Perspective on Institutional Hedge Fund Investing

SEI recently released a survey on the trends, traction, and outlook for institutional hedge fund investing. A full copy can be found here. This is a deep piece but offers some good perspective on the drivers of institutional investment.  Highlights include:

• "Four out of ten institutions surveyed said they invest solely via single-manager funds, up from 24% a year earlier and about double the percentage who responded that way in 2008."
• "Based on returns in the first half of 2011, respondents reported earning an average annualized return of 6.2% vs. 9.2% in 2010, and a median annualized return of 5.0% vs. 8.1% in the previous year."
• When asked to identify their "biggest worries about hedge fund investing," 70% of respondents selected "Lack of Transparency" as a leading worry, equaling the other most identified worry: "Failing to achieve primary objective," ie. returns.