Solaris Asset Management, co-founded by Thomas Tey the former head of equities derivatives at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp., is starting a hedge fund with money from investors in China.
The Solaris Capital SPC Equity Arbitrage Fund will start trading with S$30 million ($23 million) on Nov. 8, Tey said. Thomas Tey is a 24-year trading veteran with banks including Singapore- based Oversea-Chinese’s treasury division and Credit Suisse First Boston in Tokyo.
Tey’s aim is for the fund to grow to S$100 million by the end of 2011. He is actively targeting investors in Asia since raising assets in the U.S. and Europe has become “very, very tough.” About 50 percent of assets in Asian hedge funds come from Europe, while 40 percent are from U.S. investors, according to Eurekahedge Pte.
“This is not a very conducive environment to be raising money, but we expect to get to our target,” Tey, 49, said in an interview on Oct. 22nd.
The Solaris fund aims to trade stocks and derivatives including futures. The fund will be focused on arbitrage opportunities where it can profit from price differences between related securities, according to Tey.