More than 70% of top executives at global hedge funds said they expect fees to decrease during the next two years, according to a survey by Ernst & Young.
In a survey of more than 100 managers, representing about $900 billion of assets under management (or about 55% of the industry), Ernst & Young found that 72% of the respondents expected management fees to decline and 80% predicted incentive fees would fall.
However, Ernst & Young predicted that the best managers would still probably be able to buck the trend toward lower fees.
"Although pressure on fees may be downward, nevertheless, a handful of managers that consistently perform well both on an absolute and on a relative basis will also be able to continue to charge the fee structure that they want," the global auditing firm said in the executive summary of its report.
