Britain's 230 year old Man Group, the world’s largest publicly traded hedge fund, is looking to conquer the United States, the world’s largest hedge fund market. To attract American investors, the firm is expanding its product lineup, building up its local sales force and striking distribution deals with brokerage houses like Morgan Stanley. The domestic team, once scattered between three offices in New York, is also consolidating its operations in a newly renovated building on the edge of Bryant Park in Manhattan. The region represents a vast untapped territory for the Man Group. Wealthy individuals and big institutions in the United States account for less than 10% of the firm’s assets. The company’s past attempts to find a foothold in the area have faltered. For years, American investors did not favor its primary strategy of commodity trading advisers, which typically use complex computer algorithms to predict market moves in stocks, commodities, currencies and other securities. The firm’s fees, up to 30% of profits, also looked less appealing than those of domestic rivals. At the same time, the firm did not need to focus its attention on the United States. Asian and European investors were plowing in tens of billions of dollars. But Man can’t afford to ignore the United States in the current environment. With public shareholders pushing for growth, the firm is on the hunt for new money. Last year, the company acquired another hedge fund, GLG Partners, diversifying its range of investments. The strategy was working early in the year. The Man Group raised $9bn, a firm record for a single quarter. Yet as markets turned chaotic, the company began bleeding money. In late September, the firm reported assets had fallen by more than $2bn. Along with investor withdrawals, performance lagged. The firm suffered double-digit losses in several funds. The situation has sent the stock tumbling. So far this year, shares of Man Group are down 50 percent. For Man Group, the United States is particularly appealing. Pensions and endowments, typically a sticky asset base, are increasing their allocations to hedge funds. Public pensions have more than doubled their investment in hedge funds, to $63bn at the start of the year from $28bn in 2006, according to a survey from the consultancy Cliffwater. [Dealbook, 10/20/11]