Asset managers focused on Japanese investments demonstrated the greatest growth in assets under management for the last fiscal year, with a 19.5 percent increase of around $6 billion on average, according to Old Well Labs.
Others categories of managers that had strong growth were activists, whose assets grew 10.9 percent, energy and cyclicals, which increased 13.8 percent, smaller emerging managers at 16.3 percent and technology at 11.6 percent, according to Old Well Labs, which analyzed data from Form ADVs filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 31 for the prior fiscal year. Old Well Labs collects underlying data on positions in the portfolios of more than 500 managers widely used by top allocators.
Venture capital firms had the largest change to AUM in absolute terms, increasing by $94 billion, followed by mega funds at $59 billion.
Managers of real estate investment trusts and small-cap stocks were the worst performers by percentage reporting average drops of 7.4 percent and 7.5 percent, respectively.
Biotech was by far the greatest negative mover in dollar terms, with an average drop of $7 billion, according to Old Well Labs, which allocators can use to monitor managers.
As reported in II this week, things haven’t improved this year for biotech and funds are suffering. Casdin Capital, a life sciences hedge fund, was down 32 percent in the first quarter alone. Life sciences and biopharma have been hurt by concerns that the Trump administration, with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. heading Health and Human Services, could upend everything from vaccine development to regulatory approvals for new drugs.
The sector has also been damaged by President Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on certain drug imports.
The SEC requires all investment advisers managing over $25 million to submit Form ADV to specify their investment style, AUM, and key personnel. It is compiled annually and is in the public record.
