European hedge funds close at record pace

Hedge funds in Europe are shutting down at the fastest-ever pace as rising costs, weak performance, and a slowdown in the pace of new investment leads embattled founders to bail out.

Four in every 10 funds which closed last year were in Europe, home to a large number of smaller funds, as the total number of closures rose to a record 370, Eurekahedge data showed, even as other regions benefited from a rise in global industry assets to a record near $3tn (€2.6tn).

The trend in Europe comes after Eurkeahedge’s European funds index rose just 0.7% in 2014, way below a 5.5% gain by North American peers and notching up an eighth straight year of underperformance.