Funds
UCITS and AIFs recorded net sales of EUR 40 billion in Q3 2018, up from EUR31 billion in Q2, according to the latest Quarterly Statistical Release from The European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA).
Equity, multi-asset funds and other funds registered net inflows of EUR17 billion, EUR20 billion and EUR27 billion, respectively. Bond and money market funds meanwhile recorded net outflows of EUR 10 billion and EUR14 billion, respectively.
UCITS registered net sales of EUR3 billion in Q3 2018, compared to EUR15 billion in Q2. Long-term UCITS, ie UCITS excluding money market funds, recorded net inflows of EUR16
The European Energy Exchange (EEX) increased volumes on its power derivatives markets by 26 per cent to 349.5 TWh in November (November 2017: 276.6 TWh).
This was driven partly by a threefold increase in Phelix-DE futures to a volume of 222.6 TWh as well as power futures for Spain, which more than doubled to a volume of 11.2 TWh.
On 12 November 2018 EEX introduced a range of short-term products on the power derivatives. Market participants can now trade cleared Romanian week contracts as well as day and week contracts in Dutch and Czech Power. Until the end of
Alternative investment firm Värde Partners has held the final close of the Värde Asia Credit Fund with approximately USD400 million of committed capital. The fund, which exceeded its USD250 million target and closed after six months, is the firm’s first Asia-dedicated vehicle.
The fund has the flexibility to invest across corporate credit, special situations lending, and stressed and distressed real estate investments throughout Asia Pacific.
Värde expects the opportunity set to be driven by structural and cyclical factors in the region, including bank retrenchment and less developed capital markets, as well as sectors with high leverage and slowed growth
Calastone, the global fund transaction network, is to migrate its entire global network of more than 1,700 financial organisations, across 40 global markets, to blockchain in May 2019 via the company’s new Distributed Market Infrastructure (DMI).
The migration connects one of the largest communities of global financial organisations using distributed ledger technology, marking a significant step for the digitalising of the funds sector.
The DMI creates a global funds marketplace, in which buyers and sellers can connect and transact. It creates an ecosystem within which the trading, settlement and servicing of funds is friction free, eliminating ever-growing risk and
ZEDRA, a global provider of trust, corporate and fund services, has acquired the JP Integra Group (JP Integra), a Cayman-based provider of fund, corporate and trustee services.
JP Integra, which currently has in excess of USD6 billion in assets under administration, has particular expertise in assisting international private, institutional and sovereign clients with all aspects of structuring and operating structures for joint ventures, wealth management, asset protection and collective investments.
The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to complete in the first half of 2019, substantially increases ZEDRA’s capabilities in providing the most appropriate structuring
The recent losses posted by Greater China equity fund managers nearly depleted their relative outperformance over their North American counterparts accumulated since the end of 2016, according to figures released by Eurekhedge.
Owing to the underlying regional equity market rally, equity fund managers focusing on Greater China region returned 32.06 per cent in 2017, vastly outperforming equity fund managers focusing on North America, who returned an average of 9.70 per cent.
However, the Greater China mandate has been under severe pressure from the ongoing trade tension and weak currency. The Eurekahedge Greater China Long Short Equities Hedge Fund Index
The State Street Global Investor Confidence Index decreased to 82.7 in November, down 1.7 points from October’s revised reading of 84.4.
Confidence among North American investors further weakened, with the North American ICI decreasing from 81.6 to 79.2. The European ICI had a small up-tick of 0.4 points to 91.9 while the Asia ICI increased by 2.6 points to 102.2.
The Investor Confidence Index was developed by Kenneth Froot and Paul O’Connell at State Street Associates, State Street Global Exchange’s research and advisory services business. It measures investor confidence or risk appetite quantitatively by analysing the actual buying and
Multi-asset prime broker Invast Global is to continue its support for the Qantas Australian Women’s Sevens team for the upcoming HSBC Sevens Women’s World Series campaign.
Invast’s logo will feature on the shorts of the Aussie Sevens Women’s side.
Rugby Australia Chief Commercial Officer, Cameron Murray, says: “We’re very proud to be continuing the partnership between Invast Global and our Qantas Australian Women’s Sevens squad.
“The partnership comes in a crucial year for Rugby Sevens and it is a credit to Invast Global that they are excited to partner with one of the flagship Rugby Sevens sides globally,
London-based derivatives analytics company, OpenGamma is expanding its business into North America.
The firm’s expansion plans come as regulatory and macroeconomic pressures continue to hit hedge funds and asset managers with offices all over the world. Specific rules on clearing houses means that hedge fund managers can now be charged additional margin known as ‘liquidity add-on’ which can increase the cost of margin by 70 per cent. This increase is inadvertently hitting end investor returns as hedge funds continue to lock down more and more capital.
Market participants in the US are also facing pressures from the uncertainty surrounding
MTS Markets International, part of the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), and BondCliQ, a corporate bond market data solution, have launched Liquidity Mapping for BondCliQ’s BondTiQ platform.
The tool allows users to view pre- and post-trade information on US corporate bond liquidity. It combines MTS BondsPro’s comprehensive real-time pricing information with BondTiQ’s data visualisation technology and TRACE data.


BondCliQ offers US institutional investors access to high quality pre-trade and post-trade data for the institutional market. The new tool provides a multi-dimensional interface that supports execution requirements by allowing users to identify sources of liquidity effectively and quickly assess fair value
