All fund of hedge fund eyes are looking Far East for future investment and business opportunities, The Wall Street Journal reports. Already firms such as Tremont Global Holdings and Permal Group are preparing for the boom by adding to their staffs and expanding their marketing efforts. "The change in the Asian marketplace over the last 10 years has been very dramatic," Tremont Chief Financial Officer Cynthia Nicoll said in a WSJ interview, noting that the next decade to decade and a half is "really going to be the investment growth story for our industry." Nicoll added that her firm is ready, willing and able "to take some of the cyclical volatility attached to that growth in order to be a long-term investor in this market." Years of prepping for this moment culminated in early December with the opening of Tremont's office in Hong Kong, which will services the entire region, including China, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan. Over the next 10-15 years, the firm hopes to as much as double its Asian business from its 10% of its $8 billion in assets under management. Tremont's plan includes using local talent. "The key advantage," Tremont President Rupert Allan told The WSJ, "is the language, the culture and the time zone," as it is looking to beef up its current three-member sales and business development team to more than three times that in the next 18 months.

Permal opened its office in Hong Kong in 2005, years after it had set up shop in Singapore. Asian business already accounts for a one-third chunk of its assets, and the firm has been attracting Asian business as far back as the early 1990s. Both Permal and Tremont are relying mainly are high-net worth individuals, though Permal hopes that changes. "As we strengthen our roots here in Asia," said Permal's Omar Kodmani, "the next stage of development will be attracting institutions as well as looking at opportunities with the high end of the retail banking world."