Now that Paul Weisenfeld, Morgan Stanley's former director of funds, has joined Perella Weinberg Partners, you might wonder what he's doing there as head of retail distribution, seeing as the firm doesn't manage mutual funds.

Well, he's apparently going to attack that industry, one he's extensively familiar with, from different angles. Perella Weinberg, which has been quietly building out its asset management business for the past seven years, now manages $11 billion in a variety of multi-boutique alternative  strategies and plans to use those to sub-advise mutual funds. Weisenfeld aims to target some of the new alternative multi-manager funds that have proliferated lately or have the firm's strategies directly sub advise one of the big established mutual fund shops, like a Fidelity or a T. Rowe Price.

He said Perella Weinberg could consider starting its own mutual funds down the line, though he admitted this is probably far off, if it will even happen, as mutual funds are difficult to set up and take a long time to plan and structure.

Perella Weinberg was started in 2006 by Goldman Sachs alums, Joseph Perella, Terry Meguid and Peter Weinberg, as an M&A advisory firm. It started building its asset management arm a year later, In addition to its multi boutique product offerings, the firm also has outsourced  CIO solutions for institutional clients. Robert Steel, a former banking exec and U.S. Treasury and New York City official, has recently been appointed CEO, replacing Perella, who will be chairman. Steel will start on July 7 and the firm is counting on him to develop relationships with government institutions.

Steel's roots also date back to Goldman, where he worked for 30 years in a variety of senior roles before leaving in 2004. At the U.S. Treasury, he was a top advisor to Hank Paulson. 

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