ABN Amro Asset Management is planning to launch a Japan long/short equity fund, its first Asia-focused single manager hedge fund. Gary Vaughan-Smith, head of the alternative investment group in London, said the fund was likely to launch in the second quarter. “It’s a very interesting area [in which] to make money at the moment,” Vaughan-Smith said of Japan. “There’s been an increase in shareholder-friendly activity in the market.”
The fund will be managed by Jack Chang, who is based in Hong Kong. The firm has been running a model portfolio for some time, but plans for the fund are still in the early stages. Details such as the fee structure have not been finalized, although Vaughan-Smith suggested that fees will be “fairly standard.” The Dutch firm only has one other Asia-focused strategy in its alternatives offerings, an Asian multi-strategy fund of funds, which has attracted interest from U.S. investors (AIN, 9/5).
Other large firms are also planning to launch Japan long/short funds, among them GAM USA and Mehmet Dalman‘s WMG Limited (AIN, 10/17). The strategy has also become a focus for some fund of funds firms. Crédit Agricole Alternative Investments Products Group rolled out a Japan long/short fund of funds in September (AIN, 10/10) and KGR Capital, an Asia-focused firm run by a group of ex-JPMorgan honchos, is considering doing so this year (AIN, 11/28)