The 2006 edition of the Eurekahedge Asian Hedge Fund Directory1 contains information on close to 950 hedge funds, investing and/or located in Asia, an investment space that stands at just over US$128 billion as of the end of July 2006. Although the pace of growth of the industry has lessened (we expect the industry to grow 25% by number and 40% by assets, in 2006) compared with the past two years (for instance, the number of hedge funds in Asia grew by 35% in 2004 and 30% in 2005), in absolute terms, the growth is still substantial, with more than US$30 billion in net assets estimated to flow into Asian hedge funds in 2006. On the performance front too, Asia continues to be appealing to hedge funds with the Eurekahedge Asian Hedge Fund Index rising 16% during 2005 and 4% for the first seven months of 2006 (despite severe market corrections during the last three of those seven). The figure below offers a more comprehensive snapshot of industry growth over the past decade.
