The ranks of hedge fund managers with at least $1 billion under management grew by a net 98 over the past year to 668 managers, alternatives data provider Preqin reported Friday.
These managers account for just 12% of all hedge fund managers yet represent 88% of total industry assets.
Firms with between $1 billion and $4.9 billion in assets manage 27% of total industry assets, the largest proportion of any fund size, and those with more than $20 billion manage 21% of assets.
According to Preqin, the proportion of total industry assets held by these funds declined from 92% in 2015, with firms in the $1 billion club now managing $2.75 trillion in total assets under management, down from $2.78 trillion at the end of the first quarter of last year.
In the same period, total industry assets fell from an estimated $3.16 trillion to $3.13 trillion, following challenging market conditions, the conversion of some big funds to family offices and high-profile redemptions from several institutional investors.
Following are the top 10 managers by total assets under management:
- Bridgewater Associates (U.S.): $146.3 billion (as of Feb. 29)
- AQR Capital Management (U.S.): $74 billion (as of Sept. 30)
- Man Group (U.K.): $53.1 billion (as of March 31)
- Och-Ziff Capital Management (U.S.): $42 billion (as of April 1)
- Standard Life Investments (U.K.): $38.4 billion (as of Dec. 31)
- Winton Capital Management (U.K.): $34.5 billion (as of March 31)
- Millennium Management (U.S.): $33 billion (as of March 1)
- Renaissance Technologies (U.S.): $32.3 billion (as of March 31)
- BlackRock Alternative Investors (U.S.): $31 billion (as of Dec. 31)
- Two Sigma Investments (U.S.): $31 billion (as of Dec. 31)
Other Findings
Fifty-four percent of hedge funds with $1 billion or more in assets experienced net inflows through the first quarter, the highest proportion of any fund size.
Nine percent of these big funds saw no change in assets, while 37% suffered losses through the quarter.
Preqin's report showed that managers with upward of $20 billion under management experienced a decline in assets of 15% since May 2015, including the behemoth Bridgewater Associates, whose assets fell by $23 billion from the 2015 first quarter.
This indicated that even the elite managers were not immune to redemptions by institutional investors, such as the $51 billion New York City Employees Retirement System, which voted to pull out of its $1.5 billion portfolio of hedge funds.
