19 Oct 2022
European Billion Dollar Club assets decline 6% in H1
Europe’s largest hedge funds shed 6% of their assets in a first half marked by the worst market environment since the financial crisis. The Billion Dollar Club (BDC) of European firms running at least $1bn in global hedge fund assets shrank from 131 to 123, with group assets declining from $663bn to $623bn. The vast majority of the BDC asset drop came among $3bn to $10bn-sized firms.
The decline was in line with the average performance-based losses suffered by hedge funds in the first half, as the S&P 500 had its worst half since 1970, and bond markets posted record six-month losses. The average hedge fund lost 5.6% in H1, according to With Intelligence data, with European-focused funds sliding 8.2%. European hedge funds overall saw estimated net redemptions of $43bn over H1, latest With data shows.
The first-half asset decline comes after the European BDC list had grown by around 8% in 2021, piling on assets in the first half in a post-Covid rebound.
Fifteen firms dropped out of Europe’s BDC over the first half of 2022 while seven firms were added to the grouping. Florin Court, Andurand Capital and SEB Asset Management were among those to rejoin the list after strong returns for managed futures and commodities strategies this year.
Man Group remained the largest Europe-headquartered hedge fund manager, running $74bn in hedge assets. It saw strong overall hedge fund performance, up 9%, and around $4bn of net inflows in the half, driven by its AHL managed futures funds. The firm’s BDC asset figure excludes its long-only and non-hedge strategies.
Marshall Wace leaped over TCI Fund Management into second place in the BDC ranking as the latter saw an $8bn asset decline, the largest drop in the ranking. Capula retained its fourth position, with macro and quant giants Brevan Howard, Systematica Investments and Rokos Capital registering significant asset climbs close behind.
Over the six-month period, Brevan Howard saw the largest absolute asset increase, growing by $5bn to $23.4bn. Its assets have more than tripled over the last three years.
Among the 15 firms to exit the list, macro firm Glen Point saw the collapse in February of its proposed tie-up with Eisler Capital and its co-founder Neil Phillips was later charged with market manipulation. Long-running long/short equity firm Adelphi Capital converted to a family office.
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