BluMont Capital, a hedge fund firm based in Toronto, is looking at ways of expanding its investor base. The firm already has about USD810 million under management.
Conor Bill, managing director who last month joined from Lawrence Asset Management, said it is looking to expand its traditional business of managing retail hedge funds. It already offers capital-protected hedge fund notes, but Bill said the firm will be considering different ways of offering these structures. "We might go for exchange-traded," he said. Similar firms in Europe have had some success attracting new investors by structuring hedge fund products that can be exchange-listed, he noted. Dexion Capital in Guernsey launched such a deal in the spring (DW, 2/24).
BluMont is talking to dealers about its plans, said Bill, declining to name the firms. He said it is not looking to offer complex payoffs such as best-of fund baskets, because "We do not think those are really attractive with the Canadian market now." Instead it will focus on simple structures that it can easily explain to investors.