Lehman Brothers bought a 20 per cent stake in US-based hedge fund D.E. Shaw on Tuesday, reports Reuters. The report noted the recent trend among bulge-bracket banks of beefing up their hedge fund and private equity presence.Tuesday’s deal follows hot on the heals of Lehman’s purchase of 20 per cent in fund manager UK-based Spinnaker Capital in January. The stake in Shaw is added to a list of Lehman minority holdings in hedge funds that includes GLG Partners, Marble Bar Asset Management and Ospraie Management.
George Walker, Lehman’s global head of investment management, is quoted by Bloomberg, saying that the D.E. Shaw stake “offers a broad array of alternative and long-only products”. The article notes that Wall Street is eyeing up hedge funds to offer clients greater access to alternative investments and take a larger share of the fees the funds generate.