2007 – REACHING THE PEAK
The period of Hong Kong’s fastest growth occurred in 2006 and 2007 at a time when both Asia ex-Japan and China enjoyed a strong resurgence as investment strategies. This expansion was matched by a sharp correction in Japan as an investment strategy, along with a significant reduction in the assets of Japan-invested funds in addition to the assets advised by Japan-based advisers.
By the end of 2007, therefore, Hong Kong’s total assets of $35.3 billion propelled it into its position as the third-largest Asia-Pacific hedge fund centre – with more than twice the assets of Japan and behind only Australia in the region itself, which accounted for $38.5 billion in assets. Compared with the ex-regional centres, Hong Kong then easily outpaced the UK’s $27.4 billion in assets, but still trailed the United States, which had $42.7 billion in assets....