San Antonio Express News – European hedge-fund managers are starting more funds and raising more money then ever before, getting past the troubles of early 2005, says EuroHedge Magazine.
European fund managers started a record 330 new funds in 2005, almost a third more than the 250 funds started in 2004, the London-based magazine said. Assets raised in the new funds increased 22 percent to $27.8 billion from $22.8 billion a year before.
The record represents a rebound for the industry, which stumbled in the first half of 2005 after credit-rating downgrades at automakers such as General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. hurt fund performance. Returns improved in the second half, which helped the funds to climb an average of 9.2 percent in 2005, double the gain of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, according to data compiled by Hedge Fund Research Inc.
