The global hedge fund industry employs close to 400,000 people, an increase of about a third since 2010, according to research by the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA), the global representative of alternative investment managers, and data provider Preqin.

There are around 115,000 staff at hedge fund management firms worldwide and around 275,000 at businesses that provide services to hedge funds, including lawyers, auditors, administrators and prime brokers, the organisations have found.

The global total represents an increase of 30% since the end of 2010, the last time that AIMA conducted a global employment survey. That growth rate is in line with a 32% increase in the number of hedge fund management firms worldwide, to around 5,500, during that period, according to Preqin.

The markets with the largest concentration of workers in the sector are the US (253,000) and the UK (56,000), followed by Hong Kong (9,000), Switzerland (8,000), Australia (7,000), Canada (6,000), Singapore (4,000), Brazil (4,000), France (4,000) and China (3,000).

According to Preqin, hedge fund management firms tend to be larger on average in the UK than elsewhere. The average staff count in the UK is 29, compared to 20 in the US and around 15 in Canada, Australia, France and Brazil. The smallest firms by staff numbers are in Hong Kong and Singapore, where the average is around seven people.

AIMA Chief Executive Jack Inglis said: “The industry continues on a strong long-term growth trajectory. Back in December of 2010, when we last assessed this, the industry managed around $1.6 trillion in assets and employed about 300,000 people worldwide. Today, it manages around $3 trillion on behalf of more than 5,000 institutional investors and employs about 400,000 people. Many of these jobs are highly skilled.”

Amy Bensted, Head of Hedge Fund Products, Preqin, added: “The market has diversified over recent years, and the hedge fund industry is an increasingly global one. Although the US remains the largest centre for hedge fund employment, significant numbers of people now work in hedge fund firms or service providers in financial hubs across the globe. They bring with them a huge amount of specific experience and expertise.”

Notes for editors

• These numbers exclude consultants for IT, public relations and marketing. 
• Details of AIMA’s 2010 survey are here - https://www.aima.org/article/global-hedge-fund-industry-employs-300-000-people---aima-.html

For media enquiries, please contact:

AIMA:

Kaveri Niththyananthan
T: +44 (0)20 7822 8380
E: [email protected]

Dominic Tonner
T: +44 20 7822 8380
E: [email protected]

Preqin:

William Clarke, Preqin
T: +44 (0)20 3207 0265
E: [email protected]

About AIMA

AIMA, the Alternative Investment Management Association, is the global representative of the alternative investment industry, with more than 1,800 corporate members in over 50 countries. AIMA’s manager members collectively manage more than $1.8 trillion in assets. AIMA draws upon the expertise and diversity of its membership to provide leadership in industry initiatives such as advocacy, policy and regulatory engagement, educational programmes and sound practice guides. AIMA proactively communicates with the media and the general public to increase awareness around the value of the industry. AIMA set up the Alternative Credit Council, or ACC, to help firms focused in the private credit and direct lending space. The ACC currently represents over 80 members that manage $300 billion of private credit assets globally.  AIMA is committed to developing skills and education standards and is a co-founder of the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst designation (CAIA) - first and only specialised educational standard for alternative investment specialists. AIMA is governed by its Council (Board of Directors). For further information, please visit AIMA’s website, www.aima.org.

About Preqin

Preqin is the leading source of information for the alternative assets industry, providing data and analysis via online databases, publications and bespoke data requests. Preqin has built a reputation in the alternative assets industry for providing the most comprehensive and extensive information possible. Leading alternative assets professionals from around the world rely on Preqin’s services daily, and its data and statistics are regularly quoted by the financial press. For more information, please visit: www.preqin.com.