Hedge fund exit requests rise to five month high in May

HONG KONG, May 20 (Reuters) - Demand to pull out money from hedge funds rose to five month high in May as investors looked to adjust their portfolios ahead of the mid-year point.

The SS&C GlobeOp Forward Redemption Indicator, a monthly snapshot of hedge fund clients giving notice to withdraw their cash expressed as a percentage of assets under administration, rose to 4.32 percent in May from 3.23 percent in April and the highest since December last year.

The bulk of the activity in May represented typical semi-annual requests, Bill Stone, chairman and chief executive of SS&C Technologies (NasdaqGS: SSNC - news) , said in a statement.

For a chart on long-term redemption requests, please click: http://link.reuters.com/tew49v

Unlike mutual funds that offer daily liquidity, investors in hedge funds are required to give advance notice. Such requests have risen every May since at least 2008, data from SS&C GlobeOp shows.

Global hedge fund assets rose to an all-time high of $2.938 trillion in April, beating the previous peak of $2.937 trillion reached before the financial crisis, according to data from eVestment. (Reporting by Nishant Kumar; Editing by Mark Potter)