Indocam, the asset management arm of the Crédit Agricole Group, is buying Alternative Investment Partners-Alternative Investment Managers (AIP-AIM), the French-American alternative investment management specialist firm. The acquisition, which should be completed by the summer, will boost Indocam's alternative assets under management to $1.5bn (&euro1.7bn).

AIP, based in Paris, and AIM, its Chicago-based sister company, run about $300m in hedge funds and managed futures funds. AIP Selectif, Selectif International and Quatro are products managed for European institutional clients. AIP, created in 1999, is wholly owned by the six professionals who set it up. AIM, which is 95% owned by AIP, is also certified as a commodity trading adviser.