Funds
Hedge fund liquidations declined in Q2 2017 as new investor inflows increased total hedge fund industry capital to a record USD3.1 trillion through mid-year, according to the latest HFR Market Microstructure Report.
The number of liquidations fell to 222 in Q2 2017, representing a decline from the prior quarter total of 259, as well as a narrow year-over-year decline from the 239 liquidations in Q2 2016.
Meanwhile, hedge fund launches were steady in Q2 2017, with 180 new funds opening as inflows resumed and total industry capital reached a record. The number of Q2 2017 launches was slightly below
Hedge fund incubator and accelerator Emergence, and NewAlpha Asset Management, the SICAV’s delegated manager, have selected VIA AM as the first investment for Emergence’s new European equities fund.
Launched in June 2017 with a target of EUR300 million, the fund is now closed to subscriptions.
Emergence will put EUR50 million into the fund VIA Smart Equity Europe, the biggest investment made by Emergence since its inception in 2012. The VIA Smart Equity fund was launched in March 2016 and targets long-term outperformance of the MSCI Europe, net dividends reinvested, with a similar risk profile. This injection will take the
Mounting signals that the latest leg of the bond market rally has started to reverse fuelled hedge fund strategies last week. Most recent inflation prints outpaced expectations both in the US and the UK, as consumer prices rose 1.9 per cent and 2.9 per cent year over year in August, respectively.
That’s according to Lyxor’s latest Weekly Brief, which also reveals that Sovereign bond yields rose in developed markets, in particular in the UK, and yield curves steepened somewhat. Meanwhile, equity markets extended their winning streak both in developed and emerging markets.
Such developments have been largely supportive for
After a tough start to 2017, macro UCITS strategies began to recover during the summer months. In line with the broader hedge fund market, performance in this category was led by CTA/Managed Futures funds progressing 1.06 per cent during the month of August, still showing -2.19 per cent YTD losses.
Also the relatively smaller group of Currency Arbitrage UCITS funds showed positive performance for the first time in 2017, advancing 0.47 per cent .
Tracking the average fund performance, the LuxHedge Global Alternative UCITS Index continues to grow at moderate pace with a performance of +0.16 per cent during
The total value of funds business in Guernsey grew by GBP4.5 billion (1.6 per cent) during the second quarter of this year, the eighth straight quarter of growth for the sector. The island has not experienced a drop in total funds business value since the second quarter of 2015.
Figures from the Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC) show that, at the end of June 2017, the net asset value of all funds under management and administration in Guernsey stood at GBP271 billion. For the year since the end of June 2016, the total net asset value has increased by GBP23.9
Singapore Exchange (SGX) has launched of SGX Iron Ore Futures Indices, a suite of inverse and leveraged indices calculated off the SGX TSI Iron Ore CFR China (62 per cent Fe Fines) Index Futures.
This is the first series of SGX commodity-based indices to be used as benchmark for tradable products and they will be licensed to Daishin Securities Co Ltd, a Korea-based securities and investment firm.
The suite is made up of two total return indices that offer investors both long and short exposure to the seaborne iron ore market based on the underlying US dollar denominated SGX
Hong Kong-based alternative asset management company OP Investment Management Ltd (OPIM), has partnered with LEAD Investment Fund Management Company (Lead) to launch the LEAD Absolute Return Fund SP (of Sunrise SPC), a Cayman domiciled fund for professional and institutional investors.
While the fund’s objective is to achieve long term absolute returns, the investment manager will deploy a global macro strategy focusing on developed markets. Managed by Senior Portfolio Manager, Andrew Lam, the portfolio will consist of large cap equities, listed options, fixed income securities, commodities, and futures.
Lam, feels that Asian investors, both high net worth and institutional alike,
Maverick global macro hedge fund manager Hugh Hendry, (pictured) profiled in AlphaQ in the August 2015 issue, is reported to be shutting his Eclectica fund.
Assets in Eclectica Asset Management have fallen steadily over the years from a peak in 2012 of USD1.2 billion across all the Eclectica funds, with USD750 million in the hedge fund alone, to a total in 2015 for the whole group of USD300 million and reduced again more recently to under USD200 million.
In terms of performance, Eclectica has endured several years of flat to negative performance. Its initial big achievement of the early years
As liquidity and market depth at the Belgian gas trading place ZTP continues to increase, pan-European gas trading platform PEGAS has launched a ZTP monthly price index.
The monthly index offers end users and grid users in Belgium an attractive alternative for currently used price references in gas supply contracts.


Traded volumes nominated on ZTP rose with 54 per cent in the first 8 months of 2017 compared to the same period last year. Besides, gas increasingly gets traded through monthly products. ZTP also saw a rise in so-called market maker agreements in which hub customers commit to a
The Lyxor Hedge Fund Index was up 1.1 per cent in September with six out of 10 Lyxor indices in positive territory for the month, according to Lyxor’s latest Alternative Investment Industry Barometer.
Long Term CTAs outperformed due to rates, followed by Variable bias L/S equity funds, in particular US and EM specialists. Global Macro also recovered due to commodities and equities.
“Prospect of ECB normalisation, a firming Eurozone growth, and hopes for reforms coalesced to send EUR above 1.2,’ says Jean-Baptiste Berthon (pictured), Senior Cross-asset Strategist, Lyxor Asset Management. “Draghi did not put his weight to stop it.
