The recession cut into the number of new hedge fund launches since the middle of last year, but a new report by Hedge Fund Research reveals that new hedge funds outpaced the number of liquidations in the third quarter for the first time since the financial crisis.
 
According to an HFR Market Microstructure Industry Report released Wednesday by Hedge Fund, 224 new hedge funds launched in the third quarter, bringing the year-to-date total to 554. Although the number of new launches remains significantly lower than the average of 1,400 annually between 2002 and 2007, new hedge funds introduced this year are set to exceed the 2008 total of 659.
 
There has also been a decrease in the number of liquidations, with 190 funds liquidating in the third quarter, as compared to 858 liquidations in the first half of this year. Yet fund closures this year are the second highest on record, bested only by 2008 when 1,471 funds were closed.