We asked 16 managers, based around the world and overseeing absolute return Asia Pacific strategies, their views of where is the best location to establish a hedge fund. We gave each of them the same 12 questions (reproduced below), which centered on the investment process and capital raising. Their answers were remarkably similar, suggesting that there may be a clear formula which new, and arguably some established, managers should follow.

The main conclusion that we drew from this exercise is that two offices are ideal per hedge fund, one in New York or London to raise capital, and one in an Asian time zone to run the money, or at the very least execute the trades.

Why is it important to have some investment management presence in the region in which the fund is invested? As one Tokyo-based manager puts it, "imagine running a US equity hedge fund from South Africa and not speaking a word of English. How could you do it?"