The top 10 hedge funds by assets

Date: Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Author: Here is the City

In the nearly $3 trillion hedge fund universe, the rich keep getting richer and the big keep getting bigger, according to Institutional Investor's Alpha Hedge Fund 100 list.

As it has in previous years, investor money in 2013 kept flowing to the largest names in the space, with the top 100 controlling $1.5 trillion, according to the latest numbers from Institutional Investor's Alpha Hedge Fund 100 list.

That's an increase of 13 percent for the year and about 25 percent over the past two years.

Ray Dalio and Bridgewater Associates continued to lead the way, with $87.1 billion, while JPMorgan Asset Management maintained its No. 2 slot with $59 billion. The biggest mover in the top 10 was value investment guru Cliff Asness and AQR Capital Management, in Greenwich, Connecticut, which surged from the 14 spot all the way up to No. 7 as its assets grew 47 percent to $29.9 billion.

The trend toward large firms is curious in that many of them have shut their doors to new clients, including Citadel, Convexity Capital Management, D.E. Shaw & Co. and Viking Global Investors. A few other large firms, such as David Tepper's Appaloosa, returned money to investors. (In rankings released last week, Tepper led hedge fund manager pay in 2013 at $3.5 billion.)

Read More This hedge fund chief made $3.5 billion in 2013

While investors are always looking for the hot new fund, money ultimately tends to gravitate to the established names. According to one executive the magazine quoted:

Everyone is on the prowl for smaller, nimble funds. But a lot of experienced funds are run by investors with impressive track records who have seen different market cycles and have built organizations that have started to transition to the next generation.

For a full list of II Alpha's Hedge Fund 100, go here.

The top 10 are:

1. Bridgewater Associates, $87.1 billion

2. JPMorgan Asset Management, $59 billion

3. Brevan Howard Asset Management, $40 billion

4. Och-Ziff Capital Managemenet Group, $36.1 billion

5. BlueCrest Capital Management, $32.6 billion

6. BlackRock, $31.3 billion

7. AQR Capital Management, $29.9 billion

8. Lone Pine Capital, $29 billion

9. Man Group, $28.3 billion

10. Viking Global Investors, $27.1 billion