Funds
Amsterdam-based independent hedge fund specialist Theta Capital Management is celebrating its 15th anniversary this month.
Theta Capital welcomed its first investors on 1 September 2001 and has always been exclusively focused on investing in hedge funds on behalf of its clients.
Founder Tijo van Marle says: “We started with a capital base of around EUR20 million from friends and family. Investors had their own dedicated portfolio of hedge funds. And September 2001 turned out to be an interesting month to start. Equity markets were down 10 per cent while we and our clients lost less than 1 per cent.
MassMutual affiliates Babson Capital Management, Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers, Wood Creek Capital Management and Baring Asset Management are now fully integrated and operating as a unified company under the Barings name.
The Barings brand and logo have been refreshed in a move that aims to reflect a modern and forward-looking asset management firm committed to meeting the evolving investment and capital needs of clients.
"This merger marks an exciting moment in our history, and it enhances our ability to provide comprehensive, innovative solutions to help our clients meet their investment objectives," says Tom Finke, chairman and chief executive officer
INTL FCStone, a financial services organisation delivering execution and advisory services in commodities, currencies and securities, has acquired the London-based EMEA oils business of ICAP.
The business includes over 30 front office employees across the fuel, crude, middle distillates, futures and options desks with deep-rooted relationships with over 200 well known commercial and institutional customers throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Philip Smith, CEO of INTL FCStone, says: “This is an excellent opportunity to add an experienced and highly regarded team within the oil broking sector. This customer-centric business helps complement our already extensive product and service offering
Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) has proposed changes to the ICE Robusta Coffee futures contract, effective 3 October 2016, for the July 2018 contract month onwards.
The proposals are part of an ongoing initiative to improve the transparency of warehousing procedures and costs for ICE’s range of agricultural products.
They follow the implementation in 2014 of amendments to the maximum rent and load-out rate requirements for warehouse keepers and the introduction of a 60-day limit to complete load out requests for Robusta Coffee and London Cocoa.
The combined developments have improved the efficiency of loading out certified coffee and cocoa
Risk-AI is now the official provider of Hedge fund Research’s (HFR) index factsheet report.
HFR produces over 140 indices of hedge fund performance ranging from industry-aggregate levels down to specific, niche areas of sub-strategy and regional investment focus.
HFR indices are the most commonly used benchmarks for alternative investments and its website draws many thousands of visitors from around the world each month.
HFR recently updated its website and wanted its various index factsheets to reflect the look and feel of the new site. Risk-AI worked closely with their HFR’s marketing team to develop and streamline the process
Bfinance’s Chris Stevens (pictured) reports on a recent manager search for alternative beta strategies for a large US corporate pension scheme with USD10 billion in assets under management.
The client had previously considered and rejected investing into hedge funds for reasons of transparency, cost and liquidity as well perceived potential headline risks. Alternative beta strategies were considered as a viable alternative to a hedge fund allocation enabling them to introduce diversifying return streams to a portfolio of otherwise traditional asset classes whilst addressing these perceived drawbacks.
Following board education sessions as to the benefits and limitations of such strategies as
Sequoia Capital Fund Management (SCFM), a systematic manager in foreign exchange, has passed USD100 million in assets under management.
Douglas Garistina (pictured), chief executive and chief investment officer of SCFM, says: “We are very pleased to have received a significant capital allocation from a large institutional client that takes our business to the next level. One of the key drivers for this investment is the orthogonal returns our strategy provides to their portfolio. This subscription also highlights to larger investors in systematic strategies that we are able to accept bigger tickets now and that we provide an institutional-grade service.
“Since
Data from HFR shows that hedge funds advanced in August led by a resurgence in Energy/Basic Materials and Activist strategies.
The HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index (FWC) gained +0.4 per cent for the month, increasing the Index Value to 12,709 and bringing year to date performance to +3.5 per cent.
After posting losses in the first two months of the year, the HFRI FWC has now produced gains in six consecutive months, the firm writes. The HFRI Asset Weighted Composite Index advanced +0.4 per cent for the month, bringing YTD performance to +0.5 per cent. Event-Driven (ED) strategies led
Libero Development Fund, a hedge fund launched by Mary Murphy who helped to establish International Fund Services before its acquisition by State Street, is now open to specialist investors.
Prior to the soft launch of the fund late last year, its proprietary investment strategy was only available to closed private funds with circa EUR300 million under management.
To the end of July 2016, the Libero Development Fund has achieved a YTD return of 5.07 per cent and is up 2.35 per cent since inception of the A share class in October 2015.
Murphy (pictured) says: “It has taken
Pavilion Financial has closed its acquisition of Altius Holdings, the parent company of Altius Associates, a private markets advisory and separate account management firm with offices in the UK, US and Singapore.
Pavilion has also established Pavilion Alternatives Group, a combination of the operations of Altius Associates and LP Capital Advisors (LPCA), the alternative asset advisory subsidiary of Pavilion headquartered in Sacramento, California.
The rebranding for both organisations is effective immediately.
“Pavilion Alternatives Group will proudly carry forward the shared vision of its two founding firms to provide institutional clients with objective, thoughtful and well-researched advice on alternative
