The global financial crisis that started in 2008 has had enormous ramifications of many sorts. Not surprisingly the financial sector itself has seen quite a lot of restructuring in the period since then. One area of great change has been the number of small hedge funds in existence. According to a New York Times article on the subject, many such funds are being closed down so as to eliminate their recent history of returns, or, more accurately, lack thereof. Then, the same people behind these funds simply open new funds with a clear record. Clearly this does not occur with most such small hedge funds since their numbers have fallen by 30% (and assets under management by approximately 21.5%) since peaking in number in 2007.

Geographic reference: World
Year: 2007 and 2010
Market size: 12,000 and 8,400 funds respectively
Source: “Hedge Fund Managers Set Up for New Act,” The New York Times, September 17, 2010, page B1 available online here.
Original source: Heidrick & Struggles