The vast majority — 93% — of institutional investors intend to increase or maintain their current hedge fund allocations in the second half of 2015, a midyear survey by Credit Suisse Capital Services showed.
The three most popular hedge fund strategies for second-half allocations of the 200 institutions surveyed are global macro, event-driven and long/short equity.
Respondents said they are much keener to invest in multistrategy hedge funds in the latter part of the year, pushing the strategy up to the sixth position from 14th in Credit Suisse's year-end 2014 survey. The increased appetite for multistrategy funds reflects “investors' reaction to the fast-changing investment environment we are experiencing at this time,” said Robert Leonard, managing director and global head of capital services, in a news release accompanying the survey results.
Interest in hedge fund co-investment strategies for the last six months of the year also rose sharply, as 18% of respondents said they intend to allocate to equity co-investments, up from 9% in the first half of 2015. Fixed-income co-investments also are popular, with 14% of institutions indicating they will make investments during the second half, up from 8% in the first half of the year, according to the survey report.
Credit Suisse's survey universe has about $700 billion invested in hedge funds.