Hedge fund launches make a comeback, with 72 new funds raising $14 billion
By Eric Baum
If there were doubts that investors would continue to throw money at hedge funds after Amaranth Advisors and MotherRock imploded with more than $9.5 billion of assets last year, a bumper crop of new fund launches has put those concerns to rest. New launches in the first two quarters exceeded the number of new funds and assets raised during the same period in 2006, and nearly matched what was considered a banner year in 2005.
At least 72 new funds launched with $14 billion between January and June, up sharply from 51 funds and $11.6 billion during the same period last year. Three of those funds raised more than $1 billion, in contrast to last year's first half, when only one fund managed to surpass the billion-dollar mark.
With fallout from Amaranth's...