UK-based fund of hedge fund (FoHF) manager Hermes BPK Partners will consider Mena fund managers as part of a new long/short equity mandate Mena FM can reveal. The $550m Hermes BPK Global Equity Hedge Strategies started trading in October, but earlier this year CIO and co-founder  Mark Barker told Mena FM that “it’s not impossible” that Mena managers would be considered for future allocations.

“There could be two strands of interest in the region,” he said. “One is potential investments in Mena-based managers. No commitments obviously because it depends if we find any that made the grade, but I wouldn’t exclude it. And two is investors in the Mena region.” The fund, which has been seeded by a single unnamed investor, has a mandate to capture at least 66% of global equity upside and no more than 33% of global equity downside. “If a manager can prove that they have a profile that fits that mandate, then we would be interested,” added Barker.

The FoHF will invest in no more than 15 managers at any particular time. Each manager allocation will represent between 6-12% of the fund’s total AUM, although total emerging market exposure is limited to approximately 25%. The firm began its search process earlier this year, but Barker added that this will be an “ongoing” process.

Hermes BPK is $2.1bn boutique provider of bespoke alternative solutions, backed primarily by the £36.7bn ($58.7bn) BT Pension Scheme. Its portfolio includes threeother FoHFs, including the Hermes BPK Restructuring Fund and the Hermes BPK Fund, which had emerging markets exposure of 8.1% and 9%, respectively, by the end of July of this year.