Past Perfect, Future Tense: Global Hedge-Fund Industry in Charts

The $3 trillion global hedge fund industry is heading into 2017 amid a widespread backlash from clients who are asking for their money back because of years of poor returns and high fees. The total number of funds in the industry fell for the first time on record, while many of the world’s best-known companies were forced to cut fees. But the industry got an unexpected boost last month when volatility sparked by Donald Trump’s election victory bolstered returns -- reversing the fortunes of some funds -- and showed signs of being a boon going forward.

Investors pulled almost $80 billion from hedge funds through Dec. 16 this year, the first net outflows from the industry since 2009, according to preliminary estimates from data provider eVestment. Some of the largest players in the industry, such as Brevan Howard Asset Management, Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC and John Paulson’s hedge fund firm, suffered outflows.