The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) recently published the Private Funds Statistics Report for Fourth Quarter 2014. The report provides private fund industry statistics and trends, reflecting aggregated data reported by private fund advisers on Form ADV and Form PF. The report also includes statistics about the distribution of borrowings, an analysis of hedge fund gross national exposure to net asset value, and a comparison of average hedge fund investor and hedge fund portfolio liquidity. Most of the data in the more than 50 separate tables and figures is being made public for the first time.
The Form ADV information utilized by the SEC is related to the general information about private funds that advisers report regarding the private funds that they manage, including basic organizational and operational information, fund size and ownership.
The SEC Report also utilizes the Form PF, which is filed by SEC-registered investment advisers with at least $150 million in private funds assets under management to report information about the private funds that they manage. Most advisers file Form PF annually to report general information such as the types of private funds advised (e.g., hedge funds or private equity), each fund’s size, leverage, liquidity and types of investors. Certain larger advisers provide more information on a more frequent basis (including more detailed information on certain larger funds).
The SEC’s Division of Investment Management’s Risk and Examinations Office staff prepared the report, which reflects information reported from the first calendar quarter of 2013 through the fourth calendar quarter of 2014. The staff intends to update the private fund statistics report periodically.