Many commentators have written the obituary of the hedge fund industry, or of some of its more esoteric or leverage-dependent strategies, during the credit crisis.

So it may be of some encouragement to see a new launch by Invesco Perpetual, announced today.

It’s not a hedge fund, but instead a split-capital investment trust, a type of fund that was the subject of its very own investment scandal earlier this decade.

After millions of pounds of investor losses the name of splits became so downtrodden — even though many such funds were relatively well-run vehicles — that it seemed unlikely the sector could ever amount to much again.

If a new split-cap trust can be launched, then there is surely hope even for the most despised hedge fund strategies.