Hedge funds' ability to raise funds on the public markets will be tested this week as two new public vehicles from London's Brevan Howard Asset Management and CQS Management float on the London Stock Exchange, in a sector that has had mixed results for investors.

Listed versions of hedge funds and funds-of-hedge-funds, structured as closed-end investment companies, gained popularity with institutions and wealthy individuals in the years before the financial crisis as a way to get liquid and easy access to hedge funds. By mid-2008, the London-listed hedge-fund sector peaked at about £9.2bn in assets.