Leading global hedge fund, D.E. Shaw, plans to increase its presence in Asia as part of a strategy to attract assets from Japanese pension funds heading into 2011.PARA_BREAK_SENTINEL_9f8e7d6c

Leading global hedge fund, D.E. Shaw, plans to increase its presence in Asia as part of a strategy to attract assets from Japanese pension funds heading into 2011. The New York-headquartered USD20billion fund manager currently has two employees in its Tokyo office, headed up by country representative Scott Roney. But Julius Gaudio (pictured), one of the firm’s six executive committee members and who himself only recently relocated to Hong Kong to head up the region, fully intends to add more headcount as the firm introduces hedge fund strategies to institutional investors. Responding to Hedgeweek on the Japan expansion via email, Roney said: “Our decision was primarily driven by our long-term objectives and our belief that a physical presence is crucial to building relationships with both current and prospective investors.” When asked whether growth of Japanese assets would be fast, Roney wrote that building business with pension funds was a “multiyear” process “so we’re starting to plant the seeds with pensions knowing that this will be a long-term effort”.