HedgeWeek – Less stellar returns over the past couple of years have done little to brake the enthusiasm of European hedge fund managers and their institutional investors, with both the number of newfund launches and the level of total fund assets run by European managers setting new records in the first half of 2006. And as the industry grows in size, London’s grip as the undisputedcentre of the continent’s hedge fund management industry continues to tighten.
According to a survey by EuroHedge, more than 170 new European hedge funds were launched in the first six months of this year, up from 150 in the same period a year earlier. However, the total assetsraised by the new funds fell back to USD11.4bn from USD13bn in the first half of 2005, when the numbers were buoyed by five funds that were launched with assets in excess of USD1bn.
According to the survey, equity strategies dominated the new European funds launched this year. European long/short equity was the largest category with 41 funds raising USD2.2bn, followed by globalequity with 32 funds and USD1.6bn, Asian equity with 12 funds and USD1.3bn and equity market-neutral with five funds and USD 1.1bn. Macro, event-driven, multi-strategy and fixed income funds eachraised more than USD800m.
