Institutional investment in hedge funds and hedge funds of funds slowed to $9.2 billion in 2019, down 8.5% compared to the prior year, even as full and partial redemptions dropped 25%.
The decline in 2019 inflows is in sharp contrast to 2018 when investments in hedge funds and hedge funds of funds increased 10.7% to $10.1 billion over the previous year, Pensions & Investments‹ analysis of reported investment activity showed.
In a longer-term comparison, asset owners invested 20.5% fewer assets in hedge funds and hedge funds of funds last year than in 2015, when assets peaked at $11.6 billion over the five years ended Dec. 31 analyzed by P&I.
Direct investment in hedge funds totaled $8.8 billion in 2019, down 9.6% from the prior year. Allocations to hedge funds of funds, on the other hand, increased 19.4% to $450 million.
A bright spot in P&I’s analysis was the aggregate full and partial redemptions from hedge funds, which were down 8.3% to $1.3 billion. Hedge funds-of-funds redemptions also dropped 37.1% to $559 million in 2019.
