The country’s biggest asset managers and hedge funds are bracing for a quarter of historically large losses after the escalation of a global trade war wiped almost $9 trillion from Wall Street and left the local sharemarket on the brink of its biggest fall in almost five years.

The falls – and a $115 billion wipeout priced in for the S&P/ASX 200 when it opens on Monday – compound a difficult year for some of Australia’s most prominent investors, from Regal Partners to Caledonia, which have suffered as global markets have slumped on economic and trade uncertainties.