Fund of hedge funds manager Gottex Fund Management is ramping up its use of an investment structure that promises greater transparency and protection, after the Swiss group struck problems with some underlying managers last year, and its peers made investments that lost a record 21%.

Max Gottschalk, head of the $8.5bn (€6.6bn) company's European operations, said Gottex hoped, over time, to use managed accounts to make up to 30% of its investments in more than 165 hedge funds. The firm has only a few managed accounts now.