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Singapore Exchange (SGX) today welcomed Taiwan-based Hua Nan Futures Co Ltd has become a Trading Member of the Singapore Exchange’s (SGX) derivatives market.
Established in 1994, Hua Nan Futures is a unit of Hua Nan Financial Holdings and its businesses include the brokerage of derivatives both onshore and offshore. SGX is the first exchange that the Taipei-based company has applied to for remote membership.
Michael Syn, Head of Derivatives at SGX, says: “We are pleased to welcome Hua Nan Futures to our growing community of members as we enhance the global network of our derivatives market. Their participation will
- 22/06/2017
Up until recently, machine intelligence could only be used by large sell-side institutions and sophisticated quantitative trading groups to improve how they operated in the marketplace. But as technology advances continue to push the depth and breadth of machine learning capabilities, it is allowing financial firms of all shapes and sizes to improve their compliance and trading capabilities.
Such is the importance of machine intelligence that it has the capacity to help clients improve their business models by finding new meanings in data, from the front to the back office, and then convert those insights into performance returns.
Machine-driven insights
- 22/06/2017
Luxembourg is one of the world’s leading onshore domiciles where, over the last 30 years, it has become the default option for managers wishing to establish UCITS funds. It is, by size, the world’s second largest fund centre after the US, and, from a funds expertise perspective, offers managers everything they need; not just for UCITS funds but also unregulated or regulated alternative fund structures under AIFMD.
Through February 2017, total Assets under Management (AuM) for Luxembourg funds had risen 13.6 per cent year-on-year to EUR3.86 trillion, according to the latest statistics by the Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry.
- 21/06/2017
Typically there are three options for managing external money: using managed accounts, setting up a dedicated fund structure or launching a fund on a regulated fund platform.
The latter is best thought of as a halfway house option and is particularly suitable to those launching with EUR10 to EUR30 million in AUM, or even less. The beauty of the fund platform is not only does it provide efficient speed to market, it allows fund managers to concentrate on what they are good at, operating with a lean team that helps to keep management company costs to a minimum.
The Lawson
- 21/06/2017
- 21/06/2017
MPL Management (Luxembourg) SA is a third-party `Super Management Company’ providing fund governance, operational support and oversight to both UCITS funds and AIFs. It is part of MPL Group, founded by William Jones in 2006, who has, over the past 26 years, helped set up more than 100 funds in his career.
In 2008, Jones decided upon Luxembourg as his preferred European base for directorship services. At the time, he had no specific interest in setting up a management company.
“The premise I operate from – and why I refer to MPL as the `anti-ManCo’ ManCo – is that the
- 21/06/2017
- 21/06/2017
Regulatory reporting has become a critical component of running an alternative investment fund. This requires well-developed data sourcing and data management processes to help ensure that fund managers remain compliant.
Until a few years ago, there were no formal regulatory reporting requirements on the part of alternative investment managers. Following the financial crisis in 2008, the European Union tried to figure out a reporting mechanism to obtain a clear handle on the size of the alternative investments industry, and the degree of counterparty exposure that exists.
The European Union subsequently introduced the AIFM Directive, within which Annex IV reporting can
- 21/06/2017
- 21/06/2017
When setting up as a new hedge fund manager, one of the most important relationships to establish is that of the prime broker. With banks facing regulatory pressures in the form of Basel 3, many are re-appraising their client book to ensure that they are getting a suitable return on investment for the balance sheet they provide. Consequently, the first point for start-ups to focus on is to articulate what they will be doing with the fund they are planning to launch.
“They should have a well developed outline of the investment strategy, investment process and the type of portfolio
- 21/06/2017
- 21/06/2017
Across most EU jurisdictions, either the management company or the AIF needs to be licensed and requires some form of approval process. The Netherlands, however, is the exception to the rule. Under its light regime, neither needs to be licensed or supervised at all. This makes it a fast, efficient and cost-effective option for start-up managers.
Provided the manager runs an AIF with less than EUR100 million in AUM, he can avoid licensing and apply for an exemption, although he will be subject to certain registration and reporting obligations. For example, the manager must include a selling restriction in a
- 21/06/2017
- 21/06/2017
Malta hosts a wide range of service providers, all of whom are well versed in structuring and supporting alternative investment funds, fund administration, risk management and so on. According to the MFSA’s statistics for Q1 2017, Malta had 26 recognised fund administrators, 115 Category 2 investment services groups, and 153 Company Service Providers.
From a fund launch perspective, a total of 21 Professional Investment Funds (PIFs) were licensed and three Notified Alternative Investment Funds (NAIFs).
“Overall, for the past 12 months fund formations in Malta have been strong,” says Nicholas Warren, Manager, Corporate Services, Chetcuti Cauchi Advocates. “We’ve seen
- 21/06/2017
- 21/06/2017
Traditionally, Luxembourg’s fund industry has always been based on the products being regulated. Both UCITS funds, and Specialised Investment Funds (SIFs) under AIFMD, work on this premise. However, the Grand Duchy was quick to realise that given AIFMD is manager regulation, it created a double layer of regulation for alternative investment fund managers (AIFMs) wishing to run alternative investment fund (AIF) products.
As Kavitha Ramachandran (pictured), Senior Manager Business Development & Client Management at Maitland, explains, this was a potential problem where time to market was essential.
“This is what led to the creation of the Reserved Alternative Investment Fund
- 21/06/2017
- 21/06/2017
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