Former Citadel Investment Group Asia head Simon Leversha is setting up a new hedge fund with a focus on Asia, Bloomberg reports.

Imperia Investment Group launches its maiden fund, the Imperia Asia Offshore Fund, this week; it will hold 30 to 40 Asia Pacific core investments affected by corporate events over the past three to six months. According to the news service, the fund will launch with no more than $10 million, the entire sum of which having been sourced from the company's partners.

The key partners of the fund are Amy Zhang, ex-Blackstone Advisors managing director, former Ellerston Capital chief operating officer Vernon van Eck, and Citadel and Magnetar Capital veteran Hector Colon. Zhang takes up the role of head of Imperia's China portfolio, Eck will be COO, while Colon will run the trading and technology division. Leversha worked with Citadel for nine years before resigning in 2007.

The newfound interest in the hedge fund industry is attributed to shifting investor interest toward non-interest rate related asset classes. According to a recent Deutsche Bank study on the hedge funds sector, a whopping 42 per cent of investors admitted that they plan to invest into the strategy moving forward.