Hedge funds attracted a net $44 billion in assets globally last year, the smallest amount since 2012. As these increasingly desperate funds try to change that in 2016, one enormous target has been identified in Australia.

Australia has approximately USD$1.5 trillion in retirement savings, one of the largest and fastest growing pools of pension money in the world according to the WSJ. Several US asset managers are already actively working to get a foot in the door, even though management fees charged in Australia are among the world's lowest according to local lobby group Financial Services Council.

"Everyone wants to get their hands on that pie. People think there's a lot of money to be made in Australia" said Jesse Huang, director for strategic relations Boston based hedge fund PanAgora Asset Management