Reuters – Pension funds and endowments are using hedge funds to help boost returns and they plan to hire additional managers as they become more familiar with the lightly regulated $1.2 trillionindustry, a new survey shows.
In the coming year, institutional clients, including pension funds, charities and university endowments, expect to add new hedge fund and private equity fund managers to their lineups, according to a survey prepared by State Street Corp. (STT.N: Quote, Profile, Research).
The study was released on Wednesday.
Last year when the study was conducted, 44 percent of all polled institutional investors said they had 10 percent or more of their assets in hedge funds. In the year-ago period only 35 percent had put 10 percent or more into that asset class, the survey shows.
“There is a shift in comfort level and those who have invested before are now investing more money in hedge funds,” said Gary Enos, State Street’s head of alternative investment services.
