
This is the April edition of my series of monthly posts on the world’s biggest hedge funds by assets under management. It is based on data available as of April 4, 2017. To keep things interesting I used a different approach to selecting the firms to include, and I included a little more granularity on the types of employees at each.
A Different Approach
This month I have taken a different approach to selecting the firms to include. A reporting advisor must file information about the profile of its customer base in Item 5 Section D. There are two subsections, in the first the firm indicates what proportion of accounts by number fall into various different customer categories e.g. individuals, high net worth individuals, banks, etc. In the second, the firm provides that same information but the proportion is by regulatory assets under management. Here is what AQR’s Item 5.D looks like (View the full filing):

For some reason the SEC uses different ranges for each profile! Maybe it’s an effort to protect the firms from having to disclose too much in terms of where the dollars are.
Fund vs. Manager
When we talk about a “hedge fund” it helps to be clear whether we mean the fund itself (or funds) or the hedge fund management company. The fund itself is the investment vehicle, the entity that holds the capital whose investment is directed by the hedge fund management company. The hedge fund earns the returns, the hedge fund management company earns the fees. The hedge fund is the advisory client of the hedge fund management company. The management company is the RIA and files the Form ADV. In most cases, a single hedge fund management company manages multiple hedge funds.
Picking Out the Hedge Fund Managers
One way of attacking the data is to ask the question: what customer profile do I expect a “pure” hedge fund management company to have. The simple answer is to look at the proportion of accounts or regulatory assets under management that are in the category “Pooled investment vehicles (other than investment companies)”. If the majority of accounts (76-99% or 100% radio buttons selected) or regulatory AUM (>75% radio button selected) is in that category, then the firm has a good chance of being a hedge fund management company. But there are a couple of caveats:
- Applying these filters will include some investment strategies not typically thought of as hedge fund strategies, though they will most likely be thought of as “alternatives” such as Real Estate, Private Equity, etc. Further filtering can be applied to eliminate these firms.
- Applying these filters will exclude some firms that are thought of as hedge fund firms – for example, AQR will be excluded. Typically this results when the firm runs separately managed accounts for institutional clients, or manages 40 Act funds.
Your Firm’s Form ADV
Check out your own firm’s Form ADV at the SEC’s Investment Advisor Public Depository website – you may be surprised at how much information is in there. Imagine how useful it would be to have all that information on your peers in a spreadsheet and to monitor how it evolves over time.
Custom Analysis
Contact me to discuss customized reports and analysis.
And the world’s biggest hedge funds by assets under management – April 2017 are …
This table includes the 50 largest registered investment advisors reporting 76-99% or 100% of accounts by number or >75% regulatory AUM in the category “Pooled investment vehicles (other than investment companies)”. The groupName column shows firms with common control or ownership. Bear in mind, some of these firms may be co-advisors managing the same money. See Methodology below for more details.
Note: click column headings to sort. Use drop-down to set number of rows per page.
If you are interested in the complete data file, which includes all the firms reporting over $10bn regulatory AUM (200+ firms), use the adjacent “Request File” button. If you want the file delivered to an email address let me know (mention “Biggest Hedge Funds April 2017”) via our contact form (opens in a new tab).
The April file is no longer available. The button will deliver the current version.
