Albert Ee, a former managing director of Millennium Management’s Asian business, said he plans to set up a hedge fund in Singapore that will seek to profit from bets on macroeconomic trends, according to Bloomberg, which has interviewed the manager.

AE Capital Management plans to start the macro hedge fund with between $10 million and $20 million as early as February, Mr Ee was quoted as saying. The company aims to grow the fund to $300 million in three years as it plans to expand the team to six people, including two portfolio managers, he said.

A number of managers have launched or said they will launch macro hedge funds in recent weeks. Such funds seek to exploit shifts in currency, bond, equity and commodity markets, betting on long-term trends, typically executing their strategies via the use of derivatives. Such strategies typically work when markets have been disrupted by a major economic shock – such as the recent financial turmoil.

Earlier this week, it was reported that US-based hedge fund management firm DE Shaw is preparing to launch a new fund that will be more liquid and transparent than its widely followed flagship macro-oriented fund, called the DE Shaw Heliant Fund. Dublin-based private client investment management firm GAM, meanwhile, has expanded its UCITS fund range with an onshore version of an offshore fund. GAM Star Global Rates is a UCITS III-compliant fund which aims at yearly returns of 8-12 per cent above Libor over a rolling three to five-year period. The fund will invest in government bonds and currencies, focusing on mature markets where good liquidity is available.

Data from Credit Suisse/Tremont shows that between January and November this year, global macro funds have delivered total returns of 13.1 per cent.