BNY Mellon wins Japan fund admin mandate

Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management (SMAM) has appointed the alternative investment services business of the Bank of New York Mellon (BNY Mellon) as fund administrator of its new Alpha Dynasty Fund Trust.

The Japan-based asset manager's new trust is a Cayman Islands-domiciled fund of hedge funds. It aims to maximise long-term returns by investing in hedge funds with a low correlation to traditional asset classes and emphasising 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," says Ken Shimasaki, head of the alternative investments group at SMAM.

Funds of hedge funds typically invest in a broad array of hedge funds in order to diversify risk and exposure to the market. They are often used as vehicles for smaller retail investors to access the hedge fund market.

BNY Mellon is one of just a few international banks that is an active fund administrator for Japan's domestic asset managers. The country's high barriers to entry and a tightly controlled onshore fund administration market restricts foreign institutions to just cross-border administration and custodian services.

SMAM, a subsidiary of the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, had $110 billion in assets under management as of the end of last year.

BNY Mellon has more than $200 billion in assets under administration.