Reyl & Cie, a Swiss private bank, today became the second western financial group to announce a tie-up with a hedge fund firm focused on investments in emerging-markets in two days - following US manager Principal Global Investors' acquisition of one yesterday.

Reyl & Cie, which manages about $4.5bn for its wealthy clients, is tying up with Samena Capital, an investments business based in Hong Kong that was founded in 2008 by a group of wealthy Asian entrepreneurs. Samena manages $400m in total and has just begun raising a second special situations fund, which it hopes will bring in another $700m.