HSBC it taking its alternative investment products to the Outback. The firm has launched HSBC Alternative Investments in Australia to distribute funds of hedge funds to local investors.

HAIL Australia will target institutional investors as well as asset consultants and financial advisers, offering multi-manager and multi-strategy funds of hedge funds as well as geography-specific and strategy-specific offerings.

HAIL’s first product to the Aussie market will be the HSBC Australia Special Opportunities Fund, a concentrated fund of funds focused on corporate events, such as mergers, restructurings, stressed and distressed securities, and activist managers. The fund is aimed at investors who are seeking high alpha and who are not concerned with short term liquidity.

“The establishment of HSBC Alternative Investments in Australia supports HSBC’s local strategy of making full use of the HSBC Group’s global strengths and participating in areas where we have a strong competitive advantage in Australia,” said Stuart Davis, CEO of HSBC Bank Australia. “Our strategy sets HSBC apart from other banks in this market – the role we play within HSBC’s global network, combined with our ability to bring HSBC’s global proposition to the Australia.”

HSBC Alternative Investments currently manages some US$47 billion in total assets invested in over a thousand hedge funds.