The former head of Southeast Asian equities for Credit Suisse, Mark Fuchs, is launching a long/short equity hedge fund during the next two months.

Mark Fuchs is the CEO and CIO of the eponymous Fuchs Capital Partners. He is joined by the former COO of Credit Suisse's Asia-Pacific equities unit, Winston Loke, and Mark Maroongroge, whose last job was that of a portfolio manager in HBK Capital Management's Asian long/short equities and event-driven business.

The theme of the new fund revolves around the equity markets in the Asean region, encompassing developed markets such as Singapore, through to emerging markets like Vietnam, and hopes to include outliers like Cambodia in the future.

Fuchs ultimately targets assets under management of several hundred million dollars from funds of funds, high-net-worth individuals and institutions. Information about service providers and the projected launch size of the still-unchristened fund is not available yet.

Maximum leverage for the fund will be 200% but gross exposure will normally be approximately 140%. Net exposure ranges are +40% to -40%, but will typically be kept within +20% to -20% bands. Management and performance fees are set at industry standard levels.

"Not many funds focus on Asean within the hedge fund space," says Fuchs. "One of our edges should be the deep corporate and government relationships built up over 15 years. We think that people have taken their eye off the ball to some extent with opportunities in the Asean region."