According to industry data released this week, Asia’s billion dollar club nearly doubled in the last 12 months.PARA_BREAK_SENTINEL_9f8e7d6c

According to industry data released this week, Asia’s billion dollar club nearly doubled in the last 12 months. As London and New York continue to lose market share, Singapore and Hong Kong continue to grow. They are now home to 18 hedge funds running USD1billion or more in assets compared to 10 a year ago reported the Financial Times this week. New York still dominates with 128 managers but this represents a slight decline in market share from 47 per cent to 45 per cent. Similarly, London’s market share has fallen from 16 per cent to approximately 14.5 per cent with 63 managers. Many within the industry believe Asia’s fund industry will go from strength to strength, particularly in light of the current regulatory uncertainty in the US and Europe. Attractive tax regimes and a high standard of living make Singapore and Hong Kong a very attractive proposition. The region is eagerly anticipating ex-Goldman’s Morgan Sze’s launch of Azentus Capital (already registered with the SFC) in Hong Kong – estimates suggest it could open with USD1.5billion which would make it not only Asia’s biggest start-up, but the biggest global start-up since ’07. With Singapore’s Aisling Analytics, whose Merchant Commodity Fund runs USD1.1billion, and several recent Hong Kong start-ups like Nick Taylor’s Senrigan Capital and John Ho’s Janchor Partners heading towards the USD1billion mark, the depth and quality to Asia’s hedge fund industry is clearly improving.