Pacific Alternative Asset Management Company Europe LLP (PAAMCO), the fund of hedge funds investment manager, has received FSA registration in the UK and has established a L Pacific Alternative Asset Management Company Europe LLP (PAAMCO), the fund of hedge funds investment manager, has received FSA registration in the UK and has established a London office. The London office, headed up by Managing Director, Stephen Oxley, will be responsible for developing relationships with European institutions and for conducting European manager research. Oxley said: " We are focusing on building long term relationships in our key markets, which are UK, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland and Scandinavia. We will also look at other countries in Europe." He added: "We are seeking to replicate our US model, where we have strong relationships with a number of large institutional clients." Oxley is joined in London by Alper Ince, who joined PAAMCO in the US last year and transferred to the London office in June of this year. Ince was previously at BARRA RogersCasey and is responsible for European hedge fund manager research, due diligence and on-going monitoring. Laura Durenard-Brain, is responsible for operations, client relations and European manager risk reporting in London. Jane Buchan, Managing Director and Founding Partner of PAAMCO said: "We are excited about entering the European marketplace with the formal launch of a London office. A presence in Europe will be invaluable to us, as we continue to grow the business internationally. In addition, Stephen’s breadth of experience and understanding of the needs of the European institutional marketplace, combined with our focused five step investment process: bottom-up manager research with top down asset allocation will both play a pivotal role in delivering targeted investment solutions for institutions locally." Oxley said: "Some of the largest pension funds in the UK and Europe are considering investing in hedge funds for the first time and the majority of these institutions are choosing to invest through fund of funds. They are looking for fund of hedge fund managers with knowledge, good manager relationships and solid risk management experience. Some European institutions already make allocations of between 2-5% to hedge funds and it is our view that the hedge fund industry in Europe could grow by up to 30% per year over the next five years. He added: "As hedge funds become more mainstream and the regulatory environment eases we are keen to use our experience to work closely with both pension funds and the investment consultant community in addressing their specific investment objectives, providing solutions and designing bespoke portfolios where necessary. Currently, 90% of PAAMCO’s assets under management globally are institutional and we intend to continue this focus in Europe." "Fear of the unknown, lack of understanding and the historic opacity of the hedge fund industry has encouraged pension funds to resist change and stick to the status quo. Access to high quality managers is essential and we believe that PAAMCO’s research-led, portfolio construction process answers institutional investors’ needs when looking at hedge funds." Prior to joining PAAMCO, Oxley was a Partner and Senior Investment Consultant at Watson Wyatt LLP in London where he was responsible for the portfolios of the firm’s institutional clients. Background Note: Pacific Alternative Asset Management Company Europe LLP (PAAMCO) is a fund of hedge funds investment manager and a majority-owned subsidiary of PAAMCO in the US. Research-oriented, it constructs, monitors and manages diversified portfolios of hedge funds and provides investment services to institutional investors globally. PAAMCO was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Irvine, California. It has GBP 1.4 billion (Euro 2.3 billion) in assets under management globally. The company has a global staff of twenty nine, including thirteen senior investment professionals and is owned by four Managing Directors who have been working together as a team for the last six years. PAAMCO is registered with the SEC, CFTC and FSA. Copyright Hedgeweek 2003   Â
The firm’s portfolio management team focuses on the following eight strategies: equity market neutral, convertible bond, sovereign debt and mortgage, merger arbitrage, credit, distressed debt, long/short equity and short biased.