Asian hedge fund startups break records

    Hong Kong skyline from The Peak
    Despite an absolutely brutal second quarter for the Chinese equity market, Asian hedge fund start ups continued to rock — raising a record $5.3 billion in the first half of 2015.

    According to Opalesque, the kingly sum is reportedly equal to what Asian hedge funds as a whole raised in 2014, highlighting just how booming the industry is the moment.

    Surprisingly, global macro funds took the lion’s share of the total, raking in over $4 billion as Graticule Asset Management Asia spun out of Fortress and former Nomura currency chief Jai Rajpal launched Crescent Macro. Ex-SAC man Yip Ka-hay meanwhile, also helped his sector surge past its peers as he opened Hong Kong-based Bright Stream Capital Management to investors.

    As for it’s significance, here’s what Aradhna Dayal, head of Asia for HedgeFund Intelligence in Hong Kong, told Reuters:

    “This is what makes 2015 so remarkable, and let’s not forget, we still have several multi-hundred dollar launches by star managers slated for the second half.”

    Nice.

    Photo: Khush N