Here’s something worth noting, amid the flux in Asian investment circles and the steady exodus of hedge funds from Japan to more investor-friendly climes of Singapore and Hong Kong — even as investment interest revives among Japan-focused funds:
Business Insider has helpfully compiled a list of the 15 biggest Asia-focused hedge funds, ranging from Hong Kong-based HT Capital Management at No 15, with assets under management of $637.2m, to Hong Kong-based Value Partners at No 1, with AUM of $8.6bn.
Early days yet for the Asia funds, as seen in the accompanying post based on an Institutional Investor report on the world’s Top 100 hedge funds, ranging from New York-based Angelo, Gordon & Co, in 10th place with $23.6bn in total capital, to Bridgewater, which moved from second place in 2010 to first in 2011 with a whopping $58.9bn in capital.
As Institutional Investor notes: Bridgewater’s ascent “parallels the rise of institutional investor interest in hedge funds during the past decade”. It continues:
The importance of brand-name recognition is evident in the Hedge Fund 100, where the five largest firms — Bridgewate J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Man Investments, Paulson & Co. and Brevan Howard Asset Management — manage staggering $221.6 billion in combined assets when this year began.
That’s nearly as much as the $260 billion in total assets that all the firms in the Hedge Fund 100 managed a decade ago in our inaugural ranking. All told this year’s 100 biggest firms managed a total of $1.21 trillion at the start of this year, up 12 percent from the $1.08 trillion in assets that firms on the 2010 Hedge Fund 100 had.
That said, Lex among others raised the “eternal” question – is bigger better? — in an April post, and concluded that size now appears “disadvantageous”.
Tell that to Bridgewater.
Related links:
The lowdown on hedge fund stock positions - ReformedBroker
Hedge funds look to post-Galleon life – FT
Japan’s hedgie trap – FT Alphaville
Hedge funds consider the alternatives – FTfm