The Hedge Fund Standards Board (HFSB) has bolstered its Asia Pacific committee with the appointments of George Long and Danny Yong to reflect growing numbers of members in the region.

Over the past year, eight additional Asia Pacific-based managers have joined HFSB Asia Pacific’s signatory membership, bringing the total to 14.

Set up in 2008, the non-profit HFSB aims to improve transparency and governance as well as provide education on topics such as AIFMD and short selling.

Long is the founder, chairman and CIO of LIM Advisors. Before establishing LIM in 1995, Long set up Barclays' Global Investors business in Asia. He also served on the executive committee for Barclays Group Asia and the global investment committee in London. 

Long was the founding chairman of the Hong Kong Society of Financial Analysts as well as the Hong Kong Chapter of the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA).

Danny Yong is the founding partner and CIO of Dymon Asia Capital.Before this he was a founding partner and CIO of Abax Global Capital, a Hong Kong-based hedge fund.He also served as managing director at Citadel Investment Asia in Hong Kong.

“The fact that an increasing number of Asia Pacific-based managers are committed to meeting global standards is further evidence that Asia Pacific is becoming a major region in the alternative investment industry, complementing North America and Europe,” said Dame Amelia Fawcett, chairman of the HFSB.

The committee was established in June 2016 with Asia Pacific-based representatives from Albourne, CPPIB, Future Fund, GIC and PAG. It aims to assist HSFB’s relationships with regulators, managers and investors, addressing Asia-Pacific regional and local issues.

In mid-December, the HFSB named Luke Ellis, the chief executive of hedge fund manager Man Group, as trustee. Henry Kenner, chief executive of Arrowgrass, a hedge fund spun out of Deutsche Bank, also joined as trustee.

Hundreds of hedge funds and other institutional investors have backed the HFSB, including Goldman Sachs Asset Management earlier this year.

The trade organisation is also forming a working group to study liquid alternatives – which range from UCITS hedge funds to multi-asset options, such as risk parity strategies.