Asia hedge fund launches likely to fall as volatility curbs investor appetite

Hong Kong

HEDGE fund launches in Asia are on track to decline for the third straight year as equity-market volatility prompted investors in the region to pare risk.

Forty-one new hedge funds opened in Asia in the first half of 2015, compared with 55 for the same period in 2014, according to Singapore-based data provider Eurekahedge Pte. Last year, the number of new hedge funds dropped to 117, from 149 launches in 2013 and 180 in 2012, Eurekahedge data show.

Investors had been pulling back from riskier assets even before a market rout started in June, when concerns about China's slowing growth and the prospect of rising interest rates in the…