BDO Stoy Hayward Investment Management strengthens alternatives fund of funds team
06/10/2008. Wealth manager BDO Stoy Hayward Investment Management has added three senior professionals to its alternatives fund of funds team. John Smutniak joins the team from Lyonross Capital Management, Dev Jadeja from Old Mutual Asset Manager and Rahul Saito from RMF.

International Asset Management opens Sweden office, hires Henric Malmqvist
02/10/2008. Fund of hedge funds manager International Asset Management has opened an office in Stockholm. Henric Malmqvist has been appointed director for the new location to increase IAM's reach and audience.

AXA IM expands fund of hedge funds practice
01/10/2008. AXA Investment Managers, the asset management company within AXA Group, has strengthened its fund of hedge funds team with the appointment of Roman Berri as portfolio manager and David Canty as senior operational due diligence analyst. Aninda Nath has also joined as senior strategy analyst and Wesley Thornburgh has been appointed as strategy analyst.

Hermes establishes fund of hedge fund practice, hires Matteo Dante Perruccio as CEO
30/09/2008. Pension fund investment manager Hermes has appointed Matteo Dante Perruccio as CEO of Hermes’ newly established fund of hedge funds operations.

Over 180 hedge fund liquidations in second quarter
18/09/2008. Volatile financial markets continued to impact the hedge fund industry in the second quarter of 2008, contributing to over 180 hedge fund liquidations during the quarter, according to Hedge Fund Research.

Dexion hires Rebecca Donaldson as marketing, communications head
15/09/2008. Dexion Capital has appointed Rebecca Donaldson as head of marketing and communications. Donaldson will be assisted by Allison Tater, who has been transferred internally to the role of marketing associate.

Stanley Fink joins International Standard Asset Management as CEO
15/09/2008. International Standard Asset Management, an absolute return investment company incorporating the International Standard Gold Fund and the International Standard Macro Fund, has hired former Man Group CEO Stanley Fink as its new CEO. Fink will work closely with Lord Levy who has joined ISAM as chairman.

Patrick Merville succeeds Antoine Massad as CEO of Man Investments Middle East
15/09/2008. Patrick Merville has been chosen to succeed Antoine Massad as CEO of Man Investments Middle East. Massad will retire.

Mark Barker, Greg Knott leave PAI's fund of hedge funds division
12/09/2008. Pioneer Alternative Investments has confirmed that there have been a number of resignations from the funds of hedge funds division in the London and New York City offices. The group made up of nine people includes two senior members of the investment team, Mark Barker and Greg Knott.

Asset manager Fairfield Greenwich, Swiss bank Banque Bénédict Hentsch to merge
10/09/2008. Alternative asset management specialist Fairfield Greenwich and Geneva-based Swiss bank Banque Bénédict Hentsch have merged. BBH will change its name to Banque Bénédict Hentsch Fairfield Partners.

Blackstone hires Olivier Meyo to head London office
10/09/2008. Blackstone Alternative Asset Management, the fund of hedge funds division of The Blackstone Group, has hired Olivier Meyo as a managing director to head its London office and lead its business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Punter Southall Group forms new fund of hedge funds company
09/09/2008. Punter Southall Group has established a new $400m fund of hedge funds company through a joint venture with Swiss-based specialist alternative fund of hedge funds investment manager Octane Holding. The new business is to be called Grenfell PAI Guernsey as a first step to scale up its alternative investment operations, the firm said.

Alternative asset manager GLG expands London office with two new portfolio managers
08/09/2008. Alternative asset manager GLG Partners has appointed Andrew Knott and Anthony Burton to its London office as portfolio managers. Knott will be responsible for establishing a new global energy product and managing the firm's global energy investments. Burton will co-manage GLG's global technology investments alongside Philip Pearson, focusing also on broadening the scope of these investments to include the global media and telecom sectors.

Swiss alternative investment firm Peak Partners launches fund of hedge funds
03/09/2008. Geneva-based fund manager Peak Partners has launched a new fund of hedge funds focusing on asymmetric return strategies, Mont Blanc Summit. For its first three months of operation, the fund returned 1.95 per cent in USD net of fees, according to the firm.

New macro long/short Vallea Fund launches
01/09/2008. New management company Vallea Capital has launched its long/short Vallea Fund.

GAM hires Mark Hawtin as investment director
01/09/2008. London-based investment management firm GAM has appointed Mark Hawtin as investment director. In his new role, he will manage a global long/short equity mandate which will invest in a range of themes with an emphasis on innovation and change, the firm said.

Kuwaiti investment bank Global Investment House launches India hedge fund
28/08/2008. Kuwaiti investment bank Global Investment House has launched The Mayur Hedge Fund, the firm's first direct India-focused product, a long/short absolute return growth-oriented fund with a net long bias.

