Funds
PEGAS, the pan-European gas trading platform operated by Powernext, has reported its strongest spot volumes in February 2018 with 112.4 TWh (previous record: 95.7 TWh in December 2017).
Extreme weather conditions in the later part of the month helped bring substantial liquidity on PEGAS spot hubs, thus supporting the overall volume hike. Monthly records were established on TTF, GASPOOL, PEG Nord, CEGH VTP, ZTP and ETF. The total monthly traded volume amounted to 174.9 TWh, up 7 per cent from last year (February 2017: 163.6 TWh).
Spot trading volumes in February amounted to 112.4 TWh, representing an increase of
The Lyxor Hedge Fund Index was up 1 per cent last week, with Event-Driven strategies outperforming, according to the latest Weekly Brief from Lyxor’s Cross Asset Research team.
Merger Arbitrage funds benefitted from their top M&A positions. Long positions on the NXP vs. Qualcomm transaction and Sky contributed to the bulk of their returns. L/S Equity variable bias funds rode the wave of the market recovery. Emerging and Asian focused specialists outperformed their peers, in line with their underlying markets.
CTAs thrived from the drop in European bond yields, rising energy prices and their long albeit reduced equity allocations.
Timothy Graf, head of macro strategy for EMEA at State Street Global Markets; Antoine Lesné, head of EMEA strategy and research for SPDR ETFs; and Elliot Hentov, head of policy and research – official institutions for EMEA at State Street Global Advisors, offer their views on the Italian general election results…
Graf says: “After 2017 ultimately proved benign for Eurozone political risk, the unexpected strong performance of the Five Star Movement (M5S) brings these threats very much back to the forefront. Though M5S officials have toned down anti-euro rhetoric in recent months, the euro-scepticism within the bloc could ultimately re-introduce
Lighthouse Investment Partners is to acquire substantially all of the assets of Mesirow Advanced Strategies (MAS) multi-manager hedge fund division.
A significant portion of the MAS team is expected to join Lighthouse as part of the transition and will continue to provide investment oversight, operational support and client service to the MAS business. This results in a broader and complementary set of resources and talent across the organisation and provides greater flexibility in constructing and executing portfolios.
“The combination of Lighthouse’s industry-leading managed account platform and strong track record, coupled with MAS’s strengths in less liquid strategies, such as
Fiera Capital Corporation is to acquire Clearwater Capital Partners (Clearwater), an Asia-focused credit and special situations investment firm.
Headquartered in Hong Kong, Clearwater is a privately held employee-owned asset manager with USD1.4 billion in assets under management. Clearwater’s assets will be added to Fiera Capital’s Private Alternative Investments division, complementing the Firm’s existing suite of private alternative investment strategies and adding extensive investment experience and depth through offices and teams across the Asia-Pacific region.
“The transaction establishes Fiera Capital’s Asia-Pacific footprint and provides a rare opportunity to gain entry to the Asian private credit market,” says Vincent Duhamel (pictured),
The European Energy Exchange (EEX) achieved a total volume of 274.3 TWh on its power derivatives markets in February, is a year-on-year increase of 37 per cent (February 2017: 200.8 TWh). In doing so, EEX was able to grow its power derivatives volumes across all market areas.
In total, the German and Austrian markets (Phelix-DE, Phelix-AT and Phelix-DE/AT) increased by 12 per cent to 169.7 TWh. This includes 153.4 TWh from the benchmark product Phelix-DE which achieved its highest volume since launch in April 2017. Volumes in the French market more than doubled to 26.9 TWh (February 2017: 12.3 TWh)
SALI Fund Management, a specialist in the creation and administration of Insurance Dedicated Funds (IDFs), has secured a growth capital investment from affiliates of Long Ridge Equity Partners LLC.
Proceeds from the financing will be used to further invest in growth initiatives and to provide partial liquidity to retired shareholders and will allow active shareholders to continue to invest in the business. The day‐to‐day operations and decision making of SALI will remain unchanged with the firm’s Managing Principal, Thomas A Nieman (pictured), continuing to lead the organisation.
Founded in 2002, SALI administers IDFs for a broad range of alternative
Cambridge Capital, a hedge fund with a focus on cryptocurrencies, will be joining the Apex Token Fund, the first tokenised fund of funds. The firm’s mixture of long- and short-term trading strategies will add profitability and security to Apex, allowing it to achieve consistent returns for its investors.
Cambridge Capital invests in a wide range of ICOs, liquid tokens, and protocols, dividing its investments into long and short categories. Long investments are chosen on the basis of code and team reviews, regulatory concerns, and likelihood of being replaced with existing coins. Meanwhile, short investments are selected based on market analysis.
Union Bancaire Privée (UBP) has added to its emerging market fixed income product range with the launch of the UBAM – EM Sustainable High Grade Corporate Bond.
This launch reflects a strengthening in UBP’s approach to responsible investing and a commitment to further developing its environmental, social and governance (ESG) capabilities.
Managed by Denis Girault, Head of Emerging Market Fixed Income at UBP, the new fund combines UBP’s own know-how and extensive in-house credit and ESG analysis with the expertise of MSCI ESG Research LLC, which will provide both quantitative and qualitative screening and help the Bank invest in
UK-based hedge fund firm Man Group has reported a 35 per cent increase in funds under management during 2017, up USD12.8 billion to USD109.1 billion.
The company says that net revenues increased by 33 per cent during the year reflecting good absolute performance fee generation and 7 per cent growth in net management fee revenue, while adjusted profit before tax rose to USD384 million from USD205 million in 2016.
Luke Ellis, Chief Executive Officer of Man Group, says: “2017 was a strong year for our business. The record net inflows of USD12.8 billion reflected not only the outperformance we delivered
