Hedge fund whizz Stefan Nilsson sets up advisory business

Stefan Nilsson has launched a new Tokyo-based hedge fund advisory and research business.

It is named HFC Advisory and will help firms in the alternative investments industry with investor introductions and market intelligence focusing on Japan and other parts of Asia.

The research arm will produce industry surveys (a survey of Japanese hedge fund investors will be published shortly) as well as specific research commissioned by clients.

It has already started to work with a handful of clients and plans to add more. As well as hedge funds, it will offer its products to private equity and real estate-related asset managers as well as some service providers.

Nilsson has also accepted a role as a senior adviser to TSI International, an alternative investment manager focused on real estate-related investments in Canada.

Nilsson was an executive director at JP Morgan in Tokyo, handling capital introductions. He joined that firm from Bear Stearns after the 2008 acquisition. He left JP Morgan earlier this year after a six-year stint there.

“I have the right knowledge and long-term relationships to assist global fund managers with growing their business in the Asia-Pacific region,” he says. “Having boots and brains on the ground is the only way to better understand Japanese and Asian investors and start building the relationships that fund managers need to succeed.”

It’s a safe bet that ‘HFC’ derives from the words Hedge Funds Club, as this is the professional social networking organisation that Stefan Nilsson founded.

Social events now take place several times each year in Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo. The events are positioned as an opportunity for hedge fund managers, investors (and media) to hobnob. Service providers can also attend, but only if they provide sponsorship and buy the drinks and sausage rolls.