London, Monday 1 October 2007 – Assets under management in global hedge funds have reached nearly $2.5 trillion at the mid-year point of 2007 according to new research compiled by HedgeFund Intelligence, publisher of the newsletters and databases of EuroHedge, AsiaHedge, South AfricaHedge and InvestHedge, as well as the U.S.-based magazine Absolute Return.

The survey, which is based on information from the most comprehensive database of the hedge fund industry, follows HedgeFund Intelligence’s last Global Review, published in March, which found industry assets had cleared the $2 trillion mark (see notes) and growing at 30% per annum.

The mid-year survey, conducted with well over 5,000 single-manager hedge funds using the same methodology as the original survey, revealed that by July 2007 industry assets had grown further to $2.481 trillion, at an even faster growth rate of over 19% during the first half of the year (38% annualised).

The survey’s other findings included:

– New asset gathering driving asset growth
With hedge funds averaging investment performance of just over 6% in the first half – according to HedgeFund Intelligence’s Global Composite Index – the bulk of the increase (about two-thirds) came from net inflows of new money from investors.

– Top 370 firms manage 75% of global assets

The bulk of assets remain in the hands of the ‘Billion Dollar Club’ – with the top 372 firms, each managing more than $1 billion in hedge fund assets – collectively managing $1.892 trillion, or three quarters of the industry’s total assets (up from 351 Billion Dollar Club firms managing $1.564 billion in
January).

 – US dominance strengthened; New York most popular city

According to the latest research from Absolute Return magazine, 246 of the Billion Dollar Club firms are headquartered in the US (up from 241 in January), managing a collective $1.457 trillion. According to our EuroHedge and AsiaHedge research there are also 126 other firms based outside the U.S. that also now run over $1 billion each.

New York has extended its lead as the top centre for hedge fund management globally, with the number of billion dollar-plus funds located there increasing from 123 to 139 over the first half, and their collective
assets rising sharply from $650 billion to $881 billion. London remains in second place, with the number of billion dollar firms there rising from 72 to 79, with collective assets also rising from $261 billion to $316 billion.

 – Europe assets up 17%

The EuroHedge asset survey showed that assets in European hedge funds had reached $539 billion by the mid-year point, up from $460 billion at the start of the year, for a growth rate of about 17%. As in the U.S., the bigger firms have got bigger in Europe, with the top 20 by assets under management now accounting for over $200 billion in aggregate.

 – Asia up 13%; Japan see outflows

The latest AsiaHedge survey showed that assets in Asia-Pacific hedge funds had grown to about $167 billion at the mid-year point, up from about $147 billion at the start of the year – with net outflows (of about $10 billion) from Japan equity funds being more than offset by rapid growth in ex-Japan funds.

Australia has also emerged as Asia’s largest centre for hedge fund firms, and the country with the thirdmost members in the Billion Dollar Club (8) after the US (246) and UK (79).

– Fund of funds major allocator

According to the latest research from InvestHedge – which tracks investors in hedge funds – an increasing proportion of the new money flowing in is coming from institutional investors, with themajority of it allocated via the fund of fund sector.

Commenting, Neil Wilson, the managing director of HedgeFund Intelligence said:

“The latest Global Survey shows that the hedge fund industry has continued to thrive, and attract increasing asset flows. While these figures are only to July, and don’t yet take account of the turbulence the industry endured in August, they indicate an industry still in robust health. The survey has also shown, despite the speculation that it may be overtaken by London as the world’s financial centre, NewYork remains very much the most favoured location of the world’s top hedge fund traders and talent.”