NEW YORK Merrill Lynch Investment Managers is preparing to launch a European hedge fund.
The fund, Merrill Lynchs second such investment product, would adopt a bottom-up research process that takes advantage of in-house capabilities. Its first hedge fund, Merrill Lynch Equity Arbitrage, uses computer-driven quantitative analysis to take advantage of arbitrage opportunities. It was started in May and raised $31 million in its first six months.
Merrill Lynch now has $1.5 billion invested in hedge fund strategies.
