Hermes BPK has signed up to the Hedge Fund Standards Board (HFSB) investor chapter, joining over 30 hedge fund companies keen to strengthen corporate governance in the industry.

“We believe the launch of the HFSB investor chapter will drive positive change in the hedge fund industry and this is another step in the right direction,” commented Matteo Dante Perruccio, CEO and founding partner of institutional fund of hedge fund partnership Hermes BPK.

Earlier Liongate Capital Management, another leading FoHF with over $3 billion in assets under management, announced its membership and participation in the HFSB investor chapter.

The chapter is made up of leading hedge fund managers and investors who have banded together to help shape best practice in the industry.

HFSB launched the investor chapter in an effort to strengthen significantly the role and influence of investors in its standard-setting process.

Members of the chapter, which includes leading investors from Europe, Asia and North America, will provide input into the standards and play a key role in widening adoption of the standards among managers internationally.

Utah Retirement Systems (US), Railpen and the BT Pension Scheme (UK), APG (Netherlands), Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (Canada), PP Pension (Sweden), Pictet (Switzerland), AXA (France) and Government of Singapore Investment Corporation are among the 30 initial members. They include many of the biggest global investors in hedge funds, accounting in total for hedge fund assets of about $180 billion.

“The new investor chapter will give a significant boost to our efforts to drive adoption of the standards around the world,” said Antonio Borges, chairman of the HFSB. “Institutional investors are the main beneficiaries of the standards; they are also in the best position to persuade managers to sign up to them,” he added.

In a separate move Mario Therrien, senior vice president of fund management at Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, the leading Canadian pension fund, has been appointed to the board of trustees of the HFSB.