UK-based emerging market and hedge fund management, Charlemagne Capital, is expected to announce this week its intention to float on the jun...

UK-based emerging market and hedge fund management, Charlemagne Capital, is expected to announce this week its intention to float on the junior market, the Alternative Investment Market, with a value of around £350 million ($614 million), according to reports in the UK press. Charlemagne presently has around $4 billion of assets under management and could be the first of a group of hedge funds to join existing publicly-listed hedge funds RAB Capital (which manages $2.6 billion in funds and has a valuation of £300 million) and Man Group (with client assets of $46 billion and a market capitalisation of £7.12 billion). Charlemagne was formed in 2000 out of Regent Pacific, the Hong-Kong-based asset manager set up by property entrepreneur and fund manager Jim Mellon. Thames River Capital, with $7.8 billion of funds under management, is also thought to be considering the move. Glyn Jones, its new chief executive, is understood to have recently started a strategic review to be completed next month. Thames River, which was founded in 1998 is majority-owned by staff, with venture capitalist Sir John Beckwith, one of the founders, owning 20-25 per cent. Charlemagne and Thames River could be the first of many UK-based hedge funds considering a listing, according to press reports.