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In association with Hedge Fund Intelligence |
A full-blown restructuring is under way in the hedge fund world – in what is still a young industry subject to intense Darwinian forces. The shake-out will be severe and the casualty list has been lengthening by the day.
On the positive side of the ledger, it seems highly likely that huge opportunities will exist in a much less crowded, smaller and nimbler industry. But they will only be available to those that can survive through this period of pain.
The whole landscape is changing. There will be profound transformation in fund structures, fee levels and through the creation of different types of vehicles to cater for the different requirements of different types of investors – and for different types of investment opportunities in different asset classes and strategies with different degrees of liquidity.
The withdrawal of investor capital – and of investment bank leverage – from an industry that had enjoyed many years of headlong expansion is proving to be a widespread, painful and complex process.
The destruction of wealth that has been seen in so many areas is dispiriting to all who believe that hedge funds should offer investors a defence against difficult markets as well as decent returns in more benign periods.