These reported numbers suggest that asset allocators have a growing interest in alternative investments and an increasing tendency toward investing directly in hedge funds, the study found. The data also points to the resilience of hedge funds as the end of the first half of 2012 marks three and a half years of steady growth.

“Although challenging economic conditions have impacted hedge funds’ performance during the last few years, investors still see their long term value and are giving them a significant place in their portfolios,” said Brendan Dolan, president of PerTrac.

When investors allocated to alternatives in 2012, they favored the largest funds. The “billion dollar club” of single-manager hedge funds, those that oversee more than $1 billion, saw assets under management increase to $1.146 trillion from $1.08 trillion at the end of 2011. The billion-dollar-plus funds represented 60.6 percent of all assets invested with single-manager hedge funds at the end of the first half of 2012.

The PerTrac hedge fund study aggregates information from 11 leading global databases. This provides for the most holistic picture of the industry.

The study also found, among reporting funds, that:

The “billion dollar club” reigned supreme within funds of hedge funds as well. Nearly 49 percent of assets were controlled by the 3.24 percent of firms that each managed more than $1 billion.

CTAs posted healthy gains in assets of 6.05 percent this year, bringing their total to $438 billion under management at the end of the first half of 2012. The total number of CTA funds rose by 1.26 percent from the end of 2011 to 1,528.

Forty-five CTAs reported managing in excess of $1 billion and they accounted for 78.1 percent of that sector’s assets under management.