Carret Private, a Hong Kong-based multi- family office set up by a former Asian products head at Bank Julius Baer & Co., is starting with $2.2 billion in assets that it plans to allocate across hedge funds and private-equity pools.

The firm, which plans to increase assets to $5 billion by 2019, has partnered with five families so far and will add more by year-end, according to Kenneth Ho, who joined in October after spending nine years at Bank Julius Baer in Hong Kong. Carret Private is a joint venture with New York-based investment adviser Carret Asset Management.

Multi-family offices help ultra-wealthy clans manage their fortunes by allocating money across assets. Carret Private will seek a range of global hedge funds to invest in, including those that bet on and against stocks and those that make picks based on macroeconomic themes. The firm will also make less liquid investments in private equity.

Ho was previously head of Asian products and investments at Bank Julius Baer and helped start the Zurich-based private bank’s Asian office in Hong Kong in 2006. Carret Private in December hired Eugene Lee, who was previously a structured products banker at JPMorgan Chase & Co. and HSBC Holdings Plc.