Hedge launches up, liquidations down

The pace of hedge fund launches and liquidations slowed during the fourth quarter of 2007, with 288 new funds launched and 154 funds liquidated, according Hedge Fund Research Inc. of Chicago. For all of 2007, 1,152 new funds were started, while 563 fund were liquidated and returned the remaining capital to investors. That compares to 1,518 funds launched and 717 funds liquidated in 2006. Equity Hedge and Fund of Hedge Funds saw the highest number of new launches, while Event Driven strategies attracted the fewest number of new entrants. The average launch size was approximately $30 million. Despite market turbulence, the overall rate of hedge fund attrition rate slowed to -5.95% in 2007 from -8.28% in 2006 and -11.40% in 2005.