Clean Resources Asia launches long-only water fund
26/08/2008. CLSA Capital Partners' CRA Management has launched a third fund, Clean Water Asia Long Only Fund, a long-only, principally listed equity focused fund. CRA principal and CIO Andrew Pidden explained that this third fund was part of Capital Partners' strategy to roll out the clean investment platform into a full service group, from unlisted through long-only to hedge funds.

Auda hires Kite managers, integrates Kite products into Auda hedge
13/08/2008. Auda International has appointed George Chacko as CIO of Auda Hedge. Chacko joins Auda from Kite Partners, a hedge fund and fund of funds investment manager, where he served as managing partner and CIO. Karl Neumar, who worked with Chacko at Kite, is also joining Auda Hedge, as a vice president. The products of Kite will be integrated into Auda Hedge and continue to be managed by Chacko.

Sorin hires Matt Chasin as COO and partner
13/08/2008. US-based alternative investment firm Sorin Capital Management has appointed Matt Chasin as COO, partner and member of the investment committee. Chasin will be responsible for all non-investment activities, focusing on the operational and financial aspects of Sorin. He will also be responsible for managing all borrowing relationships and activities for the Sorin funds.

Investment management firm Duff Capital Advisors expands team
11/08/2008. Institutional investment management firm Duff Capital Advisors has added two investment teams, focusing on the utilities and merchant power sectors, led by Vedula Murti, and financial services, led by Morid Kamshad.

FCA to invest in VPC
07/08/2008. FRM Capital Advisors, a division of Financial Risk Management and Chicago-based Victory Park Capital have established a strategic relationship to accelerate VPC's growth through an FCA investment.

Fund of hedge funds manager Tremont appoints Scott Metchick as CIO
07/08/2008. Fund of hedge funds manager Tremont Capital Management has appointed Scott R Metchick as CIO. The former EIM CIO will replace Cynthia Nicoll, who left the firm for personal reasons.

GAM launches environmental fund of hedge funds
06/08/2008. Alternative investment firm GAM has launched GAM Multi-Environmental, a fund of hedge funds investing in funds focusing on alpha generation from environmental investment themes.

Fulcrum Group, Butterfield Fund Services to form Butterfield Fulcrum Group
05/08/2008. Hedge fund and alternative asset management administrator Fulcrum Group and Butterfield Fund Services, a provider of administration services to investment and pension funds, have agreed to merge to create Butterfield Fulcrum Group.

Carlyle’s $600m Blue Wave hedge fund to wind down
01/08/2008. Carlyle-Blue Wave Partners Management, the multi-strategy hedge fund programme backed by private equity giant The Carlyle Group, has gone into voluntary liquidation. Once all positions have been liquidated the Carlyle Multi-Strategy Partners funds will be closed.

D. E. Shaw hires Tom Levy as senior counterparty relationship manager
31/07/2008. Investment firm The D. E. Shaw group has hired Tom Levy as the firm's senior counterparty relationship manager. In his new role, Levy will serve as a primary point of contact between the firm and its financing and trading counterparties.

SCRS awards investment mandate to D. E. Shaw
28/07/2008. US pension fund South Carolina Retirement System has awarded a strategic relationship mandate to asset management firm the D. E. Shaw group. As part of the mandate, SCRS allocated capital to be invested across the D. E. Shaw group's alternative and benchmark-relative strategies.

Tim Fitch joins AXA Investment Managers
25/07/2008. AXA Investment Managers has appointed Tim Fitch as director, single strategy hedge fund sales to boost its activity in the single manager hedge fund space. The role is a newly created one and Fitch reports to Martin Hall, head of AXA IM UK and Scandinavia.

Sceptre, FGG establish joint venture for Canadian investors
25/07/2008. Canadian asset management firm Sceptre Investment Counsel and New York-based hedge fund Fairfield Greenwich Group have launched a joint venture to provide alternative investment solutions to Canadian institutional and high-net-worth investors. Sceptre will advise these investors on their alternative investments and distribute FGG's fund of hedge funds products, according to a statement.

Stenham, Liongate receive £40m commitment from pension plan
23/07/2008. The Newsquest Pension Scheme has committed £40m to two hedge funds. Newsquest has invested £25m in diversified multi-strategy fund of hedge funds Stenham Universal Fund and £15m in Liongate Capital Management's Multi-Strategy Fund.

Société Générale appoints Grégoire Déchy as head of hedge fund relations for Asia Pacific
23/07/2008. European financial house Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking has appointed Grégoire Déchy as head of hedge fund relations for Asia Pacific. In his new role, Déchy will be responsible for developing new and existing hedge fund relationships in the region.

