State Street Global Advisors, the fund management arm of State Street Corporation, has created a dedicated group to focus the development and delivery of the firm's hedge fund offering.

SSgA already has roughly $700m (€621m) of hedge fund assets under management as at the end of August this year, but is lagging some way behind the likes of Barclays Global Investors and Gartmore. The firm hopes that the formation of the SSgA Hedge Fund Strategies Group will allow it to capitalise on the increasing market demand for alternative investments.