Marco Consulting Group said 51 of the 291 manager searches it conducted in 2006 were for hedge fund-of-funds managers, the most for any single category. The latest year's total for hedge fund-of-funds searches marked a sharp jump from 26 searches in 2005 and 14 in 2004, said CEO Richard Graf.
The firm, a leading investment consultant to union plans, also conducted 21 searches for portable alpha managers in 2006, the first year in which its clients allocated money to that strategy. Clients allocated a combined $641 million to hedge fund of funds managers and $470 million to portable alpha managers last year.
Marco also reported real estate searches fell to 12 in 2006 from 21 in 2005; international/global equity searches fell to 37 searches from 57; and large-cap equities, down to 35 searches from 50.
