N.Y. Remains Center Of $2 Trillion Hedge Fund Industry

Hedge funds topped the $2 trillion mark by the end of last year—at least according to one estimate.

The first global survey from Hedge Fund Intelligence estimates that assets in hedge funds rose 30% last year, in spite of the fact that the average hedge fund trailed the broader markets. The survey also shows that New York is still far and away the largest hedge fund center in the world, but that the industry is growing fastest in Europe.

More than 350 hedge funds boast assets under management in excess of $1 billion, the survey found. More than half of those managers—who together manage $1.6 trillion of hedge fund assets—are in the U.S., and more than a third are in New York. The giant New York funds, according to the survey, account for more than 40% of worldwide hedge fund assets.

London is a distant second, boasting about a fifth of the largest hedge fund managers, who all told oversee 16.7% of global assets. Connecticut came in third, with about 30 managers with more than $1 billion in assets, and $170 and 8.5% of total assets.

But London is at the vanguard of the fastest-growing region for hedge funds. European hedge fund assets soared by 41.5% last year. The continent is home to 105 managers with at least $1 billion in AUM; Asia has 35.

The survey also found that “an increasing proportion” of hedge fund assets come from institutional investors, and that about half of hedge fund assets are invested through funds of hedge funds.