groupName | OrgCRD | PrimaryBusinessName | empCount | advEmp | BDRep | IARep | Solicitors | AUM |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
NOMURA A | 110814 | NOMURA ASSET MANAGEMENT CO., LTD. | 805 | 238 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 368 |
BRIDGEWA | 105129 | BRIDGEWATER ASSOCIATES, LP | 1491 | 460 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 239 |
MILLENNI | 158117 | MILLENNIUM MANAGEMENT LLC | 2140 | 1200 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 208 |
SAMSUNG | 158319 | SAMSUNG ASSET MANAGEMENT COMPANY, LTD. | 286 | 124 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 182 |
CITADEL | 148826 | CITADEL ADVISORS LLC | 1468 | 884 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 153 |
APOLLO M | 143161 | APOLLO CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, L.P. | 980 | 371 | 132 | 0 | 9 | 125 |
PICTET A | 140074 | PICTET ASSET MANANGEMENT SA. | 420 | 95 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 123 |
NIKKO AS | 110997 | NIKKO ASSET MANAGEMENT CO LTD | 513 | 76 | 0 | 0 | 217 | 121 |
VANGUARD | 282598 | VANGUARD ASSET MANAGEMENT, LIMITED | 197 | 42 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 120 |
ALPINVES | 111128 | THE CARLYLE GROUP | 949 | 297 | 7 | 0 | 55 | 102 |
RENAISSA | 106661 | RENAISSANCE TECHNOLOGIES LLC | 300 | 150 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 97 |
ANNALY M | 168122 | ANNALY MANAGEMENT COMPANY | 136 | 58 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 88 |
ALPHADYN | 154176 | ALPHADYNE ASSET MANAGEMENT LP | 77 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 85 |
ALPHADYN | 152719 | ALPHADYNE ASSET MANAGEMENT PTE. LTD. | 40 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 85 |
PINE RIV | 133720 | PINE RIVER CAPITAL MANAGEMENT L.P. | 308 | 84 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 83 |
D. E. SH | 108679 | D. E. SHAW & CO., L.P. | 473 | 305 | 58 | 0 | 0 | 81 |
TPG OPPO | 159732 | TPG GLOBAL ADVISORS, LLC | 592 | 226 | 38 | 0 | 0 | 80 |
KOHLBERG | 144533 | KOHLBERG KRAVIS ROBERTS & CO. L.P. | 618 | 260 | 48 | 0 | 0 | 77 |
BALYASNY | 138111 | BALYASNY ASSET MANAGEMENT L.P. | 521 | 282 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 75 |
EASTSPRI | 144603 | EASTSPRING INVESTMENTS (SINGAPORE) LIMITED | 368 | 106 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 75 |
FIELD ST | 155587 | FIELD STREET CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, LLC | 60 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 63 |
STRATEGI | 107580 | BLACKSTONE ALTERNATIVE ASSET MANAGEMENT LP | 277 | 116 | 30 | 0 | 17 | 62 |
BLUECRES | 148823 | BLUECREST CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LIMITED | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 62 |
STRATEGI | 142979 | BLACKSTONE REAL ESTATE ADVISORS L.P. | 321 | 120 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 60 |
APG ASSE | 160795 | APG ASSET MANAGEMENT US, INC | 129 | 52 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 59 |
ARES MAN | 130074 | ARES MANAGEMENT LLC | 825 | 360 | 29 | 0 | 2 | 58 |
STRATEGI | 136979 | BLACKSTONE MANAGEMENT PARTNERS L.L.C. | 203 | 157 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 57 |
FORTRESS | 129612 | FORTRESS INVESTMENT GROUP | 1082 | 269 | 18 | 0 | 4 | 57 |
AGNC MAN | 161600 | AGNC MANAGEMENT, LLC | 54 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 57 |
ELLIOTT | 156601 | ELLIOTT MANAGEMENT CORPORATION | 390 | 165 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 56 |
ELEMENT | 160309 | ELEMENT CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC | 53 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 56 |
MACQUARI | 139345 | MACQUARIE FUNDS MANAGEMENT | 705 | 431 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 55 |
MOORE CA | 160188 | MOORE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, LP | 427 | 180 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 54 |
OZ MANAG | 107913 | OZ MANAGEMENT LP | 422 | 156 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 52 |
TPG OPPO | 159738 | TPG CAPITAL ADVISORS, LLC | 81 | 61 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 52 |
TWO SIGM | 137137 | TWO SIGMA INVESTMENTS, LP | 1075 | 730 | 85 | 0 | 0 | 49 |
TWO SIGM | 152254 | TWO SIGMA ADVISERS, LP | 86 | 38 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 49 |
MACKENZI | 110338 | MACKENZIE INVESTMENTS | 946 | 70 | 49 | 0 | 1 | 49 |
LONE STA | 156078 | HUDSON AMERICAS L.P. | 523 | 224 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 |
LONE STA | 160000 | LONE STAR NORTH AMERICA ACQUISITIONS, LLC | 29 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 |
CERBERUS | 152175 | CERBERUS CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, L.P. | 502 | 156 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 |
