After a long dry spell, fund launches are finally springing up again.
New American hedge funds that started in 2010 and ended the year with at least $50 million pulled in a combined $17.40 billion, a 17% jump over the amount new funds garnered in 2009. At least 59 new hedge funds managing a minimum of $50 million in assets began trading in 2010, compared with 53 the previous year.
Still, 2010’s total is well shy of the $23.17 billion reached in 2008 and less than half of the record $40 billion amassed in 2004, the year AR started tracking the biggest new fund launches. And 2009’s total, $14.89 billion, was the worst on record since AR’s biannual survey began.
Investors, still cautious after 2008, remain skittish about backing brand-new managers, and raising money is still far more challenging than it was before 2008,...