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Marex and AIMA | Stacking Up: Emerging Manager Survey 2026

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Stacking Up: Emerging Manager Survey 2026 explores the trends, challenges and opportunities shaping today's emerging manager ecosystem.

Download the full report for detailed analysis into how managers are building, scaling and attracting capital in an increasingly competitive market.

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Produced by AIMA in partnership with Marex, Stacking Up: Emerging Manager Survey 2026 is the fifth edition in the series, published over the past nine years. 
Marex and AIMA | Stacking Up: Emerging Manager Survey 2026

New research on the next generation of hedge funds

Expanded for the first time to include firms managing up to US$1bn in assets under management, the report draws on responses from 180 emerging managers and 50 institutional investors worldwide.

Discover the latest insights into emerging managers, investor priorities and the trends shaping the next generation of hedge funds.

Read the full analysis here

Key findings

  • Investors are engaging earlier: Allocators are becoming increasingly willing to back smaller and newer managers, even as operational scrutiny and due diligence standards continue to rise.

  • Institutionalization is accelerating: Investment in infrastructure, compliance, technology and investor relations is happening earlier as firms build institutional-quality businesses.

  • Businesses are scaling faster: Managers are progressing through the growth journey more successfully than in previous years.

  • Operational robustness remains critical: Operational due diligence and concerns around strategy discipline remaining among the key barriers to investment.

  • Fund structures are evolving: Onshore funds and separately managed accounts are gaining traction as investors seek greater transparency, control and customization.

  • Fee structures remain stable: Managers continue to compete on the quality of their investment proposition and operating platform, rather than price alone.

  • AI adoption is accelerating: AI is increasingly embedded across the emerging manager landscape, although it isn’t a primary consideration for most investors.

Taken together, these developments are stacking up to indicate an emerging manager ecosystem that is becoming increasingly mature, institutional and resilient.

Download Stacking Up: Emerging Manager Survey 2026 for detailed analysis of the trends, opportunities and challenges shaping the next generation of hedge fund businesses.

Download the report


 

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Marex Prime Services is a leading full-service institutional prime broker, with a global multi-asset platform tailored for investment managers worldwide. It has a strong track record in supporting both emerging and established funds seeking to work with a single partner or to diversify their prime brokerage counterparties.

Combining a highly personalized concierge-style service model with a comprehensive suite of award-winning services, Marex supports clients in raising capital, strengthening growth and managing risk at every stage of their journey. Services include high and low touch execution, financing, outsourced trading, operational support, capital introduction and business consulting.

Marex Prime Services is a division within Marex, a diversified global financial services platform, providing essential liquidity, market access and infrastructure services to clients in the financial, energy and commodities markets.