BNY Mellon is seeking seed capital from investors for its $111bn London-based investment boutique Newton Investment Management, which is looking to gain a foothold in the multi-manager hedge fund sector dominated by the likes of US giants Citadel and Millennium, according to a report by The Financial Times.

Newton Investment Management is reportedly pitching investors a multi-manager hedge fund business with teams trading equities, currencies, commodities, bonds and quant strategies led by newly appointed deputy chief investment officer for multi-asset, Paul Brain.

BNY Mellon's desire to grab a slice of the multi-manager market is no surprise given that the sector is the fastest growing part of the $4tn global hedge fund industry. According to estimates from Goldman Sachs, in the past five years, multi-manager assets increased by 150% while the rest of the industry grew by just 13 per cent, according to Goldman Sachs estimates.

And Newton is paying to attract investors by charging lower fees than the established multi-manager firm.

“We believe the cost of offering this [type of fund] should be lower,” said Euan Munro, CEO of Newton Investment Management.