Silver Creek Capital Management hires Frances Orabona
22/07/2008. Seattle-based funds of hedge funds manager Silver Creek Capital Management, has appointed Frances Orabona as director of investor relations. Based in New York, Orabona will be responsible for developing and implementing client service strategies, managing investment communications and providing client service for the firm’s global investors.

Ramin Habibi joins board of Danfonds Frontier Markets fund
21/07/2008. Copenhagen-based frontier specialist Danfonds has appointed Ramin Habibi to the board of Danfonds Frontier Markets fund as an independent director.

Northern Trust to provide fund administration services to investment company BH Global
17/07/2008. Investment management firm Northern Trust has been selected to provide fund administration services to $1bn Guernsey-incorporated closed-ended investment company BH Global, a newly established feeder fund investing in the Brevan Howard Global Opportunities Master Fund.

Highland Capital to open Singapore office, hires three managing directors for US team
17/07/2008. US-based alternative investment management firm Highland Capital is to open a Singapore office, to be headed by managing director Paul Adkins, who will relocate from Highland's Dallas branch.

Credit Suisse appoints Erin Callan as head of its global hedge fund business
16/07/2008. Credit Suisse has appointed Erin Callan as a managing director and head of its global hedge fund business. In this newly created position, Callan will join the investment bank's management and global client steering committees.

FRM hires Dr Au King-lun to head Hong Kong fund of hedge funds business
14/07/2008. Fund of hedge funds manager Financial Risk Management has appointed Dr Au King-lun as CEO of FRM Hong Kong. In addition to heading FRM's newly-opened Hong Kong office, Dr Au will lead the firm's business efforts in Asia ex-Japan and Korea.

GLG hires Karim Abdel-Motaal, Bart Turtelboom to manage emerging markets funds
11/07/2008. Alternative asset manager GLG Partners has appointed Karim Abdel-Motaal and Bart Turtelboom as co-heads of the firm's Emerging Markets Fund, Emerging Currency and Fixed Income Fund and Emerging Equity Fund.

Sir Ronald Cohen backs MBO of International Asset Management from Fortis
09/07/2008. Apax Partners co-founder Sir Ronald Cohen, together with financial services firm Jefferies Group, has backed the MBO of fund of hedge funds manager International Asset Management from Fortis Investments. The deal follows the merger of Fortis and ABN AMRO Asset Management on 1 April 2008.

Laxey Partners acquires logistics business TDG for £203m
08/07/2008. Laxey Partners has agreed to acquire the remaining shares in European supply chain management and logistics service providers TDG for approximately £203m.

Goldman Sachs partner Driss Ben-Brahim joins GLG Partners
08/07/2008. Alternative asset manager GLG Partners has appointed Driss Ben-Brahim. His task will be to develop a special situations platform which will include the firm's existing $1.2bn emerging markets special situations business.

Mitsubishi invests $39m for a 19.5 per cent stake in Aladdin Capital
07/07/2008. Stamford, Connecticut-headquartered alternative investment management firm Aladdin Capital Holdings has entered into a strategic partnership with Japanese corporation Mitsubishi Corporation. Mitsubishi will become the second largest shareholder of Aladdin by investing $39m for a 19.5 per cent stake in the firm.

Ermitage launches new fund of hedge funds
07/07/2008. European alternative asset management firm Ermitage Group has launched a new niche fund of hedge funds, the Ermitage Directional Fund, with an initial investment of $45m.

AXA Framlington transfers six funds to newly formed Architas
07/07/2008. Hedge fund manager AXA Framlington has transferred the firm's six AXA Framlington Multimanager funds to newly formed hedge fund manager Architas Multi-Manager. As part of the deal, Caspar Rock has been appointed as deputy CIO of Architas. Rock will continue to manage the funds which he has been running since June 2006.

Northern Trust wins $1bn asset servicing mandate for Auda funds of hedge funds
04/07/2008. New York-based fund manager Auda Hedge has asked Northern Trust to provide fund administration, custody, banking and foreign exchange services to its fund of hedge funds programme.

Nomura Asset Management U.S.A. launches new hedge fund Nomura Global Alpha
04/07/2008. Nomura Asset Management U.S.A. has launched Nomura Global Alpha, a New York-based venture focused on managing alpha-oriented fixed income products and solutions for both institutional and retail investors.

Hedge Fund Standards Board appoints Antonio Borges as chairman
26/06/2008. The Hedge Fund Standards Board has appointed Antonio Borges, a former vice chairman of Goldman Sachs and dean of INSEAD, as its first permanent chairman.

Danfonds to launch hybrid hedge fund, private equity vehicle for frontier markets
24/06/2008. Copenhagen-based frontier market specialist Danfonds has incorporated a Cayman-based segregated portfolio company as the vehicle for two funds that it intends to market to Scandinavian institutions.