Hedge fund Palliser hires former Elliott partner Kasoff

By Svea Herbst-Bayliss

NEW YORK (Reuters) - UK hedge fund Palliser Capital is expanding into the U.S. and said on Wednesday it hired Steve Kasoff, bringing on board a former Elliott Investment Management partner to evaluate current and new opportunities in the United States.

At Palliser, Kasoff will reunite with James Smith who ran Elliott's Hong Kong operations before founding his London-headquartered firm in 2021.

Kasoff, a former equity partner and senior portfolio manager at Elliott, will be Palliser's first employee in the U.S. and joins 17 others who are based in London and Asia. Before retiring from Elliott in 2020, Kasoff headed the firm's investments in real estate and structured credit.

Smith praised Kasoff's depth of experience and success across asset classes and said he will benefit Palliser's entire portfolio, including with current and new ideas.

Palliser has pushed for changes at Japan's Keisei Electric Railway and U.K. oil and gas exploration and development company Capricorn Energy. It is also urging Samsung C&T to spend its cash better, improve governance and communications and simplify its corporate structure.

The fund, which oversees roughly $850 million in assets, returned more than 10% after fees in the last 12 months, people familiar with the performance said. The average multi-strategy fund returned 8.56% in 2023, Hedge Fund Research data show.

(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by Josie Kao)