Mellon Financial Corporation, which has $545bn (€610bn) under management, has bought a 15% equity interest in Optima Fund Management, a New York-based fund of hedge funds manager. At the same time, the Pittsburg-based financial services group is unveiling its own multi-manager hedge fund operation, Mellon Global Alternative Investments (MGAI).

Mellon's deal with Optima started as an exclusive alliance in June 2000, when Mellon Private Asset Management's (MPAM) high net worth clients were given access to Optima's array of hedge funds. Under the terms of that agreement, no other domestic financial services firm could offer Optima hedge fund investment vehicles.