By Claire Makin
Hans Hurschler, head of Hedge Fund Ventures, the newly re-branded seeding platform of Man Group, has developed a distinctive approach to seeding emerging managers in the seven years that he has been in the business. He and his team look for a crucial window of opportunity in timing a deal, aim to end the relationship after what looks like an impossibly short time, and do not believe in hand-holding managers.
Hans Hurschler
"We invest $50 million and take it back after two years. That's the way we operate," he says. (Fee-sharing continues for a further three years.) What services are offered besides money? "None," is the simple response.
If this seems to be a rather take-it-or-leave-it arrangement, Hurschler points out that deals are designed to make economic sense for everyone involved, that $50 million is, after all, "a chunky ticket", and that managers gain the stamp of...