28/11/2006

Hedge fund assets rise to record $2trn

LONDON: The seventh HFMWeekHedge Fund Administrator Survey has revealed that there is now $2trn in hedge fund assets under administration (AUA). 

Hedge fund assets have grown by a staggering 53% since November 2005, compared with the 37% growth the survey reported between 2004 and 2005. In the past six months, hedge fund assets have grown by 17%, fund of hedge funds (FoHFs) by 20% and total combined AUA has risen by 18%.

Conducted in association with Advent Software, the HFMWeeksurvey is the only one of its kind and accounts for 80% of hedge fund assets worldwide. Charlie Kerr, publisher of HFMWeek, said: “With all of the significant hedge fund administrators participating, our survey is the most transparent and complete hedge fund administrator survey ever compiled.”

The largest hedge fund administrators in the industry including CITCO, HSBC, BISYS, IBTCO and IFS State Street, participated in the survey. CITCO Fund Services topped the charts with $310bn in single-fund AUA, while Fortis Prime Fund Solutions led the FoHFs pack with $134bn in AUA.

UBS Fund Services reported a larger increase in FoHF than in its single-manager funds under administration. Darren Stainrod, executive director of UBS Hedge Fund Services in Cayman, said: “This is due to larger assets flowing into the FoHF launches from institutional investors, whereas the single-manager funds launch in greater quantity, but the assets at launch tend to be lower.”

The survey’s 57 participating hedge fund administrators included 10 newcomers including Swiss Financial Services Group, Equity Fund Services, LaCrosse Global Fund Services and HedgeWorks.

Click here to view or download the full survey (subscribers only)