[THE INVESTOR] South Korean hedge funds are growing rapidly with nearly 2 trillion won (US$1.79 billion) assets under management since the beginning of the year.

According to industry data, the total AUM of local hedge funds has increased from 788.4 billion won in October 2012 to 5.61 trillion won by the end of July. At the beginning of the year, the figure had just breached the 3 trillion won mark. 

There are currently 133 hedge funds operated by 44 asset management companies.

Of these, Samsung Asset Management is the dominant player. The company’s nine funds have a combined asset under management of over 1.26 trillion won. Mirae Asset Global Investment is the second largest with 577.6 billion won.

Hedge funds operated by comparatively newer companies, however, have been catching up fast.

Anda Asset Management is the country’s third largest hedge fund with 468.8 billion won AUM, followed by Timefolio Asset Management, whose hedge fund was launched in May, that manages 396.8 billion won.

According to industry data, a number of funds operated by smaller companies have shown relatively higher profit rates, with some recording as high as 17.8 percent.

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)