North of the main hedge fund country is another one, a bit larger in terms of square miles, and where around $31bn is managed by local hedge funds. This is Canada.

I spoke with some experts on what it is like to set up a hedge fund in Canada: the COO of AIMA Canada, a lawyer and two hedge fund managers who recently set up shop in Canada. All of them presented at a workshop on starting a hedge fund business in Canada earlier this month. What transpired from those conversations is that the barriers to entry are high in Canada in terms of registrations, capital requirements, and capital raising. However, there are good reasons why Canadian hedge funders still do business in Canada: life is good there, and opportunities exist.

Toronto Skyline (Source: www.bestourism.com)

The current landscape for new hedge funds in Canada

The Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) in Canada conducts a continuous survey of the Canadian hedge fund industry, and according to this survey, there are 135 hedge fund managers in total with C$32bn (US$31.1bn) in AUM. Five or six years ago, the industry's AUM were around C$12 to C$15bn. According to the AIMA Canada Handbook, the bulk of Canadian hedge fund managers is situated in Toronto.

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This article was published in Opalesque's New Managers a top-down monthly analysis, news and research publication on the global emerging manager space.