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More than a third of traditional hedge funds now invest in digital assets , says AIMA
The Alternative Investment Management Association ( AIMA ) has found that crypto hedge funds are proliferating at an accelerating pace , while traditional funds are entering the space despite tremendous volatility .
new survey has shown that 38 % of traditional
A hedge funds are currently investing in digital assets , compared to 21 % a year ago . The fourth annual Global Crypto Hedge Fund Report from the Alternative Investment Management Association ( AIMA ) – in partnership with CoinShares – also showed that two-thirds of those hedge funds currently investing in digital assets intend to deploy more capital into the asset class by the end of 2022 . Just over half of those investing % have less than 1 % of total assets under management ( AuM ) in digital assets , however for 20 % of these funds , digital assets represent between 5 % and 50 % of AuM . “ Even with the tremendous volatility in the sector , there are many more traditional hedge funds investing in crypto and more specialist crypto funds being created as the digital asset class gains acceptance ,” said AIMA . Meanwhile , the number of specialist crypto hedge funds is estimated to now top 300 globally , with the pace of new fund creation accelerating in the past two years . Total AuM of crypto hedge funds surveyed was $ 4.1 billion in 2021 , up 8 % from the year prior . For specialist crypto hedge funds surveyed , the average AuM more than doubled to $ 58.6 million from $ 23.4 million in the previous year , while median AuM nearly tripled to $ 24.5 million from $ 8.5 million . From 2020 to 2021 , the percentage of crypto hedge funds with AuM exceeding $ 20mn increased from 46 % to 59 %. The survey was conducted in Q1 2022 by AIMA , with 89 hedge funds that accounted for an estimated $ 436 billion in AuM . Just over half % of the responses were from hedge funds managing assets in excess of $ 1 billion . “ From the findings in this year ’ s report there is clear evidence of increasing uptake and usage of digital assets within traditional hedge fund strategies ,” said Jack Inglis , CEO of AIMA . “ Diversification and market neutral alpha opportunities are cited as key drivers for investing in digital assets . Even though the results of this survey were completed before the most recent volatility in digital asset prices , it is interesting to compare with last year ’ s report which shows that the growth trajectory looks to be assured .
Fund Services Annual 2022 globalcustodian . com 11