Nov. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Jeff Shankman, the former chief operating officer of global markets at Enron Corp., plans to raise as much as $250 million in the next six months for an energy hedge fund, according to two investors who received marketing documents on the proposal.

Trident Asset Management LLC, based in Houston, was founded this year by Shankman and Andy Weathers, a former trader at CenterPoint Energy Inc., and will start trading this month, said the investors, who declined to be identified because details are still confidential. Shankman didn't return messages left requesting comment. Weathers declined to comment.

A four-year rally in prices for raw materials has spurred investment in commodity-trading hedge funds. They oversee $22.5 billion globally, up from $12 billion a year ago, according to London-based NewFinance Capital LLP, which invests in such funds. Trident's Cayman Islands-registered fund will trade U.S. natural gas, crude and refined oil, according to the investors.

``The problem facing investors is differentiating between these funds given the dearth of single-manager funds that have launched over the past year,'' said Neil Campbell, a fund manager at London-based Habibsons Bank Ltd., which invests in commodity funds. ``It's getting harder to pick the right ones.''

Shankman, 39, headed trading in markets from commodities to foreign exchange and equities at Enron, the world's largest energy-trading company before it went bankrupt in 2001. He then started Monotech International Inc., a Texas-based building- construction company.

Second-Biggest Bankruptcy

Weathers worked at Charlotte, North Carolina-based Duke Energy Corp. before trading energy at CenterPoint, Houston's electricity distributor.

Enron's bankruptcy was the second biggest in U.S. history, wiping out 5,000 jobs and at least $1 billion in retirement funds. Former Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Skilling was sentenced last month to 24 years and four months in prison for orchestrating a fraud that used off-the-books partnerships to hide debt and inflate income. Shankman was never indicted in the fraud.

The number of commodity-trading hedge funds rose to 95 from 70 a year ago, according to NewFinance. Hedge funds are private pools of capital that allow managers to participate substantially in the gains of the money invested.

Jean-Marc Bonnefous, the former head of commodities at BNP Paribas SA, and Bruno Syrmen, a former Barclays Capital energy trader, plan to start a commodity hedge fund by January, investors said last month. Chris Jarvis, a former energy analyst at Merrill Lynch & Co., plans to raise as much as $100 million in the next 12 months for an energy hedge fund.

Amaranth Advisors LLC, based in Greenwich, Connecticut, lost $6.5 billion in September because of wrong-way bets on natural-gas prices, the biggest-ever hedge fund loss. MotherRock LP, a $400 million fund, said in August it was winding down because of gas trades.

To contact the reporter on this story: Saijel Kishan in London at skishan@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 10, 2006 11:34 EST