survey

FSA Report on Assessing Sources of Systemic Risk from Hedge Funds

On August 22, the FSA published a report on assessing the possible sources of systemic risk from hedge funds, setting out the findings of the March 2012 hedge fund survey (HFS) and the April 2012 hedge fund as counterparty survey (HFACS). Report

Some of the key findings include:

  • Aggregate assets under management increased in the survey period;
  • Leverage remains largely unchanged and modest for most funds;
  • In aggregate, surveyed hedge funds report that they are able to liquidate their assets in a shorter timeframe than the period after which their liabilities would fall due; and
  • Counterparty exposures of surveyed hedge funds remain fairly concentrated among five banks.

The FSA intends to repeat the HFS in September 2012 and the HFACS in October.