America's Largest Hedge Funds Command $1.2 Trillion In Assets

by Phillip Morton, Investors Offshore.com

07 March 2007

The biggest US hedge fund firms manage combined assets of $1.2 trillion, according to the most recent semi-annual survey published by Absolute Return magazine, a unit of HedgeFund Intelligence.

Rising from second place, JPMorgan Asset Management (including Highbridge Capital Management) now leads the group with $34 billion under management, an increase of 74% over last year. Goldman Sachs Asset Management, which held the top spot for both surveys in 2006, takes second at $32.53 billion, a 48% increase. Bridgewater Associates holds steady at third, with $30.2 billion, an increase of 47%.

Rounding out the top five are D. E. Shaw Group, in the fourth slot, with $26.3 billion, an increase of 40% in 2006, and Farallon Capital Management in a close fifth, with $26.2 billion (as of December 31), reflecting an increase of 59%.

Assets of the 241 hedge fund firms that manage $1 billion or more, known as the Absolute Return Billion Dollar Club, increased 41% in 2006. Since July 1, 2006, assets in the Billion Dollar Club increased 22%, the survey reports.

The largest firms continued to get bigger, with the top 20 firms now controlling $386 billion, or nearly one-third, of hedge fund assets surveyed. There are now 76 hedge fund firms that manage $5 billion or more, with the top three firms each controlling more than $30 billion.

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