10/02/2010 Author: Tony Griffiths

Ucits universe grows to over $50bn

The total value of the Ucits-compliant hedge fund universe now exceeds £35bn ($54.8bn) and is likely to continue to grow in the near future, Hedge fund Research (HFR) said today.
 
According to the data provider, there are now more than 200 hedge funds compliant with the Ucits III guidelines, the third iteration of the EU’s highly regulated fund wrapper, with the majority of growth taking place in the last two years.  The guidelines were initially introduced in 1989.
 
“As the structural requirements of institutional investors continue to shape the landscape of the industry, funds conforming to Ucits III guidance have generated a significant amount of interest” said HFR president Ken Heinz. “Ucits III constitutes a compelling and tractable set of guidelines which serve to greatly enhance product transparency, cross-border distribution, and risk control.”
 
Ucits products are considered one of the fund management world’s success stories of recent years, having been successfully rolled out to Asian and Latin American markets, and beyond.
 
In a separate announcement, HFR revealed that its China index had posted a record performance gain of 50.4% for 2009, with AuM increasing to $76.3bn, the highest level since 2008’s third quarter.