Ramius Alternative Solutions, a division of Cowen Group, has been chosen by Perpetual Investment Management to advise its multi manager group on its hedge funds investment activities.

Ramius is an investment adviser offering a range of hedge fund investment and advisory solutions, including customised and commingled fund of funds, portfolio completion, portfolio hedging, and hedge fund replication services to a global institutional client base.

Perpetual is an Australian investment manager offering a range of products for personal investment, superannuation and retirement as well as corporate funds management.

Under the partnership, Ramius will work with Perpetual's multi manager Group to manage two separate customised fund of hedge funds products specifically designed to complement two multi-asset alternatives portfolios, the Perpetual Defensive Alternatives Fund and the Perpetual Growth Alternatives Fund. These funds invest in a range of alternative strategies including private equity, private real estate, infrastructure, specialist credit and hedge funds.

Thomas W. Strauss, chief executive officer of Ramius LLC, says: "We are delighted to have been selected by Perpetual, one of the most prestigious firms in the Australian financial market, as their hedge fund partner and advisor and we look forward to working with their talented multi manager team to maximise the potential of this relationship for both parties. Our partnership with Perpetual further validates the model that Ramius has established as a sophisticated global hedge fund investment platform that has the team, experience, infrastructure and investment processes in place to deliver value-added intellectual capital to sophisticated institutional clients like Perpetual."

Damien Webb, head of multi manager at Perpetual, adds: "We believe that partnering with Ramius can create significant benefits and opportunities for our alternative investments funds to meet the investment objectives of our clients, specifically the high net worth client base of Perpetual Private Wealth. Through this partnership, we will be able to take advantage of Ramius' global expertise and contacts, rigorous due diligence process and institutional platform. We are excited about the prospects that our work with Ramius has to offer our clients and we look forward to the ongoing development of this dynamic relationship."