HB Capital Partners is readying what is believed to be the first hedge fund focused on Indonesia. The Komodo Fund is slated to launch next month and will invest in Indonesian and Indonesian-related securities, said Roland Haas, co-founder. Haas previously worked at Templeton International and G.T. Management and has been managing money in Indonesia since 1993. His partner in this venture, James Bryson, has a background in sales, having worked for BZW Securities, AZW Securities and Merrill Lynch.
The fund will have a multi-strategy approach investing in long/short equity, fixed income and derivatives. Initially, it will trade equities with a long bias, said Haas. Then the firm plans to move into derivatives such as single-stock options. Fixed-income investing will be on an opportunistic basis, he said, noting that right now bonds are fairly valued so HB does not plan to invest in that area.
The firm is hoping to roll out the fund with USD5-10 million. The goal is to have USD30 million within a year and USD150-200 million in five years before capping it at USD300 million, said Haas.
