Key facts
- Hedge fund hiring growth slowed to 7% between mid-2025 and mid-2026.
- Separately managed accounts (SMAs) are increasingly used for external capital deployment.
- External assets in SMAs grew to $47 billion over the past 12 months.
- The average SMA investment ticket size is nearly $190 million.
- Investment personnel now comprise 43% of new hires at hedge funds.
The intense competition for talent within the hedge fund industry may be easing, according to new research from Goldman Sachs. Hiring growth at multi-strategy and multi-manager funds has decelerated, with headcount increasing by 7% between mid-2025 and mid-2026, a notable slowdown from previous years. This trend is largely attributed to the increasing popularity of separately managed accounts (SMAs). SMAs allow hedge funds to deploy capital externally, providing greater transparency and flexibility than traditional methods, and effectively substituting for internal hiring. This shift offers a more accessible route for portfolio managers seeking to launch their own firms without extensive fundraising efforts.