Castle Hall Alternatives, the hedge fund industry's leading specialist provider of operational due diligence, and Orchard Harbour, an expert provider of due diligence in Australasia and Asia, today announced that they had formed a strategic partnership.

Castle Hall will utilise Orchard Harbour's local market presence and knowledge of the Pan-Asian hedge fund industry to conduct due diligence on funds in the region. Orchard Harbour, in turn, will provide Australian and Asian investors with access to Castle Hall's due diligence expertise when evaluating managers in the Americas and Europe.

Orchard Harbour, based in Sydney, Australia, is headed by Alex Wise, an attorney who was previously a managing director at the Atlas Capital Group in the UK. Atlas was, at the time, one of the largest independent hedge fund of funds managers with assets under management of USD4.5 billion. Prior to his role as MD in the Fund of Funds group at Atlas, Wise was Atlas's Group Legal Counsel in London responsible for legal matters including fund structuring, manager review and project management.

Wise says: "We are delighted to partner with Castle Hall to extend our service offering. Castle Hall's 20 person team has completed more than 1,500 due diligence reviews of funds and service providers worldwide, and their presence in North America gives our clients rapid and responsive access to due diligence on managers in the United States and Europe."

Chris Addy (pictured), Castle Hall's President and CEO, says: "Castle Hall and Orchard Harbour share a central commitment to independent and unconflicted operational due diligence. We have seen a progressive increase in investor interest with respect to allocations to Asian and Australasian funds, yet these regions benefit from expert, on the ground professionals who understand local market conventions. Orchard Harbour has developed deep knowledge of the hedge fund industry across the Pan-Asian marketplace, and our clients will benefit greatly from the firm's insights."