Funds
Hedge fund managers ended September 2019 mostly flat, with the equal-weighted index down 0.13 per cent and the asset-weighted index up 0.15 per cent, according to data released by Eurekahedge.
The continuation of the US-China trade talks and the ECB’s stimulus measures provided support for both equities and bonds early into the month. However, the impeachment inquiry against Trump acted as a headwind toward the month’s end.
CTA/managed futures funds meanwhile, ended the month down 2.20 per cent as managers struggled to generate profit amid the volatile oil market following the attack on Aramco’s facilities. On a year-to-date basis
The Citco Group of Companies (Citco) has expanded partnership with Solovis, a multi-asset class portfolio management, analytics and reporting platform for asset owners and allocators.
The strategic partnership with Solovis spans business, technology and services and includes an equity investment in Solovis. This relationship enhances the performance reporting and analytics services currently provided by Citco Institutional Services, the firm’s investment record-keeping and reporting team for institutional investors.
The expanded relationship builds upon the two firms’ existing partnership, in place for over a year, and extends the capabilities of the Citco Institutional Services business line, which was launched in June
Confluence Technologies, a specialist in investment data management automation for regulatory, financial and investor reporting, has acquired StatPro Group, a provider of cloud-based portfolio analytics, asset data services and data management tools for the global asset management industry and asset management service providers.
Confluence has acquired the entire issued and to be issued ordinary share capital of StatPro in an all-cash offer of approximately GBP161.1 million (over USD207 million USD). The transaction brings together two highly complementary businesses to create a leading supplier of front, middle and back-office solutions to asset managers and administrators.
Mark Evans, Confluence Founder and CEO, says:
The global ETF and ETP sector extended its lead in terms of assets over the global hedge fund industry to USD2.54 trillion at the end of Q3 2019, an increase of 2.52 per cent since of Q2 2019, according to ETFGI.
Year to date through the end of Q3 the HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index has returned 6.81 per cent underperforming the S&P 500 Index with dividends which has delivered 20.54 per cent.
Hedge fund suffered net outflows of USD6.8 billion in Q3 while ETFs/ETPs gathered net inflows of USD140.79 billion.
Assets invested in the global ETF/ETP industry first surpassed
Investing in equities can be a wild ride. Like any rollercoaster you’ve ever ridden, the slow climb up is a serene experience. The higher you get, the better the view. Wonderful. Then you descend, the G force kicks in, and you start to scream with exhilaration; fear and adrenaline forming a heady mix.
Hedge fund investing, by analogy, is less a rollercoaster ride, and more a steady drive in a Rolls Royce; designed specifically to get the investor to their end destination as smoothly as possible.
Despite this, traditional media continue to compare hedge funds to equities which are having
CMC Markets, a spread betting and contracts for difference (CFD) provider, has further expanded its range of bespoke indices, with the addition of 12 new forex baskets to its platform, offering clients a way to gain a diversified exposure to a dozen worldwide economies.
The new indices are bespoke to CMC and have been constructed on a trade-weighted basis, with the stability and liquidity of each currency pair within the index being taken into account. This helps ensure consistent pricing can be delivered, even in volatile markets, while the maximum weighting of any one cross has been capped at 40
JP Morgan Asset Management has held the final closing of its Lynstone Special Situations Fund (Lynstone), with USD1.06 billion in capital raised from a broad set of global investors comprising of pension funds, insurance companies, banks, foundations, endowments and family offices across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
More than half of investors are first-time investors in a JP Morgan Alternatives fund.
Lynstone will invest in stressed, distressed and event driven situations across North American and European private and public credit markets, where underlying assets are discounted due to illiquidity or market disruption and where an event
Style Analytics, a provider of factor-based portfolio and market analytical tools for investment professionals, has launched a new ESG factor simulation tool to help clients optimise the impact of ESG within their portfolios in collaboration with Sustainalytics, a specialist in ESG research, ratings and analysis.
Bolstering its long-standing ESG offering with new ESG data and analyses, Style Analytics now supports portfolio ESG guideline monitoring, portfolio-level ESG risk analysis, quick identification of portfolio investments in sustainable and ‘red-flag’ securities along with new ESG ‘what-if’ analysis. The Sustainalytics ESG data also enhances the Style Skyline which now provides traditional fundamental equity factor
GP Bullhound has invested USD10 million in RavenPack, a provider of alternative data and insights for financial institutions.
The company’s database, comprising over 19,000 sources spanning over 20 years, is used by financial institutions who subscribe to the platform in order to enhance performance and manage risk. RavenPack will use the proceeds to expand in Asia, as well as to go into other sectors beyond financial services.
RavenPack’s platform is used by some of the best performing hedge funds and largest banks worldwide. RavenPack uses AI to turn highly fragmented unstructured content into organised structured data for easier analysis
RWC Partners has launched the RWC Diversified Return Fund after the hiring of the senior members of multi-strategy specialists Agilis Investment Management LLP.
The Diversified Returns Team led by Clark Fenton, along with colleagues Charles Crowson and Praveen Kanakamedala, has a distinct investment approach which aims to harness the best elements of alternative investment management whilst reducing cost and providing frequent liquidity.
The RWC Diversified Return Fund is anchored around the credit cycle and has the remit to invest in non-conventional structures to capture idiosyncratic returns across the full market cycle, exploiting opportunities in periods of market dislocation.
