The acquisition of Citi Alternative Investments is a bold move that defines the firm's ambition

By Claire Makin

In May, SkyBridge Capital held its second annual hedge fund conference in Las Vegas, and aimed high for its keynote speaker. The man who addressed the invitation-only audience of 1,400 people was former US President Bill Clinton.

Anthony Scaramucci

Anthony Scaramucci, who founded the New York-based seeding business in 2005, is not shy about declaring SkyBridge's ambitions in the hedge fund arena. The conference, he says, is "another way for us to embolden our brand and increase our bandwidth in terms of hedge funds".

Those ambitions have just received a huge boost with a deal that takes SkyBridge far beyond its current limits. In April, the firm announced that it will buy Citi Alternative Investments' hedge fund seeding, fund of hedge funds and hedge fund advisory businesses, with $4.2 billion in...