Investment banks prepared for a hedge fund launch for investors in the retail sector. This came after Goldman Sachs launched a fund in May which gathered US$58 million within just two months. The said hedge funds can go as low as US$1,000 worth of minimum investments.

Goldman Sachs was the first bank to formally launch a multi-manager hedge fund targeting the retail sector. Other investment banks are eyeing to follow Goldman's move, said Amy Besnted, hedge fund research head at Preqin, a data provider. Bensted continued to explain that banks like Merrill Lynch and UBS are nearing to launch a hedge fund towards the retail market. Clients are becoming non-reliant on wealth managers for substitute investment solutions.

"There has been a move from relying on wealth managers or investment banks to pure asset management shops - so for investment banks, they need to get these smaller investors in and are trying to get them used to hedge fund investing," she explained further.