Funds
CoinShares Group, the company behind the first bitcoin and ether exchange traded notes (Issued by XBT Provider AB) and the team behind the world’s first regulated bitcoin strategy (GABI), is launching two new flagship crypto investment funds.
CoinShares says that the CoinShares ‘Active’ Fund – a multi-coin, alpha-generating, active strategy – and CoinShares ‘Large Cap’ Fund – a passive, large-cap, basket fund – represent a natural evolution of market approaches based on the current trajectory of the crypto-asset economy.
The new funds follow the group’s October launch of the first Ether Tracking, Exchange Traded Products on Nasdaq Stockholm, which
By George Ralph, RFA – Last year was all about the compliance; with MiFID II and GDPR, about understanding your data, knowing where it is, protecting it and how to extract what you need to report to the right authorities, within the nominated timescales.
This year may be a tough year for the alternative investment sector and for hedge funds, with Agecroft Partners, in its annual predictions post, suggested that as many as 90 per cent of all hedge funds do not justify their fees, don’t deliver good returns and could be in danger of closure in this overcrowded market.
Emil van Essen (EvE) will be launching a new alternative investment vehicle combining energy infrastructure MLPs with their established EvE Multistrategy Managed Futures Program.
EvE is a Chicago based firm now in its 10th year running hedge fund strategies for institutional and high net worth clients.
The EvE MLP Yield Capture Program is now available for investment via managed accounts with daily liquidity and fund structures with monthly liquidity to Qualified Eligible Participants. The program will have six core alpha generators that will utilise futures and securities to create a portfolio that will target double digit returns annually. The program
A total of 21 new liquid alternative funds were launched in Q4 2017, including 11 Equity Hedge Funds and five Multi-Strategy Funds, according to the Wilshire Funds Management Q4 Liquid Alternatives Industry Monitor.
Additionally, there were nine liquidations.
The AUM of the Liquid Alternatives Universe increased by USD4.4 billion during Q4 2017 with inflows of approximately USD4.3 billion during the period. The Global Macro space posted slight outflows of USD0.3 billion, reversing the net inflows of USD0.14 billion in the third quarter.
In total, 49 new liquid alternative funds were launched in 2017, including 23 equity hedge funds
The Preqin All-Strategies HedgeFund Benchmark generated 1.15 per cent in December, according to the latest Preqin Hedge Fund Performance Update.
In addition to pushing the benchmark’s annual return to its highest level since 2013, the positive end to the year also marks the first time the Preqin All-Strategies Hedge Fund benchmark has recorded a positive return during every month of a calendar year.
Funds focused on the Asia-Pacific region were the top performers of 2017, with the region delivering its strongest annual performance this decade (18.66 per cent), up from the 2.37 per cent generated in 2016.
Funds
Muzinich & Co has launched a new European-focused total return credit strategy targeting enhanced returns and reduced downside risk against large drawdowns.
The Muzinich European Credit Alpha Fund, a sub-fund of Muzinich’s Irish-domiciled UCITS range, will be managed by Thomas Samson, who has delivered strong performance over many years with the firm’s European High Yield Fund. He will be supported by Assistant Portfolio Manager Hugo Squire.
The Fund aims to generate attractive mid-to-high single-digit returns over the course of a full market cycle. This long/short, total-return credit strategy seeks to predominantly invest across European credit markets in strong conviction
PEGAS, a pan-European gas trading platform operated by Powernext, achieved its best trading results in 2017 by reaching a new record with 1,953.9 TWh, improving its previous record (1,733.3 TWh in 2016) by almost 13 per cent.
The top volume was still observed on the Dutch TTF delivery area where over 1,223 TWh were traded across both spot and futures segments, along with the bigger growth percentage (14 per cent). The Austrian CEGH VTP performed remarkably well in 2017 with 88.9 TWh, regularly achieving monthly volume records in its first full year on PEGAS. 


Dr Egbert Laege (pictured), President
Hedge funds concluded 2017 with the strongest capital inflows since Q2 2015, driving total assets to new record, while completing the first performance year without a monthly decline since 2003; according to the latest HFR Global Hedge Fund Industry Report.
Total hedge fund industry capital increased by USD59 billion to USD3.21 trillion, the sixth consecutive quarterly record for total industry capital.
Investors allocated USD6.9 billion of new capital to hedge funds in Q4 2017, the highest quarterly inflows since Q2 2015, bringing total 2017 inflows to USD9.8 billion. December marked the fourteenth consecutive monthly advance of the HFRI Fund
Man AHL’s TargetRisk strategy has returned 33 per cent since its launch in December 2014, ranking it in the top decile in comparison to its peer group. The strategy has also been awarded a five star rating by Morningstar.
Managed by Russell Korgaonkar (pictured), Man AHL’s Director of Investment Strategies, and his team, the strategy applies Man AHL’s advanced techniques to long-only investment, as developed through three decades of quantitative expertise in alternatives. It seeks to produce a stable return stream across macroeconomic environments through exposure to a diverse range of global markets, combined with dynamic capital protection techniques which
Visible Alpha, an investment research technology firm founded by some of the world’s leading investment banks, has secured an additional USD38 million of equity financing.
Visible Alpha will use this investment to fuel its explosive growth and maintain its leadership position among firms driving efficiency, transparency and alpha generation in the institutional research process and helping solve for the research valuation and budgeting requirements of MiFID II.
This recent round is led by Goldman Sachs (GS) with additional participation from Banco Santander through its VC arm, Santander InnoVentures, Exane BNP Paribas, Macquarie Group, Royal Bank of Canada and Wells
