Funds
Independent trust, fund and corporate services provider Crestbridge has established a presence in the GCC following its acquisition of Ohad Trust, a Bahrain-based trust, fund and corporate services provider in Manama.
With regulatory consent having now been received from the Central Bank of Bahrain, Ohad has become part of the Crestbridge Group, which also has complementary offices in Jersey, London, Luxembourg and the Cayman Islands.
A full rebranding of Ohad is planned for later in 2017 to bring the business fully under the Crestbridge brand.
Ohad was the first licensed provider of trust services in Bahrain when in
By Dami Oloidi, Meyler Capital
Sonar for ships: Sonar technology is used by ships to map the ocean floor. First, sound signals are sent out, via a transmitter, in the direction of the ocean bed. Secondly, the signals reach the ocean bed and bounce off whatever object they touch. Finally, they reflect back to a receiver to transform the sound signals into an image of the ocean bed.
Underwater features closer to the ship take less time to reflect back to the receiver, as opposed to features further away from the ship. This time differential is used to map the valleys and mountains ranges
Public Pension Capital (PPC) and FiveW Capital, together with existing management, have acquired Viteos Fund Services, a provider of middle‐ and back‐office technology and services for the investment management industry.
The transaction brings together a group of financial and strategic investors experienced in building and growing technology and service providers.
The Viteos management team will continue to lead the company.
Viteos, founded in 2003, provides customised straight‐through‐processing and integrates post‐trade operations for the investment management industry in the US, Europe and Asia. It provides shadow‐accounting services and offers a full range of middle‐ and back‐office outsourcing through its
Cowen Group is to acquire Convergex Group from private equity firm GTCR, Bank of New York Mellon and other shareholders for a total consideration, less certain closing adjustments, of USD116 million in cash and Cowen common stock.
With combined pro forma brokerage execution revenues of over USD400 million in 2016, the transaction expands Cowen’s reach to 108 countries around the globe, including China.
Cowen expects the acquisition to be accretive to economic income per share and return on tangible common equity in 2018.
Convergex is an agency-focused global brokerage and trading related services provider with a client base
ITI Group has acquired a 100 per cent stake in Uralsib Securities.
Based in the UK, Uralsib Securities, now renamed ITI Capital, holds a Financial Conduct Authority license for broker-dealer operations and asset management.
ITI Capital offers direct market access to emerging markets for global clients, and to global markets for its Russian clients. The new London based team will also offer prime brokerage services and a trading platform for algorithmic funds, as well as structured products and technology-focused asset management.
Pavel Naumenko, CEO of ITI Group, says: “The acquisition of a fully licensed UK broker is a huge
Since the market correction of 2008, a vast majority of hedge fund net asset flows have gone to a small minority of hedge funds with the strongest brands.
A recent report from Hedge Fund Research shows that approximately 69 per cent of hedge fund assets are controlled by firms with over USD5 billion in assets under management and 91 per cent are controlled by firms with over USD1 billion in assets.
This is a significant increase from the 2009 percentages of 61 per cent and 86 per cent respectively.
Don Steinbrugge (pictured) of Agecroft Partners writes that each
USCF has launched the company's first mutual fund, the USCF Commodity Strategy Fund, with SummerHaven Investment Management, a Stamford, Connecticut based commodity trading adviser.
The mutual fund will initially offer two share classes: A shares and I shares.
The fund seeks long term total return and will use the SummerHaven Dynamic Commodity Index (SDCI), which USCF has licensed from SummerHaven's affiliate, SummerHaven Index Management, as its benchmark index.
"We are thrilled to join the mutual fund community by introducing a new product that employs the same commodity selection methodology as our exchange-traded product, the United States Commodity Index
By Richard L Shamos (pictured) and Ron S Geffner, Sadis & Goldberg – The global investment funds marketplace today is beset by contradictory economic forces, with increasing financial opportunity accompanied by a rising regulatory burden and populist politics. These tensions are perhaps nowhere more apparent than in Europe, where the investment funds industry posted a record high in 2016 of EUR14.1 trillion in assets under management, including record sales of alternative investment funds of EUR184 billion. This all occurred amidst the Brexit referendum, Trump election, record immigration, attacks of terrorism and sporadic bursts of nationalism.
The underlying message is a profoundly positive one: the
Softbank’s decision to choose a Jersey-based financial services company to administer its USD100 billion technology fund is expected to lead to more funds domiciling in the island.
The Softbank Vision Fund was launched in October 2016 with the aim of becoming the biggest investor in the technology industry over the next decade.
The decision to have the fund administered in Jersey has been described as a “game changer” in the selection of fund domiciles by several attendees at the Jersey Finance Annual Funds Conference in London last week.
Christopher Griffin, counsel at law firm Carey Olsen, says Softbank’s choice
European regulators have blocked the proposed merger between Deutsche Börse and the London Stock Exchange Group.
The EU Commission says the deal would create a “de facto monopoly” for certain financial services, despite remedial measures offered by both companies to alleviate the competition concerns.
Deutsche Börse says it regrets the decision taken by the European Commission.
Joachim Faber, chairman of the supervisory board of Deutsche Börse AG, says: “The prohibition is a setback for Europe, the Capital Markets Union and the bridge between continental Europe and Great Britain. A rare opportunity to create a global market infrastructure provider
