Worldwide Hedge Fund Assets Reach $2 Trillion

A news releasereported a rise in global hedge fund assets from just over $1.5 trillion in January 2006 to $2.08 trillion by January 2007 – a 30% annual growth rate.

For the first time, the company’s global survey also included a list of the top hedge fund firms in the industry. There are 105 firms running hedge funds with assets of over $1 billion in Europe and 35 more in Asia, according to the announcement.The net total number of firms in the top hedge fund list is 351 with combined assets of $1.56 trillion.

According to the latest research from InvestHedge – which tracks investors in hedge funds – an increasing proportion of the assets is coming from institutional investors, with the majority of the assets allocated to hedge funds (over $1 trillion) now coming via the fund of funds sector.

In the U.S., HedgeFund Intelligence calculated that total hedge fund assets have now reached almost $1.5 trillion.

The announcement said New York remains by some distance the most popular location for major hedge fund firms, with 123 of the largest fund firms headquartered there – over 35% of those firms representing 41.5% of the assets (almost $650 billion).

is the second most popular location for the bigger hedge funds, with 72 of the largest firms located there – 20.5% of those funds accounting for 16.7% of the assets ($261 billion).

has emerged as the third most popular center for hedge funds globally, with about 30 members of the top fund list based in towns such as Greenwich, Stamford and Westport – with combined assets of almost $170 billion, 10.5% of the total, according to the announcement.