Hedge Fund Assets Reach New All-Time High Of $2.938 Trillion, Says eVestment Report

eVestment's April Hedge Fund Asset Flows Report shows hedge fund assets reaching record highs. That and other key points from the report, according to report author Peter Laurelli, eVestment vice president of research, include:

Hedge fund assets reached a new all-time high in April 2014, surpassing their prior peak set in Q2 2008 just a few months before the height of the financial crisis.
Investors allocated $17.9 billion to hedge funds in April, the third consecutive month of elevated inflows. Despite very slight performance related declines, total AUM rose 0.42% to $2.938 trillion. Investors have added $68.4 billion through April, far surpassing inflows from 2013 and 2012 for the same time frame.
Investors continued to show preference to equity strategies over credit in April, however equity fund flows were noticeably lower than over the prior three months, a possible sign that recent performance losses are weighing on investor sentiment. YTD inflows into equity strategies of $48.3 billion is nearly triple the level for the universe from all of 2013.
Credit fund flows were positive, but near flat for the second consecutive month. There appear to be differing opinions on the potential value of credit strategies in the current rate environment, despite its industry leading YTD returns. Credit fund AUM is at an all-time high, however the universe surpassed its pre-crisis peaks back in 2010 and has been in record territory since. Persistent growth has been driven by the structural shift in the industry’s investor base as institutions have overtaken FoFs as primary investors and shown an interest in alternative exposures to familiar markets.
Event driven strategies continue to receive large new allocations and despite recent elevated losses in March and April, activist funds continue to be favorites in the space. It is important to remember however that current inflows are the results of decisions made over the past several months and may not reflect current investor sentiment to the strategies.

Click here to download the report.