•  
• Tweet
•  
•  
•        Print
•  
•        Email
•  
•         Track Keywords

Former HSBC veteran Paul Absalom has launched a fund of hedge funds that will steer clear from long-biased strategies. While a hedge fund manager is planning an on-site tour of emerging investment opportunities across the Central Asia.

Stockade Asian Trading Strategies launched
Absalom, former head of HSBC’s hedge fund and central bank sales, is launching the Stockade Asian Trading Strategies fund of hedge funds reported AsianInvestor.net today (10-Mar-09).

According to the report, Absalom is joined by portfolio manager Tiong Yee Koh, who previously established the fund of funds platform at UOB, and Jacob Shin, formerly of Richcourt Fund Advisors and the World Bank Pension Fund. Stockade will be based in Singapore.

According to the report, Stockade will only invest in funds that operate non-long biased strategies, such as macro, relative value arbitrage, currency and quant. It added the fund will offer a beta overlay to investors.

Currently, the fund has raised $500m in assets and will soon market in the U.S. and Europe, the report added.

Ansher Fund Management to take an on-site tour of emerging investment opportunities
Meanwhile, Ansher Fund Management announced plans for an on-site tour of emerging investment opportunities with its investors in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, in the Central Asian region on 31 March to gain a direct insight into the political and business environment, as well as into potential lucrative investment opportunities.

Ravshan Yunusov, managing director of the fund said the trip will explore new frontier markets that opportunities for both diversification and growth in investors’ portfolio, reported Hedgefundnews.blogspot.com.

Ansher is only Western European fund offering exposure to Central Asia and Caucasus` growth story (Opalesque Exclusive).

GFIA predicted fresh launches in 2009
The launch of Stockade came as Singapore-based consulting firm GFIA predicted last month that 2009 (Opalesque: 26-Feb-09) will be a year of new startup for hedge funds in Asia.

In its report entitled: "Asia Hedge Funds Note," GFIA said the new fund launches will be driven by qualified and experienced hedge fund professionals who are looking for new opportunities.

Asian hedge fund assets dropped 36% in 2008
Stockade’s entry into the hedge fund world comes at a time when Asian hedge fund assets fell 35% to $76bn in 2008, according to Hedge Fund Research. While hedge fund data provider HedgeFund Intelligence said in its report (Opalesque: 06-Mar-09) that the global hedge funds had dropped 30% in 2008 to a bit more than $1.8tln, from $2.646tln at the beginning of that year.

Comparatively, the Eurekahedge Hedge Fund Index showed that the global hedge fund industry shrunk from $1.9tln at end-2007 to $1.5tln at end-2008. Source.