Hong Kong hedge fund Double Haven hires Expedition's COO Bahra

HONG KONG, March 4 (Reuters) - Double Haven Capital, one of the best performing Hong Kong-based hedge funds last year, has hired Expedition Advisors' chief operating officer Kam Bahra to help support growing investor interest in its credit funds, two sources said.

Bahra, a well known figure in the Asian hedge fund industry, will be Double Haven's chief operating officer, one of the sources said.

One of Double Haven's funds produced a return of 20.6 percent in 2012, while the firm's assets under management doubled to more than $400 million last year. By comparison, Asia hedge funds recorded outflows worth $3 billion last year, according to industry tracker Eurekahedge.

Bahra joined Expedition, a hedge fund started last year with seed capital from New York-based Protégé Partners LLC, moving from the Hong Kong unit of Japan's Sparx Group.

Double Haven was spun out of Sparx in 2011 and at Sparx, Bahra worked with Double Haven's chief investment offer Darryl Flint. Flint declined to comment.

In a separate move, Double Haven's head of distribution Robert Lance has left the firm, one of the sources said. An email to Lance bounced back.

Expedition's founder Craig James confirmed the departure and said Bahra will stay with Expedition for some time to oversee the transition. Expedition is continuing to build its staff and hired Kishore Suratkal, former head of Asian technology research at Deutsche Bank, last month. (Reporting by Nishant Kumar; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)