Investors beginning to buy into hedge funds again (MarketWatch)  (12-02-2010)

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Investors have started buying back into some hedge funds after the industry rebounded strongly from record losses in 2008.

Och-Ziff Capital Management Group, one of the world's largest hedge-fund firms, saw $305 million of inflows during the fourth quarter and has raised roughly $650 million so far this year.

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John Burbank's Passport Capital took in $124 million in December and $361 million in January, leaving the San Francisco-based hedge-fund firm with roughly $2.7 billion under management.

Early estimates suggest net inflows for the industry were about $4.5 billion in January, Laurelli noted.

That's a lot better than 2008, when industry assets slumped by more than $1 trillion as the financial crisis triggered record losses and an unprecedented wave of investor redemptions.

Investors began dipping their toes back in last year, when hedge funds generated their best returns in a decade.

Source: MarketWatch