Ex-Lehman Star Wong launches new special situations strategy

AsiaHedge – 2 March 2009

Edwin Wong, former Lehman Brothers rainmaker and head of the bank’s Principal Group and Credit Group, will shortly go live with his first fund, an Asia ex Japan special situations and distressed strategy.

Six core member from his previous Principal Group team at Lehman are set to join him at the new, Hong Kong-based, SSG Advisors at this stage. They include some highly regarded names specializing in South East Asia, Greater China and India – three of the strategy’s most important markets.

The firm is understood to have already received strong investor interest and identified solid investment opportunities. As a result it intends to close the first fund and start investing very soon. In what would be one of the first big launches of 2009, the institutional fund is likely to start in the $200-500 million range, according to market sources.

Investor interest in the launch is high given Wong’s solid pedigree, at Lehman between 1997 and November 2009 (when his team left following an internal reorganization) his special sits/distressed and credit teams made very good returns during both bull and bear markets, especially during the Asian financial crisis.

Wong’s principal group at Lehman was seen as one of the largest distressed/special situations investors during the past decade and a significant P&L contributor to Lehman’s Asia franchise.

SSG Advisors is expected to build an institutional grade set-up from day one – a key element investors are now looking for in addition to proven track record across market cycles.

The firm is in the process of hiring a COO to look after risk management and is building up its operations and compliance functions. Some of these will be handled internally, although others will be outsourced.