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Hedge funds continued their run of positive monthly gains in September, with the HFRX Global Hedge Fund index up 0.6 per cent, extending overall gains in the third quarter to 2.2 per cent.  The top-performing strategy for the month was equities, with the HFRX Equity Hedge index up 1.5 per cent as managers were able to take advantage of benign equity market conditions and limited volatility. Returns in other strategies were more muted.   For the quarter, the HFRX Event Driven index was the stand-out strategy, extending year-to-date positive performance to 7.2 per cent.   GAM portfolio manager Anthony Lawler
Drooms has launched its new virtual data room Drooms NXG, an intuitive platform designed to increase automation of due diligence processes, for example within the framework of mergers and acquisitions, real estate transactions and IPOs. As digitisation rises so too does the potential for individual users to benefit from underlying working processes. The new virtual data room facilitates real-time document translation directly in the data room in addition to carrying out an automatic red flag analysis.   A key objective of due diligence is identifying major risks. These are known as “red flags”. With the initial release of an auto
Strategic Insight (SI) has partnered with Dow Jones allowing SI’s LiquidMetrix solution for best execution, transaction cost analysis (TCA) and surveillance services to provide clients with market surveillance services powered by Dow Jones Newswires. LiquidMetrix will use news produced by Dow Jones Newswires to provide effective market abuse detection monitoring.   The initiative complements the global TCA services already offered by LiquidMetrix and expands the applicability of the LiquidMetrix Surveillance product to a global audience.   “We are very happy to be partnering with Dow Jones on this enhancement to our service as this gives LiquidMetrix access to global news
The Royal Academy of Engineering and Man Group have appointed a new Research Chair in Machine Learning at the University of Oxford to develop machine learning and data analysis techniques for large-scale, real-world applications, including financial modelling. Professor Stephen Roberts will hold the five-year Research Chair, applying his expertise and years of experience in machine learning approaches, data analysis and statistical modelling.   Roberts currently leads the university's hub for machine learning and data analytics. This encompasses the Department of Engineering Science’s Machine Learning Research Group, a body of some 30 leading machine learning researchers, and the Oxford-Man Institute, a
Circle Partners is a global financial services specialist that provides its clients with a range of fund administration services and one-stop-shop services for start-up managers looking for the most efficient route to market.  Heading up the firm's US office in Orlando, Florida is David Payne in his role as Head of Business Development for the Americas. Payne was formerly Director of Circle Partners (BVI) before relocating to the US in August this year and prior to working in the BVI and Cayman Islands, he was a director and legal counsel at Circle Partners' London office.  Payne says that the near-term
The SEC has recently adopted amendments to its Form ADV. Included are provisions that attempt to get a clearer handle on the extent to which Advisers are using outsourced chief compliance officers, placing even greater scrutiny on smaller managers who are more inclined to outsource the CCO function.   Whereas previously Form ADV only required the identity of the CCO to be listed, item 1J on the newly updated Form ADV stipulates that fund managers must confirm whether or not they are using an outsourced CCO, and if so what their name is, the name of the firm they work
Despite the so-called uniformity of the EU, the pan-European Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) is still being interpreted and applied by individual EU Member States. In theory it is meant to act as a standard framework to oversee the activities of AIFMs, but with National Private Placement Regimes still running, overseas fund managers are finding that navigating the different reporting requirements is a minefield. Different regulators simply have different takes on the Directive.  In musical terms, AIFMD is less an ordered symphony with everyone playing to the same tune, and more a jazz ensemble.  "Some countries are saying that
Much is made of '40 Act alternative mutual funds but with their myriad investment restrictions and daily liquidity provisions, the lesser-known registered private fund could be a more compelling proposition for hedge fund managers. This is the view held by Tony Fischer, President of UMB Fund Services, whose Registered Fund Services platform provides a full turnkey solution for establishing and running a registered hedge fund. "We put the turnkey platform together over four years ago and there has been steady demand for these types of structures. Liquid alternatives haven't exactly lived up to people's expectations. The can only hold up
By Scott Price, Maitland – It is fair to say that regulatory fatigue has set in when it comes to the European Union market. This has been brought about in particular by the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD). Yet the EU remains attractive to US alternative investment managers, particularly post-Brexit. Many investors in the EU and the UK are seeking opportunities to invest in US funds and US strategies – and demand is likely to remain high during a protracted period of uncertainty following Brexit. So how can US managers access the lucrative EU market and reduce the barriers
Service providers are becoming more of a strategic partner to their hedge fund clients as they look to provide a suite of services that go beyond a single solution proposition.  In the past, an administrator's primary function was to strike the fund's NAV and provide investor statements. Times, though, have changed. "Service providers are viewed by managers much more broadly today and we are really aimed at becoming a partner with our clients. Not only are we able to help managers overcome the myriad of regulatory filings they may face, but we want to help them evolve which has required

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