US-based hedge fund manager Galleon Group has appointed Frank Wong as chairman of Galleon Asia.

Wong, who retired from DBS Group Holdings in August last year, is expected to help Galleon expand its business in Asia through his deep contacts in the region. Wong, who was most recently the vice-chairman and chief operating officer at DBS Bank, was instrumental in the Singapore firm's growth in Hong Kong and China.

Wong is based in Singapore, Galleon's headquarters in Asia, where he oversees the firm's business strategy and growth initiatives throughout the region. Galleon has a 17-year track record in the alternative investment business specialising in long/short equity strategies with a focus on major growth sectors as well as the emerging Asian markets. As of December, its global AUM was estimated at $7.5 billion. It operates offices in New York, Menlo Park, London, Singapore and Mumbai.

Galleon broadened its investment focus in 2008 by establishing a new Asian macro strategy. Overseeing assets of around $1 billion, the Asian business has increasingly become active in foreign exchange trading and interest rates, commodities, equity and volatility indices. Galleon's Singapore office includes a team of analysts, traders and portfolio managers.

Raj Rajaratnam - the New York-based founder, managing general partner and CIO of Galleon Group - says Wong's "deep relationships" with public policymakers, business leaders and investors will help expand the firm's business in Asia.

While Wong was with DBS Group, he played a key role in broadening the Asian footprint of Singapore's largest bank through his role in the acquisition of Hong Kong's Dao Heng Bank Group in 2001 and organic growth in Hong Kong and China, according to Galleon. Wong was with DBS Group from 1999 to August 2008. Aside from serving as vice-chairman and COO of DBS Bank, he was also a member of the board of DBS Bank and DBS Group, a member of the DBS Groups management committee, and chairman of DBS Bank (Hong Kong).

Wong had global oversight responsibility for the strategic development and financial performance of all the revenue generating businesses of DBS Group, including consumer banking and wholesale banking (corporate and investment banking, global financial markets, asset management and private banking).

Earlier in his career, from 1966 to 1999, Wong held senior positions in Asia and Europe with major financial services firms including Citibank, JP Morgan and NatWest.

Wong has also served in various positions with Hong Kong's government bodies and business associations. He was chairman of the Hong Kong Futures Exchange from 1995 to 1998 and chairman of the Leveraged Foreign Exchange Trading Ordinance Arbitration Panel from 1995 to 1999.

He is currently a non-executive independent board director at China Mobile, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, PSA International, Mapletree Investment, and National Healthcare Group.

Last year, Galleon hired David Lau - previously the joint head of global financial markets at DBS - as a senior portfolio manager and partner who oversees the Singapore office. Lau helped build out the DBS business from a traditional provider of treasury and cash management services into derivatives, structured products across foreign exchange, interest rates, credit, equity, and commodity asset classes.