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Conestoga Capital Advisors has added Derek Johnston, CFA, and Larry Carlin, CFA, to the firm.  Both will serve as Equity Research Analysts and support Conestoga's research of small- and mid-capitalisation stocks. Johnston is joining Conestoga from 300 North Capital, a growth-equity investment manager based in Pasadena, CA.  At 300 North Capital, he served as a Co-Portfolio Manager for the firm's SMid Cap Growth and Small Cap Growth strategies.  Prior to 300 North Capital, Johnston worked at Engemann Asset Management and Banc of America Securities.  Johnston brings a total of nineteen years of investment experience to Conestoga.  He has a Bachelor
The Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry (ALFI) has appointed Denise Voss as chairman of ALFI. Voss takes up the position, which will initially run for two years, with immediate effect.  “I am very excited about this appointment,” says Voss. “The asset management industry in Europe has gone through dramatic change over the past few years, with extensive regulation that has been put in place following the crisis, and ALFI has played a key role in working through the implementation of this regulation.”    ”Going forward, we face different challenges, for instance, from the greying of the population and more
May proved to be a tricky month for CTAs. According to Lyxor index figures, long term and short term CTAs were the only two strategies to post negative returns, down -0.95 per cent and -3.71 per cent respectively. Although they are still in positive territory, CTAs have not quite been able to kick on from the strong gains they made towards the end of 2014.  According to Lyxor, the majority of the drawdown suffered in May occurred during the first week due in large part to long USD positions, long US and EU bond positions, and shorts on commodities. What
Schroders has launched Schroder GAIA BSP Credit, an externally-managed fund on its GAIA platform managed by Benefit Street Partners (BSP), the debt investment arm of Providence Equity Partners.  The fund is a fundamental credit long short strategy that applies a bottom-up approach, combining deep credit analysis, sophisticated structuring and active trading to maximise expected returns while limiting downside risk. Investing primarily in global high yield corporate credit with a focus in the US, the fund will aim to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns in both up and down markets and provide investors with an absolute return of 5-7 per cent per
Dedicated real estate secondaries vehicles that have successfully raised capital are concentrated among just a few established managers, more so than with private equity secondaries vehicles. Between 2003 and May 2015, a total of 21 real estate secondaries funds attained a final close, securing an aggregate USD10.1 billion; almost two-thirds of this capital was secured by just five managers. Read the full factsheet here, containing more analysis alongside charts and tables featuring the latest Preqin data.
Elliptic has launched ‘The Bitcoin Big Bang’, an interactive visualisation that plots the emergence and interconnectivity of the key players in bitcoin since its genesis in 2009. While the full transaction history of every bitcoin in existence (the blockchain) has always been a matter of public record, until now, the ownership of individual addresses has remained largely anonymous. This has allowed illicit marketplaces such as The Silk Road to proliferate and discouraged bitcoin’s mainstream adoption by the finance industry.   Elliptic CEO, Dr James Smith, says: “If digital currency is to take its legitimate place in the enterprise it inevitably
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) has issued its recommendations on global data harmonisation to the CPMI IOSCO Harmonisation working group, detailing a proposed path towards a global data harmonisation, with credit derivatives identified as the first step.  The approach involves harmonising approximately 30 data fields across global trade repository providers, essentially creating a global data dictionary; these fields are viewed as critical to financial stability and systemic risk analysis. This recommendation is in alignment with ISDA’s perspectives on data quality, and DTCC believes this approach provides a path forward to promote more active dialogue between CPMI IOSCO and
International law firm Simmons & Simmons has unveiled the first dedicated online resource for start-up hedge fund managers, LaunchPlus, which supports emerging managers in the launch and operation of a new hedge fund management business.  The resource has been created by a dedicated team within the firm’s award-winning hedge fund practice.   Richard Perry, head of the firm’s Financial Services group, says: “We have designed this resource to help today’s emerging investment managers tackle the considerable number of decision points and workstreams involved in setting up from scratch. Simmons & Simmons LaunchPlus provides essential resources to help start-up managers get
Hedge funds have continued their run of solid performance with a fifth straight positive month, returning 1.01 per cent in May, according to the latest figures released by Preqin. This means hedge  funds have now returned 5.44 per cent for 2015 YTD, compared to 4.60 per cent for the whole of 2014.  All leading single-manager hedge fund strategies  made gains in May, with equity strategies generating the highest  return of 1.28 per cent.  CTA funds have suffered a second consecutive negative month in May (-0.07%), however the strategy is still positive for the year (+2.68%).
Padraig Hoare (pictured) has joined Elian Fund Services as an associate director.  Hoare, 47, has more than 25 years’ industry experience, including 20 years in management positions in the financial services industry in Cayman. His focus at Elian will be on providing governance and oversight services to alternative investment funds. ‘I am looking forward to using my knowledge and experience to provide sound and personalised corporate governance services to clients, leveraging off the extensive knowledge and skills of those in the fiduciary services team and adding value wherever possible,’ he says. Before joining Elian, Hoare, a chartered accountant, was global

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