Anthony Scaramucci left his secure position as managing director of Lehman Brothers’ Investment Management Division in 2005 to found SkyBridge Capital. At that time his friends and family couldn’t understand why he would leave a global investment giant to found a small-size hedge fund that began with only $330 million in assets under management (AUM). Today New York–based SkyBridge Capital runs a thriving fund-of-funds and fund-seeding business with $6.5 billion in AUM, while Lehman Brothers has been swept into the annals of history.

Scaramucci, 49, is also a prolific writer and visited Asia recently to promote his second book, The Little Book of Hedge Funds, a primer on how hedge funds work. He spoke to Institutional Investor’s Asia Bureau Chief Allen T. Cheng about the book and about SkyBridge’s expansion plans into the Asian region.  

Most hedge fund managers don’t want to share their secrets: Why did you write this book, and what do you hope to achieve?

I am a big proponent of trying to open up the industry and trying to promote transparency in the industry.

SkyBridge offers both traditional fund of hedge funds and a seeding fund. Does SkyBridge have ambitions in Asia?

We plan to open an office in Asia. I am targeting the first quarter of 2013. The first office will be in Singapore, only because we will be building a conference business there, but over time we will open an office in Hong Kong, too.

Do have have money allocated to Asia?

We do have a couple of managers in Hong Kong and Tokyo. We will add managers to that mix. I would like to have a physical presence because having a physical presence sort of changes the level of thinking about the region. So far, we have $150 million allocated in Asia among three or four managers. We are interested in Asia primarily for our fund-of-funds business, not for seeding.

Read More: Institutional Investor