09/05/2006

Hedge funds' six-month AUA surge

LONDON: The hedge fund industry has seen 29% growth in single-manager fund assets over the past six months, according to HFMWeek's Sixth Hedge Fund Administrator Survey.

Conducted in association with Advent Software, the survey showed single assets under administration (AUA) have increased from $1.37trn in November 2005 to $1.77trn in April 2006, with the number of single funds under administration growing by 45%.

In the administrator league table, CITCO Fund Services came top of the list, with $240bn in AUA, while HSBC Alternative Fund Services ($150bn) and Fortis Prime Fund Solutions ($103bn) took second and third places. Of administrators of single-manager funds, 48 took part in the survey.

In addition, funds of hedge funds (FoHFs) have seen a 10% increase in assets, contradicting the view that funds of funds are decreasing in popularity. AUA in FoHFs increased from $710bn to $781bn from November 2005 to April 2006, with the number of FoFHs under administration increasing from 4,149 to 5,933.

Out of the 42 administrators that service FoHFs which responded to the survey, Fortis Prime Fund Solutions was the top administrator, with its AUA showing an 8% increase in the time period, with CITCO Fund Services and HSBC's Alternative Fund Services second and third in the table, showing 13% and 1% growth in AUA respectively.