Marshall Wace and GaveKal form Asia venture

By Jeffrey Hodgson

HONG KONG (Reuters) - UK hedge fund manager Marshall Wace and research and fund firm GaveKal Holdings said on Wednesday they would form a joint venture to manage GaveKal's existing funds and Marshall's planned Asia-focused vehicles.

The new Hong Kong-based venture, Marshall Wace GaveKal Asia, will launch on July 1, operating out of Marshall Wace's offices in the territory.

The firms said the existing GaveKal Asian funds would immediately give the new company $300 million (150 million pounds) in assets under management.

"The new venture will combine the idea generation, portfolio construction and risk management strengths of Marshall Wace ... with GaveKal's significant and highly respected Asian market knowledge and expertise," the firms said in a statement.

GaveKal Chief Executive Louis-Vincent Gave will also be CEO of the joint venture, and GaveKal chief investment officer Alfred Ho will take on the same role for the long-only business within the venture.

The firms said the joint venture will develop a number of new Asian dedicated long/short hedge funds, starting with a Japan-focused vehicle scheduled to be launched in the third quarter.

The venture will exclude Marshall Wace's existing $1 billion in Asian funds managed using its TOPS (trade optimised portfolio system) platform, which analyses broker research to produce trade ideas. It will also exclude GaveKal's research business.

London-based Marshall Wace has about $14 billion under management. Its chief executive and co-founder Ian Wace, said in a statement the agreement was part of a larger expansion plan.