Hedge fund assets jump to $2,900bn

Hedge funds have more than $2,900bn under management, according to a survey of valuers of their assets, sharply up on last year in spite of the credit crunch and a series of high-profile problems in the industry.

The survey of assets under administration by Hedge Fund Manager Week, a trade magazine, showed the total had jumped 20 per cent in the past year and continued to climb over the past six months even as the credit squeeze intensified.

The scale of the growth - up by $230bn in the six months to April - suggests concerns about hedge fund losses and a slowdown in flows of new money into the industry may be overstated.

However, the rate of growth is slowing, with the 9 per cent rise in the most recent six months well below the 17 per cent growth in the magazine’s last survey.