By Katrina Dean Allen
For managers who want to start new hedge funds, the environment is still tough—but AR's latest survey of fund launches offers definitive proof that it is finally getting easier to raise money.
Fund launches in the Americas amassed $10.9 billion through mid-June, more than double what new funds had during the same period last year. The number of new funds to roll out in the first half of the year also more than doubled, according to the biannual survey by AR, which has been tracking the biggest fund launches since 2004. At least 43 funds with $25 million or more under management launched in the first half of 2010, up from 21 in the first half of 2009, which was an all-time low for the survey in terms of both assets and fund launches.
Another encouraging sign: 2010 has produced the first multibillion-dollar launch...
