South African hedge fund assets at record high, says Novare

South African hedge fund industry assets reached R33.6 billion (US$4.04 billion) in June 2012, an all-time high and an increase of 6.9% from June 2011, according to the latest research from Novare Investments.

This represents a 10.9% increase over the R30.3 billion asset level achieved in June 2008 when assets first rose above R30 billion, according to the annual survey, which is Novare’s ninth.

The increase in assets came mainly from performance over the past year rather than capital flows, the report stated. New capital inflows remained relatively muted during the past 12 months, with participants indicating net inflows of only R461 million (excluding funds that returned capital to investors due to being wound down).

Novare also noted a continued shift towards managers with a larger hedge fund asset base, with those managers with hedge fund assets exceeding R2 billion representing 46.2% of industry assets.

In the 12 months to June 2012, it noted 14 new fund launches, 10 of which were from companies that already manage hedge funds. In addition, 14 funds returned capital to investors.

To download the full report please click here.