rated by investors, according to two surveys in AR, the new hedge fund magazine which debuts today in print and online at www.absolutereturn-alpha.com. 

Bridgewater tops the Billion Dollar Club mid-year report and ranks first in AR’s new Hedge Fund Report Card survey.  These surveys, along with a profile of Highbridge Capital Management—the first since 2004—and an exclusive interview with the California Public Employees Retirement System are featured in the first issue of AR, the merger of hedge fund titles Absolute Return and Alpha.

The inaugural edition of AR unveils The Hedge Fund Report Card, which ranks the top 50 hedge funds on key criteria of concern to investors, based on a poll of institutional investors and funds of funds. 

Investors were asked to rate the top 50 firms in the Billion Dollar Club in which they are invested by considering the following factors – alignment of interest, alpha generation, independent oversight, infrastructure, liquidity terms and transparency.

Bridgewater ranks highest among investors when all six factors are looked at collectively. Tudor Investment Corp. and Paulson & Co. followed in second and third place, respectively, with Highbridge Capital and Taconic Capital Advisors rounding out the top five spots.

“This survey reveals that alignment of interests is the top investor concern, even above alpha generation,” said Michelle Celarier, the editor of AR.  “This speaks to the changed power dynamics between managers and investors, who have more clout than ever before.”

The Billion Dollar Club report, which ranks the largest hedge funds in the Americas (those with more than $1 billion in assets under management), shows that the industry’s pace of decline at the top hedge funds has slowed dramatically since January.

The largest U.S. hedge fund firms managed combined assets of $1.08 trillion as of July 1, compared with $1.134 trillion on January 1, a 4.4% decrease. Since January, the assets of the largest hedge funds have declined by $50 billion, and the industry manages $591 billion less than it did a year ago. Assets are down 35% from last year’s July 1 peak of $1.7 trillion.

The top of the Billion Dollar Club listing remains largely unchanged as the four leading firms repeat their positions from January. Bridgewater takes first place, with $37 billion, a 4.15% decline from what the firm managed in January. JPMorgan stays in second place, with assets increasing 9.42% to $36 billion. Paulson & Co. comes in third, with overall assets down 6.21% to $27.2 billion. D.E. Shaw Group ranks fourth, managing $26.7 billion on July 1, falling 6.64% since January. Soros Fund Management takes fifth place, with assets increasing to $24 billion, up 14.29% from January.

As the industry continues to shrink, the largest firms maintain their dominance. The top 10 funds manage nearly 23% of the Club’s total assets, roughly a combined $246.4 billion.

About AR

“The publication will communicate the same informed, insightful, and exclusive reporting that characterized both Alpha and Absolute Return, making AR the definitive title for the hedge fund industry,” said Celarier. 

AR will feature a fresh and much needed link between the hedge fund industry, its users and those who provide advisory, financial, and technological services to the sector.   Industry rankings and profiles that Alpha and Absolute Return were notable for will be the mainstays of the new magazine. See www.absolutereturn-alpha.com for more information.

AR is a publication of Institutional Investor and HedgeFund Intelligence, divisions of Euromoney Institutional Investor, the international publishing and information company.

TOP TEN U.S. HEDGE FUND FIRMS – JULY 2009

The Hedge Fund Report Card July 2009

Key factors when evaluating a hedge fund:

                                 Scale=1 to 10 (10 = “most important”)

Note for editors:

Institutional Investor publishes Institutional Investor magazine, which was founded in 1967 to inform, instruct and entertain members of the financial community through identifying and examining the individuals and institutions that wield power and influence in the world. 

HedgeFund Intelligence is the world’s leading information source on hedge funds and those investing in hedge funds including fund of funds. It publishes performance data on more than 10,000 hedge funds and fund of funds around the globe, and its titles cover the U.S., European and Asian markets. 

Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC is listed on the London Stock Exchange and a member of the FTSE-250 share index. It is a leading international business-to-business media group focused primarily on the international finance, metals and commodities sectors. It publishes more than 70 magazines, newsletters and journals, including Euromoney, Institutional Investor, and Metal Bulletin. It also runs an extensive portfolio of conferences, seminars and training courses and is a leading provider of electronic information and data covering international finance, metals and emerging markets. Its main offices are in London, New York, Montreal and Hong Kong, and nearly half its revenues are derived from emerging markets.

For further information:
 
Michelle Celarier, Editor, AR

212-224-3021

mcelarier@absolutereturn.net

Stefan Prelog, Walek & Associates

212 590-0523