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Woori teams up with NewAlpha to launch hedge fund seeding fund

June 9, 2011 at 5:09 pm

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Singapore-based hedge fund manager, Woori Absolute Partners (WAP), has joined forces with European global hedge fund incubation specialist, NewAlpha AsPARA_BREAK_SENTINEL_9f8e7d6c

Singapore-based hedge fund manager, Woori Absolute Partners (WAP), has joined forces with European global hedge fund incubation specialist, NewAlpha Asset Management, to launch a new Asia-focused hedge fund. The investment vehicle will provide seed capital to up-and-coming hedge fund managers and will be marketed to qualified investors both in Asia and Europe. There’s a lot of activity in the hedge fund seeding arena currently, with firms looking to provide “acceleration” capital to help take smaller hedge funds beyond the USD100million AUM hurdle by obtaining an equity stake in the business. Morgan Stanley’s prime brokers are helping a number of institutional investors invest in Asian fund managers, whilst last month New York’s Pulse Capital Partners LLC teamed up with Hong Kong-based Ardon Capital Management with a view to launch the Pulse-Ardon Asia fund in July.

WAP and NewAlpha plan on initially soft closing the new fund by end-2011 with a final closing date set in 2012. Including initial capital, the fund’s AUM is expected to be capped at USD200million.

Both firms are co-seeders in the Singaporean Blue Rice Investment Management firm – a credit-focused hedge fund – so news of this strategic partnership is unsurprising. NewAlpha has access to a broad network of investors across Europe whilst WAP has developed an investment track record both through its seeding of BRIM and its own FoHFs: Woori Absolute Return Investment Strategies Fund. It too has a strong distribution network and will target qualified investors for the new fund across the region. WAP is part of the Woori Financial Group, South Korea’s largest bank. NewAlpha recently soft closed its fourth vintage seeding vehicle with USD160million.