In late November, Asian Investor reported that according to Preqin, a data provider, Asian accounts for 13% of the 604 new hedge fund launches globally this year.North America makes up the majority of new fund launches (70%), with Europe second at 16%. The global total for 2013 is set to be the lowest number in a decade, following last year's 966 launches and 1,067 in 2011.

Asian launches may be a minority, but global banks and asset managers are opening hedge funds in Asia for the first time since the 2008 financial crisis, putting pressure on smaller firms that are already struggling to hold onto investors, said Bloomberg, which cites Goldman Sachs, UBS and GLG Partners, Highbridge Capital and Pine River Capital. We recently heard of those ex-hedge funders striking out on their own:

1. Doug Gordon, Jon Hilsabeck and Don Jabro, former money managers at Vinik Asset Management LP, have opened their own investment startup after the hedgefund firm run by Jeffrey Vinik shut earlier this year, according to Bloomberg. Shellback Capital LP, which will bet on and against U.S. stocks, is based in Boston and will start trading in January.

2. Naoki Iwami, a former managing director at Millennium Capital Management in Tokyo, expects to raise about $150 million by the end of March for his hedge fund that invests in bonds and currencies, said BusinessWeek. Tokyo-based Whiz Partners Inc. runs the Whiz Rock Global Macro Investment Fund, which has about $50 million and has returned about 1% since inc......................

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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.