When is a private equity firm not a private equity firm? When it's been set up by a hedge fund manager, of course. At least, that's the situation at Sloane Robinson Private Equity, authorised last month by UK regulator the Financial Services Authority and backed by established London hedge fund management firm Sloane Robinson. "This is not Sloane Robinson going into private equity," said George Robinson, the hedge fund's co-founder.

He explained the firm occasionally comes across private businesses that it considers worth investing in but is not allowed to, as it is constrained by the remit of its funds. The partners do not want to invest in these companies themselves because that is time-consuming, he said.