CANDRIAM | 173355 | CANDRIAM LUXEMBOURG S.C.A. | 111 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 47 |
3G CAPIT | 156934 | 3G CAPITAL PARTNERS LP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46 |
APOLLO M | 143158 | APOLLO MANAGEMENT, L.P. | 980 | 371 | 132 | 0 | 3 | 46 |
CAPULA I | 157589 | CAPULA INVESTMENT US LP | 18 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46 |
WARBURG | 156945 | WARBURG PINCUS LLC | 558 | 208 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46 |
VIKING G | 132272 | VIKING GLOBAL INVESTORS LP | 153 | 49 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 43 |
ADAGE CA | 160679 | ADAGE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, L.P. | 50 | 38 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42 |
KOHLBERG | 146629 | KKR CREDIT ADVISORS (US) LLC | 192 | 94 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 41 |
ALPINVES | 159215 | ALPINVEST PARTNERS B.V. | 151 | 67 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 41 |
ADVENT I | 105673 | ADVENT INTERNATIONAL CORP | 149 | 64 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41 |
HARBOURV | 109846 | HARBOURVEST PARTNERS, LLC | 399 | 111 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 41 |
STRATEGI | 137519 | GSO CAPITAL PARTNERS LP | 334 | 165 | 22 | 0 | 17 | 40 |
GAM INTE | 110670 | GAM INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT LIMITED | 375 | 93 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 40 |
NB ALTER | 149822 | NB ALTERNATIVES ADVISERS LLC | 138 | 87 | 62 | 55 | 2 | 40 |
BROOKFIE | 151605 | BROOKFIELD ASSET MANAGEMENT PIC CANADA, LP | 772 | 772 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 40 |
TUDOR IN | 159792 | TUDOR INVESTMENT CORPORATION | 355 | 173 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 |
STARWOOD | 110148 | STARWOOD CAPITAL GROUP MANAGEMENT, L.L.C. | 408 | 89 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 39 |
BROOKFIE | 151599 | BROOKFIELD ASSET MANAGEMENT PIC US, LLC | 772 | 772 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 39 |
GC ADVIS | 148687 | GC ADVISORS LLC | 270 | 91 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39 |
MARINER | 124744 | MARINER INVESTMENT GROUP, LLC | 151 | 80 | 10 | 0 | 8 | 38 |
ANGELO, | 131940 | ANGELO, GORDON & CO., L.P. | 331 | 131 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 38 |
GARDA CA | 282439 | GARDA CAPITAL PARTNERS | 46 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 |
HPS INVE | 282125 | HPS INVESTMENT PARTNERS, LLC | 225 | 111 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 37 |
LANSDOWN | 172244 | LANSDOWNE PARTNERS (UK) LLP | 74 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 36 |
SILCHEST | 110987 | SILCHESTER INTERNATIONAL INVESTORS | 33 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 |
LONE PIN | 156602 | LONE PINE CAPITAL LLC | 100 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 |
DISCOVER | 161263 | DISCOVERY CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, LLC | 84 | 42 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 |
LIGHTHOU | 136591 | LIGHTHOUSE INVESTMENT PARTNERS, LLC | 74 | 21 | 0 | 2 | 18 | 33 |
BAIN CAP | 145653 | BAIN CAPITAL PRIVATE EQUITY, LP | 507 | 231 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 32 |
VISTA EQ | 156973 | VISTA EQUITY PARTNERS MANAGEMENT, LLC | 176 | 87 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 |
J.P. MOR | 172045 | J.P. MORGAN ASSET MANAGEMENT | 62 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 |
PICTET A | 105205 | PICTET ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED | 365 | 66 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 32 |
THE BAUP | 109530 | THE BAUPOST GROUP, L.L.C. | 229 | 47 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 |
DAVIDSON | 155680 | DAVIDSON KEMPNER CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LP | 294 | 103 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 |
PATHWAY | 108016 | PATHWAY CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, LP | 124 | 42 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 31 |
GRAHAM C | 160925 | GRAHAM CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, L.P. | 203 | 86 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 30 |
GLOBAL I | 157434 | GLOBAL INFRASTRUCTURE MANAGEMENT, LLC | 76 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 |
MACKENZI | 106631 | THE PUTNAM ADVISORY COMPANY, LLC | 25 | 0 | 17 | 4 | 0 | 29 |
NOMURA A | 110815 | NOMURA ASSET MANAGEMENT U.K. LIMITED | 107 | 42 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 |
CAPSTONE | 155563 | CAPSTONE INVESTMENT ADVISORS, LLC | 94 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 |
STRATEGI | 144537 | GSO / BLACKSTONE DEBT FUNDS MANAGEMENT LLC | 334 | 165 | 22 | 0 | 19 | 28 |
