State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) has created a dedicated group, SSgA Hedge Fund Strategies Group, to strengthen the development and delivery of its hedge fund off State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) has created a dedicated group, SSgA Hedge Fund Strategies Group, to strengthen the development and delivery of its hedge fund offerings. Chris Woods, Chief Investment Officer of the newly formed Group, said that the Hedge Fund Strategies Group is currently developing a number of new strategies aimed at institutional investors, hedge fund of funds, private banks, and family offices. A range of funds is envisaged which will exploit the company’s expertise in managing currency, fixed income, statistical arbitrage and mortgage backed securities. SSgA is the investment management arm of State Street Corporation and the largest institutional fund manager in the world. The new SSgA Hedge Fund Strategies Group, headquartered in London, will be led by Woods along with Erich Stock and Scott Gregory who will be jointly responsible for marketing and sales in Europe and Middle Eastern markets, and U.S. and Asian markets respectively. The group reports to Alan Brown, group chief investment officer of State Street Global Advisors. Alan Brown said: "We believe that the creation of a group dedicated to hedge fund strategies will allow us to capitalise on the increased interest in alternative investment strategies from both existing and potential clients. As investors recognise the benefits of diversification in a challenging investment environment, the demand for hedge fund products will continue to increase. The market is currently estimated at over USD 700 billion and is expected to grow threefold by the year 2010." Brown continued, "State Street Global Advisors already has extensive experience in managing hedge fund strategies and by increasing our focus in this area, we are confident that we have the resources in place to maximise the benefits of this trend. I am convinced that with the support of Chris, Erich and Scott, our increased focus on providing hedge fund solutions for clients will bring us continued success." State Street Global Advisors has approximately USD 700 million of hedge fund assets under management as of 31 August 2003, which include: US Equity Market Neutral, Europe Equity Market Neutral, Japan Equity Market Neutral and Global Equity Market Neutral. State Street Global Advisors has also recently launched an Australian Equity Market Neutral Strategy, dedicated to Australian institutional investors. SSARIS Advisors LLC, a member of State Street Global Alliance, LLC, separately manages over USD 500 million in fund-of-fund and proprietary strategies. State Street Global Alliance, LLC is a strategic venturing partnership jointly owned by State Street Global Advisors and the Dutch pension fund Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP. Background Note: State Street Global Advisors, the investment management group of State Street Corporation, uses quantitative and traditional techniques to manage USD 901 billion in investment programs and portfolios for institutional and individual investors. State Street Global Advisors has full investment operations in Boston, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore, London, Paris, Montreal, Munich, and Sydney. It also has offices in Brussels, Dubai, Moscow, Prague, Santiago, Seoul, Toronto, Zurich and 14 cities in the United States. State Street Corporation is the world’s leading specialist in providing sophisticated global investors with investment servicing, investment management, research and analytics and trading services. With USD 8.5 trillion in assets under custody and USD 901 billion in assets under management, State Street operates in 23 countries and over 100 markets worldwide. Copyright Hedgeweek 2003