Woori Absolute Partners, NewAlpha launch seeding fund

NewAlpha Asset Management and Woori Absolute Partners have unveiled plans to establish a to-be-named seeding fund that will serve to launch and support fledgling hedge fund managers globally.

This represents the next step for Woori Absolute Partners (an affiliate of Woori Investment & Securities) and Europe-based NewAlpha. In May of this year, NewAlpha announced a co-seed deal with Blue Rice Investment Management, which runs a credit hedge fund in Singapore, managed by Lehman-veteran and fixed income expert Guan Ong. NewAlpha has already undertaken 16 early-stage deals with hedge fund start-ups.

NewAlpha and Woori plan a first closing of the fund at the end of this year at a level of $100 million, with a $200 million final target size. No target returns or liquidity/redemption terms or investor fees have been disclosed.

“NewAlpha is the right partner for Woori’s next venture in the alternatives investment space,” says Edward S. Moon, CIO and co-founder of Woori Absolute Partners.

“With a growing number of talented managers coupled with rising global interest in the region, the hedge fund seeding industry is positioned for strong growth. The distribution capabilities that ourselves and NewAlpha have throughout Asia and Europe is going to be a key differentiator for our partners and investors.”

They are keeping their options flexible about how their seeding deals will be structured. It could either be by taking a share of revenues generated by a fund, or by taking a stake in an asset management company, a mix of that or other seeding structures.