FRM Capital Advisors seeds Japan focused hedge fund

LONDON and HONG KONG, Jan. 30, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- FRM Capital Advisors ("FCA"), the seeding division of FRM, Man Group plc's ("Man") fund of hedge fund division, has entered into a strategic relationship with a Japan focused hedge fund.

FCA will make a significant investment in a fund launched by Arena Capital Management Limited ("Arena"), a Hong Kong based investment advisor.

Arena, established in May 2012 by Toby Bartlett (CIO), manages a Japanese Long-Short Equity strategy focusing on domestic demand sectors, constructed with a factor neutral pair trading book. Joining Mr Bartlett at Arena are Greg McLaughlin (COO), Ayumu Kuroda (Head of Trading and Risk Systems) and Yukimi Oda (Research Analyst).

Patric de Gentile Williams, Head of Seeding at FRM said: "This deal reinforces the global nature of FCA as a seeding business and is the first investment we have made since FRM was acquired by Man last year. We view Asia, and specifically Japan, as an important focus in our manager research, where we have a local office and a significant investor base. 

"Arena's focus is on the Japanese domestic demand sector and Toby has demonstrated experience in researching and investing in this space from his time at Highbridge, Citadel and Fidelity Investments Japan. We see this both as an opportunity to potentially generate alpha in what is traditionally a less researched market by hedge funds where we have seen greater inefficiencies that allow managers that do in depth analysis to seek an edge, and as an opportunity to attract assets from investors looking to allocate to pure Japanese Long-Short Equity funds.

"In addition, the recent drop in the Yen and newly elected Prime Minister Abe's growth focused economic strategy has caused a noticeable rally in the domestic market that may spur meaningful investor interest.

"Toby has demonstrated his ability to run a successful portfolio within a robust risk management framework and with FCA's support we believe he will be able to build an alternative investment management business that benefits his investors, his team and FCA's investors."

Toby Bartlett, CIO of Arena, said: "As a new hedge fund, this major investment by FCA allows us to focus all our energies on operational excellence and generating high quality returns for our investors.

"Our focused approach to fundamental research in Japanese equities, combined with disciplined portfolio construction and risk management, allows us to pursue our goal to have low correlation to markets and protect against downside volatility whilst capitalizing on market opportunities for our investors.

"This strategic relationship with FCA is a major endorsement of the investment process and business principles of Arena."

Arena is the first seeding deal announced by FCA since FRM was acquired by Man in July 2012 and combined with its multi-manager business to create the largest independent European based fund of hedge funds group.

Notes to editors:

About FRM
FRM is a top 10 global industry allocator to hedge funds by AUM, and the largest independent European based FoHF managing commingled funds and advising institutional clients¹. It has one of the industry's largest research and investment teams -- located in London, New York, Pfaffikon (Switzerland) and Tokyo -- who are supported by institutional quality infrastructure.  The business offers clients a wide range of multi-manager investment services across the liquidity spectrum, from commingled FoHFs through managed accounts (MACs) to risk management and manager seeding activities through FRM Capital Advisors (FCA).

¹ Source: Man and Towers Watson Global Alternatives Survey, July 2012, based on YE 2011 AUM.

About Man
Man is a world-leading alternative investment management business. It has expertise in a wide range of liquid investment styles including managed futures, equity, credit and convertibles, emerging markets, global macro and multi-manager, combined with powerful product structuring, distribution and client service capabilities. At 30 September 2012, Man managed US$ 60 billion.

The original business was founded in 1783. Today, Man Group plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a member of the FTSE 250 Index with a market capitalisation of around £ 1.7 billion. Man is a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). Man also supports many awards, charities and initiatives around the world, including sponsorship of the Man Booker literary prizes. Further information can be found at www.man.com.

Arena Capital Management Limited (Arena):
Before founding Arena Capital, Toby Bartlett worked for Highbridge Capital Management (Hong Kong) from 2009 to 2011 as a portfolio manager of Pan-Asian equities focusing on the consumer related companies. Prior to this, he worked at Citadel Investment Japan from 2007 to 2009 where he was also a portfolio manager and ran a Japan-focused equity portfolio. He started his career as an analyst at Fidelity Investments Japan and worked there from 2004 to 2007 where he became a portfolio manager of the Japanese consumer space. Mr Bartlett has a Bachelor of Commerce in International Finance and a Bachelor of Arts in Asian Studies gained from Griffith University, Australia in 2001.

SOURCE FRM Capital Advisors