CLSA Group is shutting down its alternative investment business, CLSA Alternative Investment Management Limited.
CLSA Alternative Investment was running two hedge fund strategies, its flagship pan-Asia multi-strategy fund and its fund of hedge funds, which will both be shut by year end.
The CITICS Pan-Asian Multi-Strategy Fund, which has just under $200m in assets under management, had returned -5.31% as of July, according to AsiaHedge data. Last year the fund gained 7.88%.
Liam Stevenson, the chief investment officer and architect of the firm’s CLSA Alternative Investment’s flagship fund, is also leaving the firm.
It is understood that most other CLSA Alternative Investment staff have found opportunities at CLSA Group.
According to sources close to the matter, CLSA closed its alternative investment business as part of a restructuring into a broader asset management business. The focus will now switch from hedge funds to more public asset classes, including fixed income and structured products.
To lead the change the firm has hired Jeremy Collard as head of structured investments. Collard, most recently the head of Asia Pacific at Apex Group, has spent 20 years leading multi-asset structured solutions teams and managing asset servicing businesses. Before Apex he worked at Citigroup Global Markets in various senior management positions including APAC head of Fund Solutions and global head of Fund Solutions.
CLSA Group declined to comment.
CLSA shuts hedge fund unit amid corporate restructure on AsiaHedge.