Crypto hedge fund managers JellyC and Trovio merge to attract pension fund investment

Australian crypto hedge fund manager JellyC has merged with Singaporean Trovio Asset Management in an effort to attract bigger allocations from investors, such as pension fund investment.

According to a Bloomberg report on Oct. 23, Australian hedge fund manager JellyC will hold the majority of shares as it merges operations with Trovio Asset Management, said company executives.

CEO of Trovio, Jon Deane said Trovio plans to eventually dispose of shareholding in the merged business, but he did not specify when it is scheduled to occur.

JellyC’s Co-Founder Michael Prendiville said that the merger aims to grow the combined assets from both hedge fund managers up to 150% from current assets to $250 million AUD or equal to $166.5 million USD.

He stated that JellyC and Trovio have set their sights on big investors in the Asia Pacific region, especially Australian pension funds.

“If we’re not at capacity, we won’t get the allocation,” said Prendiville.

So far, Australia has yet to inject its pension funds into digital assets. Though, Prendiville believes this condition will change overtime, as Australia gears up to place crypto regulations.

In May 2024, Coinbase announced that it is working on a new service that would offer crypto investment products for portfolios that make up about a quarter of Australia‘s $2.5 trillion pension system.

Meanwhile other countries like Japan and South Korea have allocated pension funds into crypto-related entities. South Korea’s National Pension Service, which holds nearly $800 billion in assets under management, acquired 24,500 MicroStrategy shares for $33.75 million.

MicroStrategy is currently the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, owning over 252,000 BTC in their reserves.

Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund, the largest pension fund in Japan and globally, revealed in a press release that it is considering the possibility of accommodating Bitcoin and other commodities, including farmlands, forests and gold.

In July 2024, the State of Michigan Retirement System invested around $6.6 million in ARK 21Shares’ ARKB spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund.