Hedge fund launches in Q2 2015: more in Europe and Asia than last quarter

Single-manager hedge funds dominated launch activity overthe quarter, accounting for 79% of the 116 hedge fund launchesadded to Preqin's Hedge Fund Analyst in Q2 2015.

Alternative mutual fund structures saw a decline in terms of theirprominence in fund launches, from representing 13% of fundlaunches in Q1 2015 to just 3% of hedge fund launches in Q22015.

Hedge fund managers based in Europe have had an activeQuarter (22%), experiencing an increase of six percentage points inthe proportion of funds launched compared with Q1 2015, whenEuropean managers represented 16% of all hedge fund launches.

Launch activity by Asia-Pacific-based managers alsoincreased in Q2 2015, accounting for four percentage pointsmore than the previous quarter (9% vs. 5%).

Global-focused funds have recovered from their low level of fundlaunches, relative to previous quarters, in Q1 2015 to represent 59% of all fund launches in the second quarter.

The second quarter witnessed smaller proportions of funds launched with a focus on North America and emerging markets than the previous quarter, representing 17% and 5% of fund launches respectively.

There was a larger proportion of relative value strategies launches (12%) in the second quarter compared to Q1 (5%). This represents the highest level of relative value strategies fund launches, as a proportion of all fund launches, since Q4 2010. The strategy has had a strong 18-month performance record with only two down months in the period according to the Preqin All-Relative Value Strategies Hedge Fund benchmark.

Equity and credit strategies funds have seen the largest decrease in activity in Q2 2015 (39% and 9% of hedge fund launches respectively), as macro and event driven strategies bounced back from a slow start to the year to represent 27% and 6% of fund launches in the second quarter this year respectively.

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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.