LEXINGTO | 147281 | LEXINGTON PARTNERS L.P. | 79 | 78 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 |
FIRST ST | 171592 | FIRST STATE INVESTMENTS (UK) LIMITED | 336 | 65 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 |
GOLDENTR | 112753 | GOLDENTREE ASSET MANAGEMENT LP | 225 | 41 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 27 |
RIVERSTO | 130849 | RIVERSTONE INVESTMENT GROUP LLC | 71 | 50 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 27 |
ANCHORAG | 135657 | ANCHORAGE CAPITAL GROUP, L.L.C. | 180 | 68 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 27 |
BAYVIEW | 157053 | BAYVIEW ASSET MANAGEMENT, LLC | 271 | 118 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 |
CENTERBR | 157359 | CENTERBRIDGE PARTNERS, L.P. | 245 | 91 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 |
HBK CAPI | 115079 | HBK CAPITAL MANAGEMENT | 226 | 73 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 25 |
FARALLON | 107322 | FARALLON CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, L.L.C. | 167 | 69 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 |
HELLMAN | 158614 | HELLMAN & FRIEDMAN LLC | 85 | 45 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 |
HILLHOUS | 160896 | HILLHOUSE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, LTD | 118 | 47 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 |
POINTSTA | 161110 | POINTSTATE CAPITAL LP | 66 | 53 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 |
MUZINICH | 22998 | MUZINICH & CO., INC. | 62 | 27 | 27 | 0 | 3 | 25 |
GROSVENO | 108654 | GROSVENOR CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, L.P. | 281 | 73 | 91 | 0 | 7 | 25 |
BNP PARI | 160817 | BNP PARIBAS INVESTMENT PARTNERS UK LTD | 175 | 64 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
ASB CAPI | 110995 | ASB CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC | 70 | 35 | 0 | 16 | 4 | 24 |
GROSVENO | 169155 | GCM CUSTOMIZED FUND INVESTMENT GROUP, L.P. | 111 | 40 | 31 | 0 | 3 | 24 |
TIGER GL | 160318 | TIGER GLOBAL MANAGEMENT, LLC | 87 | 39 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
OrgCRD: Firm's CRD number
PrimaryBusinessName: Firm's name
empCount: Number of non-clerical employees
advEmp: Number of advisory employees
BDRep: Number of broker dealer representatives
IARep: Number of investment advisor representatives
Solicitors: Number of outside firms/persons soliciting funds
AUM: Discretionary regulatory assets under management ($bn)
Contact me to discuss customized reports and analysis.
Methodology
RSelenium
In order to complete the research for this post, I made use of a script in R using the RSelenium package. I have previously published a post about how to set up RSelenium using the latest version of Selenium, and an earlier post reviewing some of the most useful functions in the package. This package makes it possible to automate the collection of data from websites; the process is called web-scraping.
Regulatory Assets Under Management
I use Item 5.F.2.(a) discretionary regulatory assets under management to define the biggest hedge fund managers. This is NOT the number typically used in the various “biggest” lists, which is client asssets, or fee base. The SEC defines regulatory assets under management as the total of all securities (including cash and equivalents) in all the portfolios managed by the firm (without double-counting in the case of complex structures). The number is NOT net of borrowings, or short positions. Futures contracts are NOT securities, so they are not included in any portfolio, though the margin cash is. As a consequence, managers employing materially different approaches are not directly comparable in terms of regulatory AUM.
Hedge Fund Filter
I use Item 5.D.1.(f) to find the proportion of the manager’s client accounts that are pooled investment vehicles (other than investment companies). I assume a value of either 76 – 99% or 100% indicates the firm is a hedge fund manager. I use Item 5.D.2.(f) to find the proportion of the manager’s regulatory AUM that are in pooled investment vehicles (other than investment companies). I assume a value of >75% indicates the firm is a hedge fund manager. To be included, a manager had to meet either of these criteria.
Affiliated Groups
Schedule D. Item 7.A of Form ADV includes a list of firms affiliated with the filing firm. An affiliate is a firm that shares some kind of ownership connection with the filing firm. Since the filing firm includes the CRD Number of each affiliate, if it is registered, I was able to cross-check the list of firms to see if it was already included. I assigned each of these firms the same group name.
Image Source: No attribution required.
Share
If you found this post informative, please share it!