After months of expectation, Morgan Sze’s (pictured) Hong Kong-based Azentus Capital Management Ltd finally started trading on April 1 with at least USD1billion in assets, making it on
After months of expectation, Morgan Sze’s (pictured) Hong Kong-based Azentus Capital Management Ltd finally started trading on April 1 with at least USD1billion in assets, making it one of the region’s biggest and most high profile start-ups. Sze was the former global head of Goldman Sachs’s Principal Strategies (GSPS) group, a proprietary trading desk. Between 2008 and March 2010 Sze co-ran the team with Pierre-Henri Flamand, taking full control when Flamand left last year to set up Edoma Capital in London. It is believed that Sze and his team will trade similar strategies to those used at GSPS including credit and event-driven. Sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that roughly 35 per cent would be invested in companies being affected by M&A activity. About 20 per cent of the fund will be credit-focused. Seventy five per cent of the fund’s assets will be invested in Asia and will employ a top-down bottom-up approach to stock selection. With more prop traders spinning off as investment banks start complying with the Volcker Rule, those that worked for heavyweights like Goldman Sachs are hitting the ground running: Flamand’s Edoma Capital launched with USD820million and has over USD450million in future commitments, reported MarketWatch at the time. “No matter how close the ties with your alma mater you are still, as an independent, outside the tent looking in,” Triple A Partners’ Paul Smith told Bloomberg. “Your relationship with the street is qualitatively different and this may take some time to adjust to.” Azentus Capital’s investment team numbers 14, with ex-Boyer Allan CEO, Roger Denby-Jones, appointed as COO.
