Blue Pool Capital, the investment firm backed by Alibaba chairman Joe Tsai, has raised $300m in the first close of a new vehicle targeting hedge fund strategies, as demand for alternative investments continues to attract wealthy investors and institutions.
The report cites unnamed people familiar with the fundraising as revealing that Harborside II fund secured the capital in July and is targeting $500m by the end of the year. The vehicle is the second fund in Blue Pool’s Harborside series and is expected to invest across a range of hedge fund strategies.
Ultra-high-net-worth individuals and institutional investors are among the investors backing the new vehicle, according to the sources.
Blue Pool raised approximately $500m for the first Harborside fund in 2024, with the strategy investing in hedge funds and private credit managers. The latest fundraising extends the firm’s efforts to build an external capital business alongside the investment activities it undertakes for Tsai.
The firm also operates a private equity strategy known as Riverside, which raised $1bn earlier this year. Portfolio companies include Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu, better known as RedNote, according to marketing materials.
Blue Pool’s broader flagship strategy manages capital for Tsai across a range of asset classes, including hedge funds, private equity, venture capital, private credit and listed equities. The strategy has also provided seed capital to some of Blue Pool’s external investment vehicles.
The expansion comes as hedge funds continue to gain traction among institutional and wealthy investors seeking diversification and strategies capable of adapting quickly to changing market conditions.
Geopolitical uncertainty and heightened market volatility have helped reinforce interest in alternative investment strategies. In Asia, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC has also been reported to be planning a significant increase in its hedge fund allocations over the coming years.
Blue Pool’s latest fundraising suggests the firm sees continued appetite for outsourced access to hedge fund managers, particularly among investors seeking diversified exposure without building their own portfolios of individual funds.
Tsai, 62, is one of Asia’s wealthiest investors, with an estimated fortune of $9.8bn, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
