Funds
Dromeus Capital, an emerging markets investment specialist, is to invest EUR200 million in Greek Commercial Real Estate assets. Prices for commercial real estate assets have fallen sharply since their peak before the Greek financial crisis and yields are amongst the highest in Europe.
The fund is the second Greek-focused fund launched by Dromeus; the first, Dromeus Greek Advantage, has returned an annualised 15.17 per cent since its launch in October 2012.
Dromeus says the fund will focus on the acquisition of undervalued office properties in prime locations in central Athens and that the current market conditions are creating ideal
Saemor Capital’s Saemor Europe Alpha Fund gained another 1.1 per cent in May, bringing year-to-date gains to 3.7 per cent.
From a style perspective the month was dominated by a substantial under-performance from value factors.
Saemor Capital writes: “Our model is well diversified and the good performance from momentum and quality compensated for value. In addition our tactical positioning – overweight earnings momentum and quality – helped further. Since markets rose steadily till 22 May and then saw a rather sharp correction towards the end of the month, factor performances and top and bottom stock contributions were mixed.
Ampersand Portfolio Solutions has published a new white paper in its series entitled ‘Looking Under the Hood’.
The latest paper provides an in-depth look at the details associated with structuring overlays as a way to hedge equity-related risk. In prior white papers, The Risk Contribution of Stocks, Parts 1-3, Ampersand introduced a concept to diversify beyond stocks and bonds without having to sell the stock/bond portfolio holdings.
This new paper goes further, the firm writes, and shines a light on ways to structure a dynamic futures-based equity hedging strategy designed to mitigate downside equity risk. Ampersand Portfolio Solutions, a
A new foundation focused on using a blockchain protocol to track and measure impact investing has been created by Dr Shaun Conway, a medical doctor and former adviser to the World Health Organisation.
Impact investing is rapidly growing in popularity, with USD114 billion worth of impact investing assets under management according to a recent survey by the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN).
Conway explains that he has been working on the ixo foundation concept for the past 10 years, the protocol for the past five years and then he founded the ixo foundation just under a year ago.
The flash estimate for the Barclay CTA Index, compiled by BarclayHedge, indicates a 0.24 per cent loss in May. Year to date, the Index is down 1.76 per cent.
“Large system traders were the hardest hit by trend reversals in fixed income, energy, sugar and cocoa prices,” says Sol Waksman (pictured), founder and president of BarclayHedge.
The new MPI Barclay Elite Systematic Traders Index (MBEST) lost 1.85 per cent in May, Diversified Traders were down 0.64 per cent, Financials and Metals Traders lost 0.44 per cent, and Systematic Traders gave up 0.44 per cent.
“The larger funds are
Fintech specialist Broadridge Financial Solutions is to be added to the S&P 500 Index at the opening of trading on Monday 18 June 2018.
“We are honoured to join the important companies that comprise the S&P 500,” says Rich Daly, CEO of Broadridge. “This reflects the recognition by the investment community of the importance of the work we do to power investing, governance and communications through leading technology-driven solutions. It is also an enormous testament to the hard work and dedication of our associates, our focus on our clients and our commitment to the service-profit chain.”
Broadridge technology links
The gross return of the SS&C GlobeOp Hedge Fund Performance Index for May 2018 measured 1.57 per cent, while hedge fund flows as measured by the SS&C GlobeOp Capital Movement Index advanced 0.52 per cent in June.
“SS&C GlobeOp’s Capital Movement Index for June 2018 rose 0.52 per cent, reflecting positive net flows. While this increase was smaller than the 1.25 per cent gain seen for the same period a year ago in June 2017, it should be noted this comparison was against a very strong result, as the June 2017 gain was the largest single month’s flows since August 2013,” says Bill Stone (pictured),
Rational Funds, a family of funds rooted in the investment philosophy of applying a rational approach to investing, has launched the Rational Funds Income Opportunities Fund (RTFIX).
The Fund offers a Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities (CMBS) strategy, and will be sub-advised by Cicero Capital Partners, which has managed a similar strategy in hedge fund form since September 2011.
RTFIX offers an alternative, tactically managed, fixed income strategy focused on mitigating risk while generating stable monthly cash flow. To achieve this, the Fund invests primarily in commercial mortgage backed securities (CMBS) and other commercial real estate structured securities such as
The Wilshire Liquid Alternative Index, which provides a representative baseline for how the broad liquid alternative investment category performs, returned -0.27 per cent in May, underperforming the 0.26 per cent monthly return of the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index.
The Wilshire Liquid Alternative Index family is a joint offering between Wilshire Funds Management, the global investment management business unit of Wilshire Associates Incorporated, and Wilshire Analytics, creator of the Wilshire 5000 Total Market Index.
“May experienced heightened volatility following political uncertainty in Europe and concerns related to global trade tensions,” says Jason Schwarz (pictured), President of Wilshire Funds Management
Hedge Funds were up 0.90 per cent in May according to the Barclay Hedge Fund Index compiled by BarclayHedge, versus a 2.41 per cent increase in the S&P 500 Total Return Index. Year to date, the Barclay Index is up 1.16 per cent, while the S&P has gained 2.02 per cent.
“Biotech and information technology led stock markets higher in developed economies, while emerging market equities continued lower for another month,” says Sol Waksman (pictured), founder and president of BarclayHedge.
All but two of Barclay’s 17 hedge fund indices had gains in May. Healthcare & Biotechnology jumped 4.88 per cent, adding
