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Matthias Knab, Opalesque for New Managers:

Barclays survey: Net hedge fund allocation interest climbs to 43% for H2 2026 as investors chase liquidity and diversification. However, investors allocate to just 5% of hedge fund managers they meet, even as appetite grows

Hedge funds are heading into the second half of 2026 with their strongest allocation backdrop in years, according to Barclays Investment Bank's latest 3-Point Perspective, the H2 2026 Hedge Fund Outlook. The report, produced by Barclays Strategic Consulting, draws on a survey of 340 investors representing $8.7 trillion in assets under management (AUM).

More than four in ten investors surveyed - 43% - now expect to be net allocators to hedge funds in the second half of the year, up from 37% in the equivalent H2 2025 survey. Barclays attributes the shift to a broader reassessment of portfolio construction after several years of strong public-market gains, with investors increasingly focused on diversification, downside protection and liquidity as they weigh how to protect portfolios against future drawdowns.

Interest in Quantitative Investment Strategies (QIS) has also reached a record high among the investors surveyed, reinforcing a picture of an industry being sought out for both traditional hedge fund exposure and systematic, index-like alternatives.

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