Perella Weinberg Partners, the newly formed investment banking boutique, is drawing up a list of hedge fund managers as potential acquisition targets as it seeks to expand its asset management business.

The firm, launched this year by former Wall Street bankers Joseph Perella and Peter Weinberg, has hired Rod Parsley to manage one of its hedge funds. Parsley joins from Terrapin Asset Management, where he managed a $50m (€40m) water fund. Perella Weinberg's mergers and acquisitions advisory business is up and running but the firm has earmarked $800m to seed its investment management business. It is understood Perella Weinberg is exploring the possibility of buying several funds with different trading strategies. It was rumoured last week to be considering the acquisition of US fund Gabriel Capital but declined to comment. Parsley is the first hedge fund manager to join as a partner and will work with fellow partners Tarek Meguid and William Kourakos, who are responsible for the asset management business. Last week, Perella Weinberg continued the expansion of its mergers and acquisitions business by recruiting Ron Tysoe, vice-chairman of US retailer Federated Department Stores, as an adviser. Perella Weinberg has won two big M&A mandates in the past month. It advised the Qatar government and UBS investment bank on its attempt to buy UK utility Thames Water, and private equity firms Texas Pacific Group and Axa on the acquisition of a 60% stake in French television and mobile phone transmission operator Télédiffusion de France in a deal worth €3.3bn. Perella Weinberg has also hired Leon Bressler, former chief executive of French property group Unibail, to run a new real estate fund that the boutique is planning to launch. The fund will be a joint venture with New York-based Fisher Brothers, a privately-held real estate company. The joint venture will commit capital to the fund but will also look for external investors.