Hedge Fund Investing: A Practical Approach to Understanding Investor Motivation, Manager Profits, and Fund Performance

What is the Profile of a Fund of Funds Manager?

Despite some setbacks and consolidation, there are still many high quality firms operating in the fund of funds space. While some traditional asset management and banking organizations also provide in-house fund of fund products, many fund of fund operators are not part of traditional asset management or banking organizations.

Profiles from the company websites of three firms operating in this space, Financial Risk Management (FRM), Permal, and Grosvenor are listed below.

FRM

FRM is one of the largest hedge fund investment research specialists and offers a broad range of fund of hedge fund products and services. Blaine Tomlinson, CEO, founded the firm in 1991, based on his belief that hedge funds offer a better form of asset management than traditional investing. Today, the firm has a global infrastructure of approximately 150 professionals in Europe, North America, and Asia. The firm was operated independently and privately owned until June 2012, when it was announced that the Man Group had acquired it. The firm builds and manages hedge fund portfolios and also provides research to institutional clients and high-net-worth individuals. The firm describes its approach as solutions oriented and entrepreneurial. As of March 2012, the firm managed assets of over $8 billion.

Permal

Permal Group is one of the oldest and largest alternative asset management firms in the world, offering customized portfolios and a wide range of multimanager ...