'China's George Soros' joins Hong Kong firm

Dai Jixin, a former manager of Soros Fund Management, plans to start a new hedge fund in Hong Kong backed by a trader dubbed "China's George Soros", according to company filings.

Dai's Xin Tian Fund Management was incorporated in late January, according to filings with Hong Kong's Companies Registry.

Dai is joined by two other directors, Ye Qingjun, chairman of Chinese asset manager DH & YZ Capital, and Zhang Yongjun, DH & YZ's chief investment officer, the filings show.

Dai and Cindy Huang, DH & YZ's chief operating officer, based in its head office in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, declined to comment on the new company.

Mainland asset management companies are enlisting former senior investment bankers and fund managers who have worked for global hedge funds to help drive their international expansions.

China Cinda Asset Management hired Liu Jialin, a former co-head of Morgan Stanley's sales and trading division in Asia, in 2011 to start an Asia macro fund.

DH & YZ, also known as Zhejiang Dunhe, trades commodities, equities, foreign exchange and bonds, the firm's website says. The company, which runs lightly regulated funds for wealthy individuals in the country, said it was seeking to become a major Chinese hedge fund platform.