HONG KONG, July 7 (Reuters) - Reorient Group Ltd, a Hong Kong-based financial services firm controlled by a fund backed by Chinese billionaire Jack Ma, said it expected to post a much wider loss for first- half 2016 as it increased spending on staffing and technology.

The firm, due to release first-half results in August, said in a filing to the Hong Kong bourse late on Wednesday that it expected to record a consolidated net loss in excess of HK$220 million ($28 million) for the first half, compared with a net loss of HK$52.18 million for the same period in 2015.

A decrease in consultancy and advisory revenue from its corporate finance business and a drop in the value of financial assets during the period also hit earnings, Reorient said.

A fund backed by Ma, who prospered with the rise of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, agreed to invest HK$2.7 billion ($348 million) take a controlling 56 percent stake in Reorient in June last year.

($1 = 7.7575 Hong Kong dollars) (Reporting by Donny Kwok; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)