Funds of hedge funds may be losing customers, but at the same time they may have found a market for companies interested in buying them. The New York Times reports what already is well-known: that poor performance and high fees are making funds of hedge funds less attractive investment choices. On the other hand, they may just be what the business-expander ordered, as companies, realizing they need to broaden their offer horizons to attract and retain customers, are buying up the FoFHs as a safer and less expensive option to launching their own hedge fund business. Recent financial services firms taking that route include Victory Capital acquiring $900 million FoFH Austin Capital Management (for an undisclosed amount), Schroders spending $142 million for the $2.5 billion NewFinance Capital, and ABN Amro bringing on International Asset Management with $2.6 AUM, also for an undisclosed sum. A top HF executive told the Times that he gets a sales pitch once a week from fund of hedge fund looking for a new home. “Funds of funds that are $1 billion to $2 billion are all for sale,” Donald Putnam, CEO of merchant bank Grail Partners, said in a Times interview.
