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2015 will not be any easier for fund managers from an operational perspective. The raft of regulatory reporting under Annex IV and EMIR is set to increase, depending on the size of the manager, and the barriers to entry look set to remain high for new managers; both from a compliance perspective and investor expectations on operational infrastructure.
After a lukewarm performance in 2014, where the average hedge fund returned less than 4 per cent, and large institutional investors such as CalPERS and Dutch health care sector pension fund PFZW divested their holdings, 2015 is, in many ways, a year
- 25/02/2015
Quantitative analytics firm Trade Informatics has launched TI Fact, a routing analysis technology that eliminates the agency information advantage, thereby levelling the field for buy-side institutions and asset managers.
TI Fact provides millisecond analysis, assisting clients in spotting and reacting to predatory market practices.
TI Fact is Trade Informatics’ latest development in a proprietary suite of analytics designed to deliver actionable results. Trade Informatics has saved clients billions of dollars in transaction costs. Via Trade Informatics’ revolutionary framework, asset managers can hyper-measure, evaluate and analyze their trading history to identify deficiencies and take corrective action, driving implementation shortfall lower.
“TI
- 25/02/2015
- 25/02/2015
Strong performance in Jersey’s funds sector in 2014 has seen the value of fund assets administered in the jurisdiction increase by almost one fifth year-on-year to reach the highest level in seven years.
The latest figures for Jersey’s finance industry, collated by the Jersey Financial Services Commission (JFSC) for the period ending December 2014, show that the net asset value (NAV) of funds under administration in Jersey grew by GBP23.5bn over the final quarter of last year to now stand at GBP228.9bn, representing an increase of 19% compared to December 2013 and the highest level since December 2008. In addition,
- 25/02/2015
Activist hedge funds globally are driving improvements in the share price, operating performance and governance of the companies in which they invest, according to a new paper by AIMA.
The findings are contained in a paper, titled “Unlocking Value: The Positive Role of Activist Hedge Funds”, which AIMA has produced in conjunction with the law firm Simmons & Simmons.
The report finds that:
• Activist engagement by hedge funds is positively correlated to improvements in the share price and operating performance of targeted companies.
• Activist hedge funds seek higher standards of corporate governance from the companies in which
- 25/02/2015
The Board of Directors of ALTIN AG has set the strike price of the put options to be issued as part of its share buyback programme at USD64.
The strike price is set at a 13.6% premium above the closing share price on SIX Swiss Exchange on 23 February 2015.
Each share will receive 1 put option and 10 put options will entitle the holder to sell 1 ALTIN share at the exercise price (strike price) of USD 64 to ALTIN.
The ex-date for the put options is 27 February 2015, the date when the put options will
- 25/02/2015
An innovative new platform has emerged in Pfaffikon, Switzerland that could potentially revolutionise the way investors gain access to global hedge fund managers. The platform is called Fundbase and is the brainchild of Michael Appenzeller (pictured), its co-founder and president.
“Qualified investors will have to look for alternative investments in an unprecedented investment environment. Today they very poorly advised. We are providing a gateway for these investors. With Fundbase, we feel we are at the forefront of keeping the Swiss market open for global hedge funds,” comments Appenzeller.
Fundbase Fund Services AG is the first FINMA regulated online platform to
- 24/02/2015
- 24/02/2015
“This is not another AIFMD regulation. It is much simpler, much cheaper and fairly easy to implement,” states Roman Pelka (pictured), founder of Montfort Funds, a specialist provider of Swiss fund representation services, when discussing the need to appoint a legal representative.
“The transition period provided to foreign funds to get compliant will end on the 1st of March. Thereafter there will be no way around it, except reverse solicitation but this is not really a viable option for most.”
The role of the representative is first to review the fund to ensure it is fit for distribution to qualified
- 24/02/2015
Investors are becoming increasingly aware of the fact that global markets will, at some point, move towards a higher interest rate environment. This will happen at varying speeds depending on the region, with the US and the UK most likely to raise rates before continental Europe for example.
Over the last 30 years the yield on US 10-year Treasuries has declined by around 25 basis points annually. As Michaël Malquarti, co-head of alternative investments at Syz Asset Management points out, not only has this led to a massive boost in bond prices but at the same time equity prices have
- 24/02/2015
- 24/02/2015
Liquid alternatives are one of the fastest growing areas of the asset management industry. In Europe, assets grew from EUR36bn to EUR236bn between 2008 and 2014, according to a Deutsche Bank report released last September (entitled From Alternatives to Mainstream Part Two).
By definition, liquid alternatives are dynamic trading strategies that combine the sophisticated, goal-driven strategies of the hedge fund universe with the daily liquidity, transparency and regulatory oversight of mutual funds.
At Harcourt, the alternative investments boutique of Vontobel Asset Management, the Research-Driven Strategies (RDS) team, headed up by Dr Jan Viebig (pictured), Head of Alternative Investments, has developed
- 24/02/2015
Overall, last year was a positive year for hedge funds in the sense that assets continued to grow, to the point where the industry reached USD2.8trn in total AuM. However, from a performance perspective it certainly wasn’t an easy one.
There are three aspects to explaining this. First, the beginning of 2014 saw quite strong market rotation. There were sector rotations in equity markets in March and April, leading to losses in long/short equity funds to the tune of -0.63 per cent and -0.89 per cent according to Barclayhedge.
Second, on the macro side, fundamental macro traders were positioned in
- 24/02/2015
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