Hedge fund assets shrank last year for the first time since 2008, contracting by $21.8 billion (€20.7 billion).

Investor redemptions of $43.4 billion offset performance-driven gains of $21.6 billion.

This is in stark contrast to 2015, when the industry grew by $108.7 billion, with $80.7 billion of investor allocations driving the bulk of that growth.

However, it was not all bad news for the hedge fund industry, which last year enjoyed returns of 4.48% for the year. Almost 20% of hedge funds enjoyed double-digit returns.

All the figures are from Eurekahedge, a hedge fund database provider, which also reported that North American and Japanese hedge funds gained 7.77% and 0.32%, respectively, and European returns fell 0.12%.

Emerging market funds were up 7.31%, with strong showing from underlying Latin America and Eastern Europe/Russia mandates.

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