Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management has chosen the Bank of New York Mellon for its hedge fund administration mandate of a new Cayman-domiciled fund of hedge fund.

The Bank of New York Mellon, announced on 14 May that its Alternative Investment Services (AIS) business has been selected by Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management Company Limited (SMAM) as fund administrator for its new fund of hedge funds, the SMAM Alpha Dynasty Fund Trust (The Trust). BNY Mellon, directly or through its affiliates, also will provide custody and trustee services.

SMAM is one of the largest asset management companies in Japan with a total of $110 billion in assets under management (as at 31 December 2008) for Japanese institutional and retail clients. SMAM was incorporated in December 2002 through the merger among Mitsui Life Global Asset Management, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Asset Management, Sakura Investment Management, Sumisei Global Investment Trust Management and Sumitomo Life Investment. SMAM is part of Sumitomo Mitsui Group.

SMAM launched The Trust, domiciled in the Cayman Islands, on 27 March 2009 with its seed capital. Targeted at institutional investors, the investment objective of The Trust is to maximize long-term returns to unit-holders by investing in diversified portfolio of hedge funds, aiming at low correlation to traditional asset classes, with emphasis on liquidity.

"We selected The Bank of New York Mellon as our fund administrator because they have demonstrated the ability to deliver the services required for complex funds of hedge funds and can cost-effectively scale its systems to meet our growth," said Ken Shimasaki, head of alternative investment group, Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management. "Our operational efficiency will be dramatically improved through The Bank of New York Mellon's new fund of hedge funds platform and the technology interfaces that we have put in place."

"Working with a premier fund manager such as Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management underlines The Bank of New York Mellon's ability and commitment to servicing the fund of hedge funds arena in Japan," said Andrew Gordon, executive vice president, head of alternative investment services for Asia. "We are honoured that they chose our company to deliver the infrastructure they need to succeed.  Our appointment confirms that the solutions we are providing to Japan's top institutions remain at the forefront of the market."