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The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published an annual report (Report) on its direct supervisory activities in 2014 regarding credit rating agencies (CRAs) and trade repositories (TR).  The report summarises the key actions taken during 2014 and outlines ESMA’s supervisory work plans for both sectors for 2015. ESMA is now responsible for overseeing the activities of 27 registered and certified CRAs in the EU. As part of its supervisory work in 2014 ESMA concluded its investigation into the issue of structured finance ratings, completed a review of small and medium-sized CRAs and conducted work regarding sovereign ratings. In
Euronext has signed a license agreement with the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) providing the JSE with the right to list the flagship Milling Wheat contract currently traded on Euronext.   The aim of the agreement is to extend access to the global benchmark Milling Wheat contract by broadening its international exposure to a wider audience.    In this context, through partnering with the largest exchange in the region, the agreement also extends Euronext’s reach into Africa, which according to International Monetary Fund forecasts, will be the world’s second fastest-growing region next year, expanding 5.75 per cent.   The license agreement
Healthcare costs continue to spiral out of control and yet still achieve relatively poor outcomes, says Richard A Kimball Jr (pictured), CEO of HEXL… It’s a dysfunctional system that I believe is primed for change. A new incentive paradigm is emerging. The era of preventive medicine and home health monitoring is on the rise. An interesting concept has come to light recently as telemedicine continues to improve and evolve. Due to the variety of ways technology can be utilised in patient care, now the traditional house call – which seems to have gone a little out of practice in recent
Alternative asset manager and investment adviser, Absolute Return Partners (ARP) has strengthened its research team with the appointment of Alison Major Lépine as investment manager.  Reporting to Nick Rees, managing partner, she will start at ARP’s Richmond offices on 9 March.   Lépine joins ARP after spending almost 10 years as an investment manager at Railpen Investments, the GBP18bn industry-wide Railways Pension Scheme. During this time she was responsible for the Scheme's hedge fund investments, as well as managing and researching other strategies. Before Railpen, she was a portfolio manager on the multi-manager products at IKEA family office, IKANO Advisory
ConceptONE has facilitated the successful submission of AIFMD Annex IV filings for clients in multiple EU jurisdictions utilising its RegERM platform.  “Our team assisted our numerous clients to meet the Annex IV challenge utilising our proprietary technology, superior service and deep knowledge of the regulatory reporting protocols. Despite a number of unexpected hurdles with the NCA electronic platforms, our professional team was able to shepherd our clients’ submissions through on a timely basis,” says ConceptONE President and cofounder, R Dan Connell. “The primary reason for this success was rooted in ConceptONE’s Regulatory Enterprise Risk Management approach to reporting.” Successfully navigating Annex
In the context of the release of the inflation report on Feb 12th, the BoE decided to remove the effective 0.5% floor for its benchmark interest rate. The December inflation figure, at 0.5% yoy, was actually the lowest number registered in the past 15 years. Against this backdrop, hedge funds have increased their short positioning on the GBPUSD over the last three months.
Towers Watson’s institutional investment clients allocated over USD8bn to smart beta strategies in 2014, bringing the total exposure to around USD40bn (in 550 portfolios), across a range of asset classes.  This compares to its clients having a USD32bn exposure to smart beta strategies at the end of 2013 and USD20bn in 2012, according to the company’s global investment manager selection data.   Luba Nikulina, global head of manager research at Towers Watson, says: “Interest in thinking smartly about betas within portfolios remains high but there is a considerable degree of caution about the proliferation of products labelled “smart beta”. We
Eurex Exchange has enhanced its dividend derivatives product suite with the launch of 31 new single stock dividend futures in two phases. Since 26 January, 17 new single stock dividend futures based on German, French, Dutch and Italian companies have been available. Additionally, 14 new contracts based on British and Swiss stocks have been tradable since 2 February. The majority of the companies are mid-cap firms operating in 11 countries with a track record of sizeable dividend payments, which can be hedged with listed derivatives contracts including central clearing. The latest extension increases the total number of single stock dividend
Clients of Watts Capital Partners, an independent wealth management firm based in New York City, can now invest in leading hedge funds through an alliance with Crystal Capital Partners and Deer Isle Capital. Crystal Capital offers financial advisors the ability to develop customiSed hedge fund portfolios tailored to meet each investor’s specific objectives, supported by rigorous due diligence, research, analytics, portfolio optimiSation tools, and operational support. “Crystal allows our clients to invest in institutional-quality hedge fund managers for much lower investment minimums than would be required otherwise,” says Watts Capital’s CEO Thomas Watts. “For our high net worth clients, Crystal
Aggregate hedge fund performance was -0.03% in January, outperforming the S&P 500 by 297 basis points, according to eVestment’s latest hedge fund performance report. That was the highest level of outperformance since January 2014 and second most since the second flare of the European sovereign crisis in May 2012.  Managed futures funds gained an additional 3.04% in January and have returned 9.07% in the last six months. The magnitude of recent monthly returns is reminiscent of periods prior to global market volatility. Specifically, the rolling six month returns for the universe last accelerated to current levels in Q1 2011, just

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