[THE INVESTOR] South Korean hedge funds are growing at a fast clip with over 6 trillion won (US$5.40 billion) assets under management.

According to industry data on Sept. 5, the combined AUM of local hedge funds reached to 6.23 trillion won as of July 31, more than double since it first breached the 3 trillion won mark in January.

The growth came as investors are shifting their interest to the hedge fund market due to meager local equity returns. 



The country’s stock funds have continued to see a net outflow for more than three weeks until Aug. 31, losing nearly 2 trillion won.

Accordingly, the number of asset management companies dealing in hedge funds increased to 49 and funds operated by smaller companies have shown relatively higher profits.

By product, Findvalue Asset Management’s IPO Plus led the pack with the highest return of 15.95 percent since the beginning of the year.

Fides Invest Management’s Xinzhao No. 1 and JC Asset’s IPO No. 1 ranked second and third with 12.89 percent and 8.41 percent returns, respectively.

By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)