Hedge Fund Giants' Assets Soar 23% in First Half of 2007

Assets of the 246 biggest hedge funds, those with $1 billion or more of assets, soared 23% in the first half of this year to $1.457 trillion—double the rate of their asset increases in the previous six months, Absolute Return reports.

JPMorgan Asset Management, with assets of $56.2 billion, remained on top, its assets rising 65% during the period. Its Highbridge Asset Management hedge fund division alone saw an 117% increase in assets, from $17 billion to $37 billion.

The second-largest firm with hedge fund assets is Goldman Sachs, at $39.98 billion. Its assets rose 22.9% in the first half of the year from assets at the end of 2006.

Third up is D.E. Shaw, with $34 billion in assets under management, followed by Bridgewater Associates with $32.1 billion in assets and Och-Ziff Capital Management and Renaissance Technologies, with $29.2 billion apiece.