Barclays Global Investors (BGI), the global asset manager, has broken through the $5bn (€7bn) mark in hedge fund assets under management as entrants to the business from the long-only world challenge the dominance of boutiques.

In terms of hedge fund assets under management, BGI remains half the size of firms such as Moore Capital, the world's largest hedge fund. However, it has risen to become one of the largest hedge fund managers in the world and arguably the second-largest in Europe behind Man Group. On the back of its growth in hedge fund assets under management, BGI has boosted its half-yearly pre-tax profits by 52% to £91m.