Singapore’s bid to displace Hong Kong as Asia’s major hedge fund center is picking up momentum, as hedge fund assets managed in the city-state soared last year.

Singapore-based hedge funds managed about S$80 billion (US$58.8 billion) at the end of 2007, double what they managed a year earlier, the Monetary Authority of Singapore said. The booming hedge fund industry helped Singapore’s asset management industry grow 32% to S$1.17 trillion (US$862 billion).

The number of hedge fund firms in Singapore is also up, by more than 50%, to almost 300.