Triple A to seed new S.Korea focused hedge fund

HONG KONG, May 30 (Reuters) - Boutique alternative fund firm Triple A Partners said on Friday it was backing a new South Korea-focused hedge fund which it expects to launch on Sept. 1 with around $40 million in assets.

Triple A, also known as Asia Alternative Asset Partners, said it would seed KS Asset Management, which will launch the KS Asia Long/Short Fund. The new hedge fund will be a Korean-focused vehicle with the ability to trade across Asia.

The new fund will be managed by Kyle Shin, formerly the head of Kingdon Capital Korea. Triple A said Shin will establish the new business in Hong Kong, from where he will build out his team.

It said he would be joined by an analyst with more than seven years experience in managing Korean portfolios, and an external investment consultant.

Shin has "an outstanding record in Asian stock picking and has an extensive local network with access to company executives ... his proprietary research on the technology sector will also be of substantial benefit," Triple A Chairman Hans Tiedemann said in a statement.

The statement said CLSA, Credit Agricole's (CAGR.PA) Asian investment banking arm, would add depth to the start-up's middle and back-office by monitoring risk on a daily basis.

CLSA and Triple A announced last August they would be teaming up to raise $300 million for investing in start-up hedge funds in the hope of tapping future star managers.

Triple A, a Cayman-based firm with offices in Hong Kong, Los Angeles and London, said KS Asset was the third investment it had seeded.

Investors in hedge fund start-ups are often given better access for additional investment later on, a key advantage in an industry where star managers often cap the size of their funds.

Some hedge fund analysts also believe new managers tend to perform better than the industry average because they are hungrier to prove themselves and build a track record. Part of this may also be because they have less capital, and can invest more nimbly.

Asia-Pacific focused hedge funds had about $157.5 billion in assets at the end of April, according to hedge fund tracker Eurekahedge. (Reporting by Jeffrey Hodgson; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree)