Gottex Fund Management and Tokyo-based Astmax Asset Management announced Thursday an agreement to work together to provide institutional investors in Japan with absolute-return-focused investment strategies, including hedge funds and multiasset approaches.
In a telephone interview, Andre Keijsers, a London-based spokesman for Lausanne, Switzerland-based Gottex, said the two companies might develop new strategies or customize existing ones for Japanese investors looking for absolute-return alternatives to current investments in low-yielding bonds.
In addition, the two firms have agreed to mutually distribute their respective investment products, paving the way for Gottex to tap Astmax's distribution network in Japan, and Astmax to use Gottex's global footprint, said Shinichiro Shiraki, Astmax's chief investment officer, in a separate interview.
According to a joint news release, Gottex had $6.4 billion in fee-earning assets as of March 31, while Astmax had $1.5 billion.
