Hedge fund investment gains rise nearly 50% in 2017 to $181 billion

Aggregate net investment gains by hedge fund managers in the year ended Dec. 31 rose 48.4% to $181.5 billion in comparison to 2016.

Net gains of the 10 largest hedge funds rose 140% to $25.7 billion, while net growth for the 20 largest managers was up 48.4% to $38.7 billion over the year, showed data released Sunday by hedge funds-of-funds manager LCH Investments, a subsidiary of Edmond de Rothschild Capital Holdings.

Despite strong growth in net gains, the aggregate AUM of the 10 largest hedge fund managers fell 2.8% in 2017 to $352.3 billion, and assets of the 20 largest managers dropped 3.9% to $514.7 billion during the year.

Assets managed by the full universe of hedge fund managers tracked by LCH Investments, on the other hand, rose 7.3% to $3.266 trillion in the year.

LCH Investment researchers also looked at net investment gains of hedge fund firms since inception and found that Bridgewater Associates topped the list of the 20 largest hedge fund managers with $49.7 billion as of Dec. 31, compared to $49.4 billion the prior year. Bridgewater managed a total $119.9 billion in hedge funds as of that date.

As of Dec. 31, Soros Fund Management managed $27 billion and experienced net investment gains of $43.9 billion since inception, compared to $41.8 billion as of Dec. 31, 2016.

Also in LCH's top five hedge fund manager ranking by net gains since inception were Citadel, with $28.6 billion and total AUM of $27.1 billion; Lone Pine Capital, with $27.2 billion of net gains and AUM of $15.9 billion; and D.E. Shaw Investment Management, with net gains of $27.1 billion and AUM of $27 billion.

Lone Pine Capital topped LCH Investments' list with net investment gains of $5 billion in the year ended Dec. 31, while Paulson and Co. experienced the largest net decline of $3 billion.