More than 70% of hedge fund managers surveyed by Horizon Cash Management keep money in cash, up from 61% of managers in the last survey, in 1998. More than half — 57% — of respondents with cash balances invest it in money market funds, and 87% don’t have benchmarks for cash. Of those who do, few are able to beat their benchmarks, according to the survey. That’s an improvement over the 1998 survey, when 94% of managers said they didn’t use a cash benchmark.
The survey also revealed that hedge fund managers’ marketing does not target pension funds. Instead, high-net-worth individuals rank first, followed by family offices and endowments and foundations. However, only 46% of managers said their marketing results were "neutral to good” over the past five years, and just 19% said their marketing produced "excellent” results. More than half said they planned to change their marketing strategies, according to the survey, although no details about the changes were mentioned.
Horizon sent surveys to 1,000 hedge fund managers, and got about 100 responses.
