Hedge funds pull in $7.1 bln in Jan - BarclayHedge |
Date: Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Author: Reuters
Hedge funds pulled in $7.1
billion in new money in January, according to data released on
Monday that pointed to fresh demand for the loosely regulated
portfolios as investors search for better returns. January's inflows reversed the $4.07 billion that pension
funds, endowments and wealthy individuals took out of hedge
funds in December. "The inflow in January is a very positive sign for the
hedge fund industry," said Sol Waksman, CEO of BarclayHedge,
the tracking company that compiled the data. "The first month
of the year typically delivers a redemption-driven outflow." After a rough period when investors punished managers for
poor returns by pulling out about $1 trillion between June 2008
and July 2009, investors are slowly returning to alternative
assets. Indeed, many large investors said they expect to put
more money with hedge funds later this year. Hedge funds now manage roughly $1.5 trillion in assets,
BarclayHedge said. This is below the industry's highpoint of
roughly $2 trillion at the end of 2007 but 24 percent above its
low point in April 2009. In January, investors poured the bulk of new money into
funds that bet on distressed securities, BarclayHedge found.