Funds
Market participants using MarketFacory’s ultra-low latency API for foreign exchange trading, Whisperer, will be able to trade Bitcoin futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) when they launch on 18 December.
Additionally, Whisperer provides access to Bitcoin market data.
“Our Whisperer API and connectivity solution simplifies and reduces our client’s technical cost of entry to new currency markets, and with that in mind, we are pleased to announce that BTC futures are already available to trade via our CME integration,” says Matt Whitaker, director of product management, MarketFactory.
“Traditionally, futures contracts are seen as a means of damping
HFR has launched two new indices, the HFR Blockchain Composite Index and the HFR Cryptocurrency Index, the first family of indices designed to capture performance of hedge funds investing in this rapidly evolving space.
The HFR Blockchain Composite Index includes funds that invest directly in blockchain technology, cryptocurrency or other emerging blockchain innovations. Managers focus on how blockchain technologies have begun to, and will continue to, fundamentally change payments, banking, market trading structure, Internet of things (IoT), healthcare, remittances, supply chains, digital identity and more. In addition, key exposure themes include cloud storage, decentralised computing, digital investment platforms, distributed ledger
The gross return of the SS&C GlobeOp Hedge Fund Performance Index for November 2017 measured -0.40 per cent.
Hedge fund flows meanwhile, as measured by the SS&C GlobeOp Capital Movement Index, declined 0.18 per cent in December.
“SS&C GlobeOp’s Capital Movement Index showed a net outflow for December 2017 of -0.18 per cent,” says Bill Stone (pictured), Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, SS&C Technologies. “On a year-over-year basis, this compares to net inflows for December 2016 of 0.21. December net flows have been close to zero in recent years, so this result was within the range of expectations for the
It has been a watershed year for Gemini Alternative Funds, LLC (Gemini Alt), as it continues to see interest among large allocators – pensions, endowments – that look at the managed account platform, and specifically Gemini’s Dedicated Managed Account (DMA) solution.
The DMA infrastructure is supported by Gemini Alt’s parent company, NorthStar Financial Services Group, LLC (NorthStar), which has more than USD685 billion in AUM. As well as the DMA platform, Gemini Alt operates the Galaxy Plus platform – a CFTC and NFA regulated platform – that provides a lower investment option to non-pension fund investors, and also the Galaxy
Hedge fund managers often argue that taking on separately managed accounts can place an additional operational burden on their teams. As a result, many managers may resist investor requests for managed accounts.
A new breed of outsourced managed account solutions now exist which allow institutional investors to build their own private platforms while also reducing the operational burden on hedge fund managers. One of the leaders in this field is HedgeMark with its Dedicated Managed Account solution.
“We build and operate private platforms for our clients, independent of the hedge fund managers. The role of the managers is limited to
There are a number of different reasons for why investors wish to allocate to emerging managers. They might be looking for more performance from emerging managers because they are less constrained by overcrowded trades in the markets, or simply wish to gain exposure to more interesting, niche strategies that few others are looking at. Whatever the reasons, using separately managed accounts are one of the most effective tools for institutional investors. And a way to break free of the shackles of investing purely in blue chip names.
If large institutions concentrate too many of their assets among the same universe
It is fair to say that Sigma Analysis & Management, based in Toronto, takes a uniquely quant-focused approach to the way it operates managed accounts. Founded in 1999 by Professor Luis Seco, director of the Masters of Mathematical Finance programme at University of Toronto and RiskLab, and David Rudd, past Chair of the Montreal Exchange Futures Committee, Sigma was designed to assist Canadian public pensions in analysing their hedge fund investments.
Originally based in the Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences, and comprised of a team of individuals with PhDs in physics, math and computer science, Sigma has grown
There is often a natural gap between the risk profiles that hedge funds want to produce, and what institutional clients want to buy. As such, there can be a different psychological view as to what a hedge fund represents to the manager and to the investor. An investor running a diversified portfolio may want much greater risk in the individual underlying funds than a hedge fund manager wants to run in his own business.
This constitutes a gap in the utility function and the appetite for risk, which can be hard to close without using managed accounts.
Sam Thompson is head
LumX Group Limited (LumX), who has been developing and managing alternative investment programmes for over 25 years, is in the process of redomiciling the LumMap managed account platform, from Jersey to Ireland.
The purpose of this is to extend the platform’s capabilities such that funds on the platform are AIFMD-compliant and can be freely distributed and marketed to investors in the EU.
“The platform originated from our requirements as an asset manager,” explains Eric Bissonnier (pictured), CIO, Alternative Solutions, LumX Asset Management. “The aim was to better manage risks that are harder to control in a commingled fund format. If we
Next year, Lyxor Asset Management, one of Europe’s leading managed account platform providers, celebrates its 20th anniversary. Over that time, it has seen, and responded to, changing market dynamics. More recently, this has meant focusing on building out a larger range of liquid, regulated alternative UCITS funds on the Lyxor Alternative UCITS platform.
Offshore commingled and dedicated funds still dominate the Lyxor MAP, in terms of AUM (EUR13 billion), but the compass bearing has changed with respect to future evolution.
As Daniele Spada (pictured), Head of Lyxor MAP, explains: “Four years ago, the bulk of our managed accounts were a
