NEW YORK (– Several senior J.P. Morgan staff announced their departures over the past weeks. Rob Standing is leaving to run a London-based hedge fund that used to be part of the bank but is now an independent operation.

In Switzerland, four members of JP Morgan Private Bank’s Geneva-based hedge fund group resigned to start an advisory and possibly fund of funds business. They include Michel Nassif, the head of the private bank hedge funds advisory service. Christophe Khaw, Stephane Ribordy and Albert Collette are going with him to set up the new firm, which is to be located in Geneva.

The group may continue to do advisory work for JP Morgan Private Bank. The bank, in the meantime, is shifting the alternative asset unit into its asset management arm, JP Morgan Fleming. It has not yet named a permanent replacement for Mr. Nassif.

In another part of J.P. Morgan, Mr. Standing is to relinquish his position as head of European rates to become the chief executive of US$1 billion London Diversified Fund. He set up the fixed-income vehicle for the bank in the mid-1990s. The hedge fund was spun off last year, but J.P. Morgan remains a large investor.

The firm also has a separate hedge fund of funds operation run from New York, including a seeding pool for new managers. J.P. Morgan manages more than US$7 billion in hedge fund assets.

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