Given that 2018 was the worst performing year for the FoHF industry since 2011 and the third worst year, on a median basis, since HFM InvestHedge began tracking the industry in 1998, it shouldn’t surprise readers too much that assets among billion-dollar multi-managers declined.

The collective assets managed by the 67 multi-manager hedge fund firms that run more than $1bn fell to $587.3bn by the end of 2018, down from the $594.7bn managed at the beginning of the year.

The 1.2% decline marks the first time since 2012 that assets represented in the annual rankings have fallen below $600bn and represents the lowest collective total since December 2004.

It wasn’t bad news for every firm – the largest sharks in the pond continued to increase their share of the bait, with Blackstone, GSAM and Grosvenor among the firms to see their AuMs increase – but the numbers do serve as a reminder: FoHFs must be able to swim against the tide when it comes to their offerings and expertise to ensure they remain relevant to managers and investors.

Elsewhere in the magazine we look at enterprise risk management and whether managers are too focused on it these days. Willis Towers Watson certainly thinks so – it called managers out on being “obsessed” with maintaining assets in a recent white paper.

We sit down with Sara Rejal, global head of liquid diversifying strategies, to hear more about the consultant’s stance, which suggests investors allocate to hedge funds only by pushing back on fees, structuring customised products and gaining more transparency.

The suggestion that managers might be too focused on ERM is an interesting one – not least because institutional investors have ramped up their own scrutiny of managers’ operations and related non-trading aspects since the financial crisis.

As the demand for customisation continues to grow, managers should expect to face more requests from clients and prospects to tweak certain elements, whether related to fees, strategy or operations, but they should think twice before acquiescing to every demand, as such changes have ramifications across the board.

Lizzy Buss of InfraHedge cautions investors not to be too heavy-handed when trying to encourage managers to shift their investment infrastructure, precisely because of the negative outcome this can create – click here to read more.

Our Undercover IR contributor also highlights the dangers of launching new products without any consideration for market research – an omission which seems unique to the hedge fund industry.

Not as many fish in the sea on HFM InvestHedge.