FL, Aima: Perhaps to start with it would be helpful if I set the scene. Hedge fund assets under management globally are estimated at around $1 trillion. In Europe, 228 funds were set up last year that raised $20 billion of new money. Europe today is growing faster than America and, in turn, Asia is growing faster than Europe. So let's first look at the positioning of hedge funds: what do we know about the investor base? Barry why don't you go first?
BB, Deutsche Bank: Well, the volume figures are instructive. That $1 trillion represents a 10-fold increase over the past decade, and it's more than a doubling since the 1998 crisis. Interestingly, less than half of the growth has been from asset inflows: 55% has been a result of performance. The number of funds has also grown rapidly with about 6,300 managers now in existence. According to an internal...
