BOSTON – Fewer hedge funds went out of business in 2006 than the year before, according to new data that also show that fewer people launched these loosely regulated but hugely popular investment portfolios last year.
In 2006 1,518 hedge funds were launched while 717 went out of business, putting the overall attrition rate at 8.28 percent, Chicago-based Hedge Fund Research Inc. said in a study released on Thursday.
Several records were set in 2006 when Jack Meyer started Convexity Capital with $6 billion, marking the largest new hedge fund ever launched and Brian Hunter’s risky bets on natural gas sank Amaranth Advisors, creating the biggest-ever hedge fund collapse.
