Asia Set to grab One-Fifth of Global Hedge Fund Flows

Date: Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Author: Reuters

Asia is likely to capture as much as 20% of the total global inflows into hedge funds in 2010 with investors drawn to the region's stellar performance last year, a senior executive at Bank of America's Merrill Lynch unit said on Monday [March 1].

"Asia is still underrepresented in global hedge fund allocations," James Fallon, director, financing sales at BofA Merrill Lynch, told the Reuters Private Equity and Hedge Funds Summit.

Asia accounts for less than 10% of total global hedge fund assets at present. But hedge funds in the region rose nearly 40% in 2009, far outstripping the growth in their U.S. and European counterparts.

"Last year this time there was very little money coming in. But some of the institutions that hadn't been participants in hedge funds directly in years past are now doing so," Mr. Fallon told the Summit, held at the Reuters office in Hong Kong.