* FengHe is in process of applying for asset management

license in Hong Kong

* Firm's Asia fund up 17.8% in Jan-Feb; down 3.5% in

first two weeks of March

* FengHe may increase headcount in coming years - CEO

By Summer Zhen

HONG KONG, March 18 (Reuters) - FengHe Fund Management,

which has assets under management (AUM) of about $9 billion,

plans to open an office in Hong Kong in the second half this

year to expand its geographical footprint, the Singapore-based

hedge fund said on Wednesday.

The firm has leased office space in Two International

Finance Centre in the Central business district and is in the

process of applying for an asset management license, FengHe CEO

Kwek Hyen Yong told Reuters.

The 17-year-old firm said its AUM more than doubled over the

past year, bucking a trend where the industry's inflows have

largely been concentrated in quant-driven and multi-manager

hedge funds.

Its flagship Asia Fund, which mainly invests in stocks in

Japan, South Korea and Greater China, was up 17.8% for the first

two months of 2026 before falling 3.5% due to turmoil driven by

the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, leaving it up 14.2% year-to-date

as of March 16, Kwek said.

The fund was up 27.3% in 2025 after gaining 10.3% in 2024.

A number of hedge funds and trading firms have stepped up

their presence in Hong Kong over the past year, attracted by its

deep pools of investment talent and a market recovery.

Last year, U.S. trading firm Jane Street said it planned to

rapidly expand its Hong Kong office space, while large

multi-manager fund Point72 Asset Management has been growing its

operations in the city.

FengHe also has a representative office in Tokyo. But the

firm said its expansion is more about talent and driven less by

market conditions.

"As we continue to hire across Asia, we aim to provide

greater flexibility to our existing team members and new joiners

who prefer to be based in their chosen cities," said Kwek, who

has been with the fund since 2011.

The firm will start with a "small core team" in Hong Kong

and may increase headcount in the coming years, he said.

FengHe was co-founded in 2009 by veteran investor Matt Hu

and Wu Jiong, an angel investor and former chief technology

officer at Alibaba Group ( BABA ).