25/01/2012 Author: Tony Griffiths

Global Prime Partners readies cap intro unit

Global Prime Partners, one of London’s first boutique prime brokers, is to begin offering an official capital introductions and marketing service, with the unit’s first hire expected in the summer.

Kevin LoPrimo, Global Prime Partners’ global head of hedge fund services and equity finance, told HFMWeek that, while he was passively interviewing candidates currently, the process would become more active at the end of the first quarter. Further recruits would likely follow.

“Right now it’s a wide ranging mandate. We will look to define the role more closely once the hire is in place,” said LoPrimo, whose long career in prime brokerage client relations has included 18 years at Goldman Sachs.

The decision to create the new unit comes as an increasing number of Global Prime Partners’ clients hit their one-year anniversary – a point at which more investors start considering a fund’s track record.

Last week, Barclays Capital said it was expecting hedge funds to see net inflows totalling $80bn in 2012.  

Launched in October 2010, Global Prime Partners currently has about 40 hedge funds on its books, covering mostly equity-related strategies, but also event driven. The firm, which currently offers passive cap intro meetings, expects to add a further 25 clients in the next couple of months.