Funds
The end of the year remained challenging for L/S Equity, suffering in sympathy with plunging equity markets, according to the first Weekly Brief of 2019 from Lyxor’s Cross Asset Research team. L/S Credit strategies were also caught up by widening credit spreads.
In contrast, CTAs and Global Macro strategies outperformed, defensively positioned. Attractive in a bearish scenario, they are vulnerable to a market mean- reversion, if any.
Hedge fund performance was negative in Q4. Strategies with equity market exposure such as L/S Equity and Special Situations underperformed. Their elevated weighting in global hedge fund indices dragged the performance of
Hedge funds were down 0.82 per cent in December, outperforming the MSCI AC World Index (Local) which declined 7.61 per cent over the month. A vast majority of the hedge fund managers tracked by Eurekahedge outperformed the market index in December.
On an asset-weighted basis, hedge funds lost 0.02 per cent in December, bringing their year-to-date losses to 3.74 per cent, as captured by the Mizuho Eurekahedge Hedge Fund Index (USD).
North American fund managers lost 3.29 per cent in December, as the underlying equity markets recorded their worst month of 2018. The S&P 500 index declined 9.18 per
By Donald A Steinbrugge, CFA – CEO, Agecroft Partners – The hedge fund industry is dynamic, and participants are best served by anticipating, rather than reacting to, change. Informed by our contact with more than two thousand institutional investors and hundreds of hedge fund organisations, the following is Agecroft’s 10th annual list of top trends that we anticipate for the year ahead.
Hedge fund industry reaches maturity
The good news for the hedge fund industry is that we have seen very few wholesale departures by hedge fund investors. However, we do expect very slow growth for the industry as it
High volatility in global markets kept investors away in December, according to the latest Fund Flow Index (FFI) from global funds transaction network Calastone. Investor sentiment remained cautious following continued macroeconomic and political uncertainty.
The Fund Flow Index fell to 50.1, its lowest reading since October 2016, as net inflows to UK-domiciled funds dropped to just GBP39.8 million. This is marks a drop of 99.3 per cent compared with December 2017 and is only a little over one hundredth of the average inflow each month over the last two years. December’s poor reading meant that Q4 2018 was the weakest
Fitch Ratings has launched a new integrated scoring system that shows how environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors impact individual credit rating decisions.
The new ESG Relevance Scores, which have been produced by Fitch’s analytical teams, transparently and consistently display both the relevance and materiality of ESG elements to the rating decision. They are sector-based and entity-specific.
Using a standardised and transparent scoring system, Fitch is introducing ESG Relevance Scores across all asset classes, starting with over 1,500 non-financial corporate ratings. This will be followed by banks, non-bank financial institutions, insurance, sovereigns, public finance, global infrastructure and structured finance.
Apex Group (Apex), one of the world’s top five largest fund administrators, has completed the successful integration of the Custom House business, adding USD24 billion to the group’s total assets under administration.
First announced in August 2018, the acquisition of Custom House adds over 200 employees to the Apex Group, in addition to offices in several new locations including Beijing, Chicago, Geneva, Rotterdam, Shenzhen and Sofia.
Custom House clients now have access to an additional 18 jurisdictions, as well as Apex’s renowned local service delivery model. The successful closing of this transaction adds over 200 managers and 500 funds
Nasdaq has launched a Corporate Bond exchange for listing and trading of corporate bonds which was approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on 13 November 2018.
“Fixed income investors have undergone a number of market structure and technological changes since the 2008 financial crisis, while at the same time companies have increased their issuance to take advantage of a low interest rate environment,” says Ted Bragg (pictured), head of US Fixed Income at Nasdaq. “Nasdaq-listed companies today have underwritten more than 3,000 corporate bonds, and there exists an opportunity for public companies to list their equity and debt
PEGAS, The pan-European gas trading platform operated by Powernext, has reported another strong month of trading on its spot segment with 95.4 TWh in December 2018.
The total volume traded during the last month of 2018 amounted to 158.1 TWh (December 2017: 169.3 TWh).
Spot trading volumes in December reached 95.4 TWh, which is almost equal to the previous year (95.7 TWh). Fresh from the November volume record, the Dutch TTF market still saw a sharp increase of 34% compared to the previous year (December 2017: 28.8 TWh). The German delivery zones NCG and Gaspool registered a volume of 31.9
Private investment firm Gridiron Capital has completed the sale of Quality Solutions, Inc (QSI), an asset light facilities management provider, to Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE: CWK), a global real estate services firm.
The acquisition of QSI will expand Cushman & Wakefield’s facility management capabilities and coverage across North American markets.
Headquartered in Wichita, QSI offers facilities maintenance and managed services in over 75 trades to 110,000+ locations across various end markets, through over 50,000 qualified vendors. The Company’s integrated, one-stop solution reduces a client’s total cost of ownership and enables clients to strategic plan effectively. Gridiron Capital originally invested in QSI
The European Energy Exchange (EEX) increased volumes on its power derivatives markets by 17 per cent to 273.7 TWh in December (December 2017: 234.5 TWh).
In power futures for Germany (Phelix-DE), at 159.1 TWh, trading volumes more than doubled compared to the previous year (December 2017: 72.9 TWh). Trading volumes in Austrian power futures (Phelix-AT) which have increased continuously and significantly since July 2018, reached a new record of 5.8 TWh. As a result, also the Phelix-AT contract has successfully established itself in the market and is increasingly used for hedging purposes. On the Dutch power market, trading volumes increased
