New York (HedgeCoVest.Com)—Hedge funds have been taking it on the chin when it comes to performance and fees as the overall market has continued on its incredible bullish run. Despite the negative commentaries and the occasional political jab, the industry continues to grow in popularity amongst institutional investors.

According to data provider Preqin, assets allocated to hedge funds by the 10 largest institutional investors grew to $183 billion at the end of May. That is an increase of almost 10% in the past 12 months.

One interesting development from Preqin’s report is how the growth seems to be coming from global investors rather than from U.S. investors. CalPERs made news earlier in the year when they announced their intention to close out their hedge fund investments and there have been other pension funds that followed suit by either exiting hedge funds or dialing back their allocation at the very least.

Conversely, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, China Investment Corporation (the sovereign wealth funds) and APG (the Dutch pension fund) all increased their allocations to hedge funds. Those three entities happen to be the three largest investors in hedge funds around the world.

Rick Pendergraft
Research Analyst
HedgeCoVest