The 10 Largest Hedge Funds in Europe

What are largest hedge funds in Europe? Usually when it comes to discussing money managers, the mind goes straight to U.S-based firms. They seem to be the largest ones and the most widely-covered. Since hedge funds offer great returns, they represent an attractive investment mechanism, which is widely used not only in the U.S. but in the whole world in general.

In Europe, the hedge fund industry has developed as well, with the continent hosting some of the largest hedge funds. However, while in the U.S., hedge funds meet a standard set of regulations from the authorities, in Europe the situation is a bit more complex. While countries like England or Switzerland opt for a lack of regulation for hedge funds, other states, including Germany, insist on adopting some measures and laws. The law of the European Union has not made a decision regarding hedge funds yet, but the odds are more inclined towards regulation. Still wondering what is a hedge fund manager? Follow the link to find out.

But even so, many major hedge funds are operating on the European markets, investing in a wide variety of securities, like bonds or stocks. Some of these investment players are so big, that even a small part of their assets under management could make them leaders on a particular market. We’ve compiled a list of Europe’s largest hedge funds, ranking them according to their Assets Under Management (AUM) figures, based on information from the British “The Hedgefund Journal.”

In 10th position of our list is situated Amundi. It has over $11 billion in AUM and was founded in 2010. Among its founders and principals we can mention Laurent Guillet, Frank Dargent, and Luc Martin. Amundi contains three hedge funds based in Ireland and Bermuda, each of which involve a variety of strategies like Event-driven, focusing on M&A or Equity neutral. It is also important to mention that one of the Amundi hedge funds has Jana Partners’ Barry Rosenstein among its portfolio managers. Amundi is a part of Amundi Asset Management, a global asset management firm with over $955 billion in AUM.

We have also included Capula Global, a hedge fund with about $13 billion in AUM. It was founded by Yan Huo and Masao Asai in 2005 and contains two hedge funds, both domiciled in Cayman Islands. Capula Global uses FI relative value and Macro/Defensive Macro strategies.

While these two hedge funds have large amounts in AUM, on the following pages we have a couple of other large hedge funds, whose AUM is even more impressive.

Continue reading to see the rest of the largest hedge funds in Europe:

No. 8 Brummer & Partners

Swedish hedge fund Brummer and Partners was founded in 1996 and includes among founders and principals, Patrick Brummer, Per Josefsson and Peter Thelin. It has over $14 billion in AUM and involves five funds. The strategies implemented by Brummer & Partners involve managed futures, global long/short equity and fixed income relative value.

No. 7 GAM

With AUM of about $15 billion, GAM is on the seventh position of our list. Founded in 1983, it contains five funds domiciled in Luxembourg, Ireland, Cayman Islands, and British Virgin Islands. The strategy used by all these funds is Absolute return, with asset classes involving Macro and Managed Futures.

No. 6 Blackrock

Blackrock was founded by Laurence Fink and has AUM of almost $30 billion. Blackrock involves over 120 investment teams spread globally in more than 60 offices, seeking to bring better returns for its clients. Blackrock has three hedge funds which use long/short equity equity and fixed income strategies.

No. 5 Standard Life Investments

Founded in 1998, Standard Life Investments has $27.3 billion in AUM. Two funds which are part of Standard Life Investments use the absolute return strategy to achieve higher returns and are based in the U.K. and Luxembourg.

No. 4 Winton Capital Management

Winton Capital Management was founded in 1997 by David Harding and has more than $28 billion in AUM.

No. 3 BlueCrest Capital Management

With AUM of over $31 billion, BlueCrest Capital Management founded in 2000 by Williams Reeves and Michael Platt. Global Strategy and Multi Strategy are two of the strategies employed by the fund part of the BlueCrest. Among the largest stock picks of the hedge fund are Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) and Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT).

No. 2 Brevan Howard

Brevan Howard was founded in 2002 by former Credit Suisse trader Alan Howard. With assets under management worth about $36.7 billion, Brevan Howard is focusing on Global Macro and Fixed Income strategies.

No. 1 Man Investments

Man Investment is not only the largest hedge fund in Europe, but also one of the oldest companies, being founded in 1783, by James Man who was specialized in selling sugar and got rich after signing a contract with the British Royal Fleet to deliver rum for sailors. The contract was valid for almost 200 years, until 1970 when sailors were left without free alcohol. Currently Man Investments is managed by Peter Clarke and has impressive $41.4 billion in AUM.