HEDGE FUNDS – EVOLUTION AND PERSPECTIVES

The article reviews and analyses the origins of the hedge fund sector and its development on a worldwide scale. The study reveals that hedge funds had arisen long before 1949 and shows that global financial crises do not occur due to hedge funds because the latter only exploit economic development disparities, the imperfections of financial systems, the inadequate regulatory frameworks or the inefficient financial market regulations that are already in place. The article shows that, although the development of the hedge fund industry is very sensitive to financial crises, their popularity as investment instruments has been increasing rather than decreasing since the last global economic crisis of 2008.