Pensions’ Fifty Favorite Hedge Funds

(August 22, 2012) – What are the most popular hedge funds among pension investment teams worldwide? 

Towers Watson knows, and sent aiCIO a list. Here’s a ranking of the top 50, and the total amount of pension assets each one manages as of December 31, 2011. 

1. Bridgewater Associates (US) – $47.3 billion 

2. BlackRock (UK) – $14.9 billion 

3. Brevan Howard (UK) – $11.5 billion 

4. Angelo, Gordon & Co. (US) – $8.6 billion 

5. BlueCrest Capital Management Group (UK) – $8.6 billion 

6. Och-Ziff Capital Management (US) – $8.05 billion 

7. AQR Capital Management (US) – $6.7 billion 

8. GoldenTree Asset Management (US) – $5.7 billion 

9. Beach Point Capital Management (US) – $4.89 billion 

10. D. E. Shaw Group (US) – $4.32 billion 

11. Nephila Capital (Bermuda) – $4.28 billion 

12. PIMCO (US) – $4.24 billion 

13. AHL (UK) – $4.21 billion 

14. Winton Capital Management Ltd. (UK) – $4.18 billion 

15. Lansdowne Partners (UK) – $4.05 billion 

16. Anchorage Capital Group (US) – $3.02 billion 

17. Goldman Sachs Asset Management (US) – $2.6 billion 

18. GE Asset Management (US) – $2.48 billion 

19. Odey Asset Management (UK) – $2.36 billion 

20. UBS Global Asset Management (UK) – $2.34 billion 

21. Magnetar Capital (US) – $2.2 billion 

22. Omega Advisors (US) – $2 billion 

23. COMAC Capital (UK) – $1.91 billion 

24. Graham Capital Management (US) – $1.77 billion 

25. Transtrend (The Netherlands) – $1.72 billion 

26. Aspect Capital (UK) – $1.52 billion 

27. HBK Capital Management (US) – $1.51 billion 

28. Black River Asset Management (US) – $1.49 billion 

29. New Mountain Vantage Advisors (US) – $1.47 billion 

30. Gramercy (US) – $1.3 billion 

31. Arrowgrass Capital Partners (Cayman Islands) – $1.29 billion 

32. GLG (UK) – $1.26 billion 

33. Bain Capital (US) – $1.25 billion 

34. Ascend Capital (US) – $1.23 billion 

35. Wellington Hedge Management (US) – $1.22 billion 

36. Ivory Investment Management (US) – $1.2 billion 

37. Pine River Capital Management (Cayman Islands) – $1.08 billion 

38. Fir Tree Partners (US) – $1.06 billion 

39. Elm Ridge Management (US) – $1 billion 

40. Perry Capital (US) – $890 million 

41. Mazi Capital (South Africa) – $747 million 

42. Lucidus Capital Partners (UK) – $650 million 

43. Knighthead Capital Management (US) – $550 million 

44. Aviva Investors (UK) – $534 million 

45. Ramius (US) – $483 million 

46. BlueBay Asset Management (UK) – $466 million 

47. Fore Research & Management (US) – $379 million 

48. Highline Capital Management (US) – $378 million 

49. Invesco (US) – $352 million 

50. Lombard Odier Investment Management (Switzerland) – $337 million 

Pension assets make up a large portion of total capital under management for the funds topping this list. Bridgewater, the world’s largest hedge fund, earns that distinction mostly thanks to pension investments. The Connecticut-based fund manages a total of $76.1 billion, 62% of which belongs to pensions. Over half (54%) of BlackRock‘s $27.6 billion in total assets come from pensions, as do one-third of Brevan Howard’s. Further down the list, a handful of other funds owe similarly high portions of their capital to pensions, including AQR (48%), Beach Point (80%), Nephila (78%), GE Asset Management (100%), and Gramercy (87%).

In total, these 50 funds manage $187.57 billion in pension assets, representing 35.8% of the funds’ total assets under management ($524.09 billion). Towers Watson compiled this list using data largely from investment managers, in addition to funds’ public financial statements and a HedgeFund Intelligence publication.