Milltrust International Group, the new company, was created by Simon Hopkins, the founder of Fortune Asset Management, the UK hedge fund absorbed by Close Brothers in 2006. For the new entity, Hopkins gathered a team of industry veterans including Louis-Armand de Rouge, former chief executive of Richcourt Fund Advisors in France, and Mark Ebert, former chairman of Fortune Group. For the advisory board, the company brought in Singapore-based Christopher Chong, founder of ACH Investments to oversee the Asian franchise.

Other members of the board are David Suratgar, chairman of BMCE Bank International, and Robert Sargent, former CEO and veteran of Morgan Stanley Asset Management International, based in the UK.

"Our research shows that international investors are looking for locally-based asset management talent as they increase their holdings in the parts of the world that will offer the best growth prospects over the next decade," said Hopkins.

"Western institutions are still woefully under-invested in emerging markets," he added.

Milltrust is said to be in advanced talks with a number of financial institutions in China, India, and Latin America, and is expected to announce partner firms that will advise on managed accounts in the next few months.