Morgan Stanley Investment Management has taken a minority stake in Hawker Capital (Cayman), a commodities-focused investment management firm founded last August by Oliver Hawkins and Tim S

Morgan Stanley Investment Management has taken a minority stake in Hawker Capital (Cayman), a commodities-focused investment management firm founded last August by Oliver Hawkins and Tim Sanger. The firm is headquartered in London and has a research presence in Beijing.

The transaction, the terms of which were not disclosed, adds Hawker to list of independent investment managers in which Morgan Stanley has already taken minority stakes, including Avenue Capital, Lansdowne Partners, Traxis Partners and Abax Global Capital.

Hawker uses a fundamental, research-based long/short approach focused on capacity-based markets using commodities and equities. The investment team is led by co-portfolio managers Hawkins and Sanger, who share commodities-focused investment experience and previously worked together at Rubicon Fund Management.

'This partnership represents another enhancement to MSIM's alternative investments capabilities,' says Stu Bohart, co-head of Morgan Stanley Investment Management and head of alternative investments. 'We believe Hawker's talented investment team is well positioned to take advantage of the significant opportunities across the commodities space.'

Sanger says: 'We are pleased to align ourselves strategically with Morgan Stanley and look forward to building upon our partnership with them in the future.'

Morgan Stanley Investment Management, together with its investment advisory affiliates, had nearly 1,000 investment professionals around the world and some USD577bn in assets under management or supervision at the end of February.

Morgan Stanley offers a range of alternative investment products for institutional investors and high net worth individuals including hedge funds, funds of hedge funds, funds of private equity funds, currency funds, commodities funds and portable alpha overlays, in addition to its acquisition of minority stakes in third-party investment managers.