WEST PALM BEACH, FL (HEDGECO.NET) – A new joint study conducted by KPMG LLP and CREATE concluded that global investment managers are increasingly adopting hedge fund investment strategies. However,the authors of the new research said that it remains unclear if managers are simply seeking alpha for the short term or if this trend may be continuing for quite some time. The study surveyed a totalof 300 investment managers.

The growth and popularity of hedge fund investment strategies resulted from the difficulties encountered in equities markets following the meltdown in the technology sector. Hedge funds have provided absolute returns to investors during the difficult years from 1999 to 2002, and have very easily beaten the returns posted by global equity indices.

While hedge fund returns have turned somewhat negative for April and May 2004, their year-to-date returns are still in the positive territory. Regardless of a poor result during the past two months, hedge fund assets continue to experience exponential growth and for the first time, hedge fund management assets topped the US $1 trillion mark.

According to the new survey, 20% of investment managers said their clients have been seeking hedge fund investment portfolios during the past two years, and 40% of those surveyed think investors will be focused on hedge funds during the next two years. With the growing interest of institutional investors in areas such as pension plans, hedge funds may continue to appeal to new investors seeking alpha from the marketplace, an elusive option in the global equity markets.

Paul Oranika
Editor-in-Chief
HedgeCo.Net
Email: [email protected]

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