Fundusze hedgingowe – definicja i tendencje rozwoju
Hedge Funds: Definition and Development Trends

Summary/Abstract: The paper describes the development of hedge funds throughout the world during the last 18 years, with a special consideration of the period after the outbreak of the global financial crisis. In the first part, the author discusses controversies about the definition of hedge funds and proposes his own definition. The next parts describe the development of this segment of the financial market, presenting data on the number of hedge funds, asset value and the rates of return. The data presented in the paper show that during the last 18 years collective results of the hedge funds always assumed positive values, except for 2008 and 2011. In spite of all the fluctuations observed in financial markets, the performance of hedge funds measured by Barclay Hedge Fund Index was much better than the performance of ‘broad market’ measured by Standard&Poor’s 500. The last part describes the perspectives of the sector and probable future changes in its structure.

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