New York-based SkyBridge Capital, which provides strategic capital to new and early-stage hedge funds, and Australia's Challenger Financial Services Group have announced a long-term strate

New York-based SkyBridge Capital, which provides strategic capital to new and early-stage hedge funds, and Australia's Challenger Financial Services Group have announced a long-term strategic relationship to launch the first global institutional hedge fund seeding and alternative investment management platform.

Under the transaction, which is expected to close in the second quarter of this year, Challenger will make a significant capital commitment to the existing SkyBridge funds and will support SkyBridge in penetrating new markets in the Australasia region to source both new capital as well as talented hedge fund managers.

Challenger will make available to SkyBridge its investment and due diligence team, and the Australian firm's principal executive officer for balance sheet asset management, Richard Howes, will become a member of the SkyBridge investment committee.

'Over the past two years, we have built SkyBridge Capital into one of the leading strategic investors in new hedge fund managers, and today SkyBridge and its underlying managers have around USD1.5bn under management,' says managing partner Anthony Scaramucci.

'Our new relationship with Challenger, an established participant in the Australian financial services sector, will allow us to extend our ability to source top managers globally, broadening the depth of our talent pool.

'Also, through Challenger we will have a significant new distribution channel in Australia, positioning our partnership to capitalise on the current and expected growth of alternative asset investments there.'

Says Howes: 'Our new relationship with SkyBridge Capital follows our extensive evaluation of the hedge fund seeding space. We believe SkyBridge has created a unique, differentiated platform that presents an optimal opportunity for creating outsized returns for investors. Furthermore, we believe their distribution capability will be critical in attracting top-tier talent onto the platform.'

SkyBridge has also announced plans to open a London office that will serve as the firm's centre for sourcing Europe-based managers and investors. It is expected to open during the third quarter of the year.

Listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, Challenger is a diversified financial services organisation with AUD45bn in assets under management at the end of March. Its asset management division, which has assets under management of AUD10.4bn, specialises in infrastructure, real estate and fixed income investment.

Challenger develops specialist funds for institutional and retail investors and is a proprietary investor in its own right, raising capital through retail and wholesale annuities and other sources. It has international strategic relationships with Colony Capital LLC, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ and Mitsubishi UFJ Securities.

SkyBridge co-ordinates a global network of partners in sourcing hedge fund managers and providing business-building and investment support services from its headquarters in New York. To date, SkyBridge has made strategic investments in nine funds.