Europe’s hedge fund industry finally pulled out of its tailspin in the second half of 2009, with assets rising for the first time since the onset of the financial crisis, according to the Financial Times.
Continent-wide assets rose 9.1 per cent to $382bn (£250bn, €280bn) in the six months to December, according to HedgeFund Intelligence, although this is still below both the $398bn held at the end of 2008 and the all-time peak of $575bn, in December 2007.
Factoring in assets held in the new generation of onshore, Ucits-compliant hedge fund-lite strategies, or Newcits, the European total rises to $405bn. Several offshore hedge funds included in previous surveys have since converted to Ucits status, HFI said.
“The hedge fund industry in Europe has turned the corner and is starting to recover quickly from the earlier downturn,” said Nick Evans, editor of EuroHedge, an arm of HFI.
HFI said the pace of new fund launches “started to pick up rapidly” in the second half of 2009, although the full-year tally of 142, raising $11.1bn, was the lowest since records began in 2000. A further 65 Newcits launched last year, garnering $5.7bn.
In spite of claims that higher taxation and tighter regulation would drive hedge funds out of London, the proportion of European assets managed from the UK rose during the second half of 2009, from 75.2 per cent to 76.1 per cent. Switzerland, often touted as the location of choice for UK refuseniks, saw its market share rise to 3.9 per cent.