Canadian Hedge Fund With Great Ambition

The Canadian hedge fund industry, with C$6 billion (US$5.2 billion) not counting funds of hedge funds, is a drop in the bucket when there's better than $1 trillion floating in HF coffers around the world. Still, Toronto-basedScotia Capitalhas big plans that it hopes will start a major flow of funds in its direction. The firm will head for Zurich, Switzerland, next month to host a meeting on Canadian hedge funds with an audience of 75 European institutional investors and private bankers. The event comes as hedge funds enjoy the distinction of being the fastest-growing financial sector in Canada, and as foreign investors are displaying ever-greater interest in the country. Scotia, no doubt positioning itself as the Canadian hedge fund firm of choice for the interested foreigner, will highlight the fact that average returns last year were almost twice as nice as in the U.S. (16.2% vs. 9%), and its own prowess in the field, which includes running a Canadian HF performance index that covers about half the country's hedge funds AUM, and plans for subindices and a tracker for the entire Canadian hedge fund industry.