Despite Hedge Fund Closings, Some Execs Branch Out on Their Own

With so many Wall Street investment banking powerhouses and hedge funds closing, and regulators pressuring them to rein in risk, many of these executives are returning to the game, setting up, you guessed it, hedge funds, Reuters reports.

“There’s a huge resurgence of new start-ups,” reported Jayesh Punater, chief executive of Gravitas Technology, which buildings technology systems for asset managers. In the first quarter, Punater said, his firm served 16 new hedge funds, and another nine last month.

“Many of the proprietary traders and investment managers are large, sell-side shops—firms that no longer have an appetite running a balance sheet—are leaving, setting up their own shops,” Punater said.

According to Hedge Fund Research, 1,500 hedge funds closed down in 2008, and 659 opened their doors. That was the smallest number of new hedge funds to launch since 2001.