Numbers on size of Alternative Asset community -

Brighton House Associates and the Alternative Arena
By Dennis Ford
BHA has analyzed the global alternative investment industry and we estimate that there are 20,000 fund managers:
10,000 Hedge Funds and Funds of Funds
5,000 Private Equity Funds
3,000 Venture Capital Funds
2,000 Real Estate Funds
Every one of these fund managers could benefit from BHA’s services.
On the other side of the industry divide, we estimate that there are approximately 50,000 alternative investor firms. We have broken this universe into 14 categories:
Banks
Consultants
Corporate Pensions
Endowments
Family Offices
Foundations
Fund of Funds
Government Pensions
Healthcare Plans
Insurance Companies
Private Banks
Sovereign Wealth Funds
Tax Exempt Organizations
Union Pension Plans
There are probably only a quarter of a million people participating in the entire alternative investment arena. One common observation is that there is an amazing amount of assets flowing in and out of this relatively small arena. Another frequent observation is that given the industry’s small size, the old adage “everybody knows everybody” most certainly applies. The issue today, for almost all of the parties concerned, is that market churn has made it hard to keep up with who’s who and who’s where!
If you are a reader of the BHA Investor Monitor, I am sure you have heard me proclaim, “Data comes in two forms: out of date and really out of date.” If you have a small investor relations team trying to keep up with 1,000 or more firms, there is a good chance that your information on these firms and their current interests is stale. (How could it not be?)
This is where the BHA research service comes into play. BHA has a team of 20 analysts updating our investor profiles every 90 days while adding 120 new ones each week. It takes a dedicated effort to supply fresh, accurate information about the alternative institutional investor community. Share your short list and call list with your dedicated BHA research analyst, and he or she will focus on finding new leads from investors you haven’t spoken with recently or have never met. The global breakdown of the BHA investor mandate database is 40% U.S., 40% Europe, and 20% the rest of the world. The net-net is: we can provide the BHA value anywhere.