Hedge fund personal wealth investment down in Q 2?

Hedge funds may have seen a decrease in personal wealth investment during the second quarter of the year, as data reveals the vehicles saw net withdrawals of almost £100 million over the three-month period.

Providing performance indices, Hedge Fund Research revealed today (August 19th) the industry has received a total of $9.6 billion (£6.1 billion) from personal wealth investment and other sources, reports Reuters.

But despite their earlier popularity, $1.5 billion was removed from the financial products between April and June 2010, bringing the total pulled out since the beginning of the year to more than $2 billion.

President of the group Kenneth J Heinz said changing forecasts for global economic growth may be behind the reduction in hedge fund usage, adding: "Prospective currency volatility and commodity-specific market influences have resulted in a near-term decrease in investor risk tolerance for emerging market hedge fund exposure."

Managers of the vehicles sought bargains in oil stocks during the second quarter of the year, buying up the assets when prices fell due to the leak in the Gulf of Mexico. ADNFCR-2318-ID-800031796-ADNFCR