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| Algebris eyes Singapore, HK for Asia office |
| 20-MAR-2010 Intellasia | Reuters |
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| 20 Mar, 2010 - 7:00:00 AM |
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London-based hedge fund manager Algebris Investments LLP is in talks to set up a base in Asia over the next few months, joining a slew of Western managers driven to the region in search of higher returns and a friendlier regulatory environment, two sources said.
Top officials from Algebris -- backed by activist investor Christopher Hohn -- visited Asia on a reconnaissance mission earlier this year but had yet to make a call on whether the new office would be located in Hong Kong or Singapore, said one of the sources.
The sources, both of whom are familiar with the situation, declined to be named owing to potential future business ties with the hedge fund manager. An official at Algebris declined to comment when reached by Reuters.
Algebris, which runs long-short funds investing in global financial services, has $1.6 billion in assets under management. The fund was founded by Eric Halet and Davide Serra in 2006 and made news last year after selling its stake in Assicurazioni generali after criticising the Italian insurer's governance.
Hohn, who provided seed money for Algebris, founded The Children's Investment fund, which famously launched an attack on ABN AMRO in 2007 that helped trigger the Dutch bank's sale. TCI closed down its operations in Asia in late-2009 following the departure of its regional head.
HEADING TO ASIA
Global hedge funds based in the US and Europe have been making a beeline for Asia, attracted by the strong bounce back in local funds in 2009, and also the promise of larger inflows into the region.
The region is also becoming a safe haven of sorts for the hedge fund industry as regulators in the west look to tighten screws on what is still a largely unregulated industry.
Although the Monetary Authority of Singapore is in the process of drafting new rules for hedge funds, and Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission unveiled a new short-selling disclosure regime to improve transparency, hedge funds in the region have escaped the harsh spotlight put on their Western peers during the financial crisis and its aftermath.
Asia's increased attractiveness is driving fund managers such as GLG, Soros Fund Management, Moore Capital, Maverick Capital and Viking Global Investors to the region.
"Asia is definitely a focus," said Mark Harrison, European head of prime finance at Citigroup. "The hedge fund community has always been smaller there. Returns in emerging markets, particularly Asia and Latin America, represent an opportunity for hedge funds."
But unlike the flurry of fund managers that set up base in Asia in 2005-06, building relatively large teams on the ground at a frantic pace, hedge funds are adopting a slower route now.
Many fund managers are either moving an experienced manager from the company's home base to Asia and starting small, or hiring in region and moving the managers to New York or London for a period for training.
http://ph.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20100318/tap-algebris-hedgefund-c3bb44c.html
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