Bank of China is planning to launch a fund to invest in hedge funds, the latest sign of keen interest in the alternative investment industry from the world's third-largest economy.

The fund of funds, the first from a Chinese company, will be launched next year, according to people familiar with the situation, and will be offered via Bank of China Suisse, the Geneva-based private banking operation established by BoC in November last year.

The fund is in the early stages of development and has not yet received regulatory approval from Swiss authorities. BoC declined to comment.

The proposed launch comes at a time of turmoil for the fund of funds industry, much of which is based in Switzerland.

At their peak, funds of funds were the single largest class of investors in hedge funds, with an estimated $1,100bn in assets under management.

According to statistics released this week by Hedge Fund Intelligence, a leading hedge fund industry data provider, the industry has since shrunk more than 40 per cent in the past 18 months.

In the wake of the Lehman Brothers collapse and the Madoff scandal, funds of funds saw investors rush to exit and were forced to liquidate about $400bn of underlying investments in individual hedge funds, exacerbating problems for already hard-hit managers. Some of the largest fund of funds operations, many of which are run by private Swiss banks such as HSBC Suisse, UBS, Union Bancaire Privée and Julius Baer, have seen assets under management close to halve over the past 18 months.

BoC's interest in the sector is not merely opportunistic, however, according to other industry players.

Chinese investors and sovereign wealth funds have shown increasing interest in investments in hedge funds and private equity funds.

Lou Jiwei, chairman of the China Investment Corporation, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world, said last month that the fund was looking at allocating "many times" the $500m it placed with alternative investment vehicles in June.

CIC is understood to be looking at investments in single-manager funds alongside a "core" investment in fund of funds vehicles. Several top-tier funds of funds say they have seen interest from CIC.

Fund of funds structures - which came under fire for failing to meet investors' redemption requests on time and charging high fees on top of those charged by the underlying funds - can also offer an attractive means of diversified investment for longer-term asset managers with little expertise in alternative investments.

BoC's platform is also likely to be marketed to high net worth individuals.

The bank's Swiss subsidiary unveiled a range of funds investing in international equities and bonds targeted at wealthy Chinese investors earlier this week.

中国银行(Bank of China)正计划推出一只投资于对冲基金的基金，这是一个最新迹象，显示全球第三大经济体对另类投资业有着浓厚的兴趣。

这将是中国企业首次提供基金的基金(fund of funds)。知情人士称，该基金将于明年推出，并将通过中银瑞士(Bank of China Suisse)提供。中银瑞士是中行去年11月建立的私人银行业务，总部位于日内瓦。

该基金正处于筹备早期，尚未得到瑞士主管部门的监管批准。中行拒绝置评。

目前，全球基金的基金行业（其中有很大一部分位于瑞士）正陷于动荡之中。

基金的基金在其巅峰时期，曾是对冲基金的最大一类投资者，旗下管理的总资产估计达1.1万亿美元。

根据领先的对冲基金行业数据提供商《对冲基金情报》(Hedge Fund Intelligence)本周发布的统计数据，该行业在过去18个月已经缩水逾40%。

在雷曼兄弟(Lehman Brothers)倒闭、马多夫(Madoff)丑闻曝光后，基金的基金行业出现投资者蜂拥退出的局面，这些基金被迫抛售大约4000亿美元的标的资产，即个别对冲基金，加剧了本已遭受沉重打击的经理人所面对的问题。在基金的基金行业，许多最大的业务旗下管理的资产在过去18个月接近减半，这些业务有不少是由瑞士私人银行运营的，如汇丰瑞士(HSBC Suisse)、瑞银(UBS)、瑞士联合私立银行(Union Bancaire Privée)和宝盛集团(Julius Baer)。

不过，据业内同行介绍，中行对这一行业的兴趣，并不只是机会主义的。

中国投资者和主权财富基金已对投资于对冲基金和私人股本基金表现出越来越大的兴趣。

全球最大主权财富基金之一的中国投资公司(CIC)董事长楼继伟上月表示，中投公司在6月投入另类投资工具5亿美元的基础上，正在研究向此类工具投入"许多倍"的资金。

据信，中投公司正在研究以基金的基金工具为"核心"投资，同时投资于单个经理人的基金。多家顶级的基金的基金表示，中投公司已向他们表示出兴趣。

基金的基金曾因其结构而受到批评，因为它们未能及时满足投资者的赎回请求，并在标的基金的收费之外，再收取高额费用，但对在另类投资方面缺乏专长的较长期资产管理者来说，这种结构也提供了一种具有吸引力的多元化投资手段。

中行平台的营销对象，很可能也包括高净值的个人。

本周早些时候，该行瑞士子公司针对富有的中国投资者，推出了一系列投资于海外股票和债券的基金。
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