FRM Capital Advisors (FCA) – the seeding arm of Financial Risk Management, a leading London-based FoHFs group with USD9billion in assets – is planning to commit seed
FRM Capital Advisors (FCA) – the seeding arm of Financial Risk Management, a leading London-based FoHFs group with USD9billion in assets – is planning to commit seed capital to three or four hedge funds this year, reported Reuters this week. One of which is expected to be Asia-based according to the firm’s COO, Patric de Gentile-Williams (pictured). Last October the firm committed USD50million in seed capital to Sensato Capital Management, a San Francisco Asia-focused hedge fund: if a new fund is added, that would bring its stable of Asian funds to three having first invested in Hong Kong-based Isometric Capital in October 2009. Globally, the firm currently has USD300million in capital invested across six hedge funds. “Expect us to do three to four investments this year, and there’s a probability one of them will be in Asia,” de Gentile-Williams was quoted as saying. He confirmed that the group would be happy if the Asia fund was the result of a prop trade spin-off; with the Volcker rule taking effect, talented traders are starting to break away and set up shop creating attractive seeding opportunities for firms like FCA. Ideal targets according to de Gentile-Williams would be managers with established investment teams, a clear investment strategy and a clear risk management process, adding that FCA was “open to high quality managers leaving some of the established shops”. No actual details on potential investments are yet known.
