Richard Keary has resigned as BT Financial Group's (BT) head of alternative investments.

BT were unavailable for comment on Keary's resignation yesterday, but the firm issued a statement saying that BT portfolio manager Al Clark will become the head of a new multi strategies division within the group that will cover alternative investments.

Keary, who won the award for the best individual contribution to the Australian hedge fund industry at the 2006 hedge fund awards, has been at BT since 1997 when it bought Rothschild's Australian asset management business.

BT's chief investment officer Dirk Morris said the multi strategies team was "newly realigned" and would be responsible for managing BT's diversified portfolios, including the group's balanced and hedge fund products, exposure management and quantitative research.

Clark joined BT's investment management team from Macquarie Fund Management's domestic fixed interest division in 2006.

"As head of multi strategies Al Clark will assume ultimate responsibility for BT's alternative investments and will work closely with the team, including senior portfolio manager Greg Revitt and portfolio manager Ian Teh, who will continue to manage BT's hedge funds," BT said.

BT awarded two diversified hedge funds mandates late last year. One went to alternative investment specialist AQR Capital Management for $80 million, while the other went to US based boutique Grosvenor Capital Management for $95 million.