Although few hedge fund managers in 2008 escaped the carnage from what has been described as the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, overall the industry lost less money than other types other types of investment, the report says.

According to Alpha magazine, the firms in the Hedge Fund 100 managed a combined USD1.03trn in assets at the beginning of this year, down from USD1.35trn that the world's 100 largest firms managed 12 months earlier.

Bridgewater Associates leads the Hedge Fund 100 with USD38.6bn in assets under management. The Westport, Connecticut-based firm, which was founded by Raymond Dalio more than 30 years ago, saw assets grow by more than USD2bn last year, based on the strength of its Pure Alpha Strategy hedge fund, which was up 8.7 per cent over the year.

JPMorgan, the world's biggest hedge fund manager a year ago, saw its assets fall 26.4 per cent to USD32.9bn, in large part because of redemptions and poor investment performance at its Highbridge Capital Management group.

In third place is Paulson (USD29bn), followed by DE Shaw (USD28.6bn) and Brevan Howard Asset Management (USD26.8bn) in fourth and fifth places.

Redemptions have been a challenge for most hedge fund firms, even those that managed to deliver positive returns in 2008, as investors have looked to raise cash where they can. In the fourth quarter of last year, hedge funds saw a net outflow of USD152bn, with most of the assets coming out of bigger firms.

In recognition of this new reality, the methodology for the Hedge Fund 100 used firm and fund asset totals as of 1 January 2009 - in the past the magazine collected 31 December data. To qualify for the 2009 Hedge Fund 100, a firm needed at least USD4bn in assets under management, compared with USD6.25bn a year ago.

The ten biggest hedge fund firms managed a combined USD264bn at the start of 2009, down nearly 12 per cent from the end of 2007.