The head of alternative asset manager Och-Ziff Capital has expressed optimism that hedge fund investors will start returning in the second half of the year, two days after his firm revealed that assets under management jumped $900m (€634m) last month.

Speaking at a conference hosted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in New York yesterday, Daniel Och, chairman and chief executive of Och-Ziff, said that his company, which is one of the largest listed alternative asset managers, had successfully executed on its strategy of generating consistent and positive returns in the first five months of the year.