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Crédit Agricole CIB, the Corporate & Investment Banking arm of the Crédit Agricole Group, is a new user of EurexOTC Clear for Interest Rate Swaps (IRS), a service offered by Eurex Clearing, part of the Deutsche Börse Group. 

 Arnaud d’Intignano, Head of Transversal Functions Group within the Global Market Division at Crédit Agricole CIB, says: “Joining EurexOTC Clear confirms Crédit Agricole CIB’s commitment to be present where the bank’s European clients choose to clear their OTC derivatives to comply with the EMIR clearing obligation. We are already a clearing member of Eurex Repo and Eurex Bonds. This extended membership will
Seed CX has constructed the first industrial hemp derivative contracts, which will be traded on its platform, subject to regulatory approval by the CFTC.  Edward Woodford, CEO at Seed, says: “We are focused on risk mitigation tools for the industry including crop insurance and derivatives hedging capabilities. One of the key steps to this process is helping to create an active cash market and generate economic research.”   The contracts have been developed in conjunction with research conducted at Harvard Law School, assisted by faculty at MIT’s Sloan School of Management.   Woodford says: “We are excited to have developed
A great number of the world's more than 13,000 alternative investment funds suffer from "Fund Manager's Disease," which significantly prevents those funds from increasing assets under management (AUM). That’s according to Ole Rollag, managing principal of Murano Systems who, in his keynote presentation at the Amsterdam Investor Forum hosted by ABN Amro Bank, said that and on an industry-wide basis, the ‘disease’ serves to limit the adoption of alternative asset classes by institutional investors.   At a by-invitation-only session for global fund managers held at ABN AMRO Bank's headquarters in The Netherlands, Rollag noted that: "Because a fund's Chief Investment
Hedge funds returned -2.60 per cent in January as the asset class recorded its worst monthly performance since 2012, with macro hedge funds the only top-level strategy to post positive returns at 0.98 per cent, according to Preqin. In a month when leading equity indices posted significant losses — the S&P 500 posted -5.07 per cent and MSCI World posted -6.05 per cent — hedge funds pursuing equity strategies returned -4.28 per cent.   By contrast, CTAs started 2016 with returns of 1.38 per cent, their best monthly performance since they made gains of 3.75 per cent in January 2015.
Victory Park Capital (VPC), an investment firm focused on private middle market debt and equity investments, has appointed Upacala Mapatuna as chief investment officer. Upacala will bring more than 20 years of financial industry experience and over 15 years of investing experience to VPC. “We have known Upacala for many years and are thrilled that she has chosen to join VPC’s leadership team. She is well-respected in our industry with proven investment acumen that will position us for continued success,” said Richard Levy, CEO and founder of VPC. “Upacala will be able to contribute immediately and we view her joining us as a validation of our investment strategy.”   As chief investment officer, Upacala will sit on VPC’s investment and management committees
SimCorp has released version 5.9 of SimCorp Dimension, the first of two annual releases. Along with numerous other modules, new features, and further integration across the entire value chain, the release introduces new advanced additions to SimCorp’s Asset Manager. The analytics functionality in the Asset Manager is now enriched with accounting analytics and tax lots enabling portfolio managers to measure and analyse data to better advise their clients on the accounting and tax implications of their investment decisions. The accounting analytics are particularly valuable to the insurance industry, and the tax lot visibility is particularly beneficial in countries such as
MUFG Investor Services, the global asset servicing arm of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, has appointed Mark Catalano (pictured) as Executive Director, Business Development. Catalano will be responsible for driving new client engagement in the Americas with MUFG Investor Services’ asset servicing solutions. These solutions include fund administration, middle-office outsourcing, custody, depository, trustee, fund of hedge fund financing, FX and wider banking services. He will report into John Sergides, Managing Director, Global Head of Business Development & Marketing.   Formerly Head of US Business Development at Atlas Fund Services, Catalano brings a wealth of experience in understanding the needs of alternative
Institutional trading desks are approaching alternative trading systems with more caution and, at times, even skepticism, according to the Greenwich Associates  2015 Trade Desk Optimisation Study. And that’s despite dark pools’ share of total US equity volume holding steady at 14 per cent from 2014 to 2015. “Traders are less likely to accept at face value the quality of execution they receive from dark pools,” says John Colon (pictured), Managing Director at Greenwich Associates, and author of a new report, What Lies Beneath: A Deep Dive Into US Equity Dark Pool Perceptions.   When asked about the pros and cons
Unigestion has hired a fund investment team from the London-based hedge fund group Cube Capital. As part of the deal, Unigestion has acquired the long/short fund managed by the team which identifies equity and credit opportunities linked to market dislocations. The investment strategy of the fund will remain unchanged under the continued management of the team, which has achieved, as at the end of December 2015, an annualised return of 13.1 per cent with annualised volatility of 8.5 per cent since inception in May 2009. The team joining Unigestion to run the strategy is made up of Nicholas Linnane, Investment
Emerging markets asset management firm The Rohatyn Group (TRG) has appointed Christopher Seaver as a Partner. Seaver is a 24-year veteran in the industry with extensive experience in Asia-Pacific markets. Based in TRG’s Hong Kong office, Seaver will be responsible for oversight of the firm’s regional initiatives in Asia including new business development and management of existing and new strategic partnerships. He will also serve on TRG’s Executive Committee.   Nicolas Rohatyn, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of TRG, says: “The addition of Chris to our leadership team reflects TRG’s continued enthusiasm for the dynamism of Asia’s diverse

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