07/07/2010 Author: Tony Griffiths

IMQubator completes sixth seed deal

IMQubator, the hedge fund seeding platform set up with money from Dutch pensions giant APG, has completed its sixth seed deal, allocating €25m ($31m) to the new venture from Rory Passey, Commerzbank UK’s one-time head of convertible bond research, HFMWeek can exclusively reveal.  

The new, as-yet-unnamed convertible arbitrage fund will be managed by Boston and Alexander, reinvigorating the investment management firm established by Passey. The fund started with €6m ($7.55m) in assets provided by parties well known to the manager.

Patrick Hall, COO of Boston and Alexander, told HFMWeek that the new fund was likely to launch on 1 October 2010, “hopefully with assets of over €40m ($50.3m)”. London-based Boston will retain a UK presence, but will establish a new, primary base in Amsterdam – as requested of all IMQubator funds – when the new fund launches, Hall added. Passey will be based in Amsterdam.

“Rory Passey has a thorough experience with the convertible arbitrage market, is very meticulous, original and driven in his approach,” said Jeroen Tielman, CEO of IMQ Management, IMQubator’s investment manager. “We believe that the convertible arbitrage strategy applied by Boston and Alexander is as pure as you can get it.”

A domicile for the fund has yet to be decided, but is likely to be Ireland, Luxembourg or the Netherlands. “An EU presence is important with the AIFM still up in the air,” said Hall.

IMQubator was established with €250m ($314.7m) from APG in January 2009.