Abraxas Capital Management, a specialist quantitative hedge fund manager, is to transfer the hedge fund administration mandate for its Abraxas Fund to LaSalle Global Fund Services Europe a
Abraxas Capital Management, a specialist quantitative hedge fund manager, is to transfer the hedge fund administration mandate for its Abraxas Fund to LaSalle Global Fund Services Europe ahead of a marketing campaign designed to expand the fund.
LaSalle Global Fund Services took over the mandate at the beginning of April. Previously Jersey-based Dominion acted as fund administrator while GlobeOp was the valuation agent and provider of middle- and back-office services. The fund, which is managed by Fabio Frontini and has assets of EUR51m, follows a discretionary macro strategy through short-dated options.
LaSalle will act as both administrator and a valuation services agent to the Abraxas Fund, and will provide fund data accessible online. LaSalle’s remit will have a major focus on automation of all elements of the net asset value calculation process.
The fund aims to deliver an average return of 500 basis points above Euribor, with an annualised volatility of between 2 and 6 per cent. Since its launch in March 2003, the fund has delivered a total return of 33.2 per cent.
The Abraxas Fund is Jersey domiciled, carries a minimum investment of EUR250,000 and is listed on the Irish Stock Exchange. Abraxas Capital is aiming to increase the fund’s capacity later this year.
‘LaSalle Global Fund Services Europe is the best placed to help us grow this fund,’ says Abraxas chief executive Stefano Ruggiero. ‘They have a very strong presence in Jersey, and they are able to provide all the required services in one offering, so they can act as a one-stop shop for the fund.
‘We also needed an administrator with the infrastructure needed to handle the demands of a larger fund, and LaSalle can provide the technology platform and staffing expertise we need to expand the fund’s capacity.’
Abraxas Capital was established in 1996 by Luca Celati and Frontini, who now serves as investment manager of the Abraxas Fund, and currently has more than EUR100m in assets under management.
