10/08/2011 Author: Elana Margulies

Concept Capital launches managed account platform

Boutique prime brokerage operation Concept Capital Markets has launched a registered investment advisor (RIA) that will enable its prime brokerage clients to run separately managed accounts of hedge fund strategies.

The entity, called Concept Asset Management, is aimed at funds’ existing and potential investors, predominantly family offices and high-net-worth individuals, who will be able to allocate to the entire structure or individual investments.
The launch of the new managed account platform comes after HFMWeek.com revealed last week that Concept had acquired Alaris Trading, another New York broker dealer.

“Growing assets under management in a hedge fund world can be difficult at times and an alternative to starting a hedge fund would be to run money as a single managed account business,” said Robert Moore, senior managing director. The platform has approximately 300 accounts in mainly liquid strategies.

The debut of Concept Asset Management’s managed account platform marks the ongoing trend in firms’ forays into these more liquid and transparent structures, as allocators push for more control.  

Most recently, HFMWeek reported that Lombard Odier Investment Managers (LOIM), the asset management business of Geneva-based Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch & Cie, was slated to migrate its fund of hedge funds (FoHF) portfolios to funds of managed accounts via the platform it established this year.

Meanwhile, Alaris is expected to be fully integrated with Concept by the end of the third quarter.