Aradhna Dayal, editor, AsiaHedge
Following a prolonged period of feeble growth, the Asian hedge fund industry saw a sustained recovery in 2010. Asian funds benefited from both performance as well as reasonably strong capital inflows to the region, finishing the year at $152 billion in total assets. This reflected a 15% growth over 2009, and while industry assets are still far off the 2007 highs of $190 billion, a roadmap to recovery firmly was put into place.
Several factors led to this asset acceleration as 2010 progressed: the clouds of worsening sovereign debt crisis in Europe cleared and the overall macro climate improved; equity markets headed north; and a significant degree of conviction came back in the Asian growth and sustainable recovery story. Global allocators, who had been sitting on the sidelines or had been engaging in...