Funds
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Timothy Massad has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) regarding cooperation with respect to derivatives clearing organisations (DCOs) established in the United States that have applied or that may apply to ESMA for recognition as central counterparties (Recognised CCPs).
Through the MOU, the CFTC and ESMA express their willingness to cooperate with respect to Recognized CCPs.
The CFTC and the European Commission (EC) anticipated the execution of an MOU when the Common Approach for Transatlantic CCPs was announced earlier this year (see CFTC-EU
Lyxor Asset Management (Lyxor) has signed a distribution agreement with Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking, the wealth management arm of the Intesa Sanpaolo banking group, making Lyxor’s range of Alternative UCITS and Multi-Asset funds now available to private banking investors in Italy.
The range of funds available through this agreement is comprised of Lyxor’s seven Alternative UCITS funds and two Multi Asset funds.
Alternative UCITS funds allow for alternative investment strategies focused on delivering performance with limited correlation to markets, within the robust European UCITS regulatory framework. Lyxor’s Alternative UCITS Platform is one of the fastest growing platforms in the industry
Affiliated Managers Group (AMG) is to acquire Petershill Fund I’s minority equity interests in five alternative investment firms – Winton Capital Group, Capula Investment Management, Partner Fund Management, Mount Lucas Management, and CapeView Capital.
Under the terms of the agreement, AMG will acquire the interests in the firms from Petershill Fund I for approximately USD800 million in total consideration, which will be paid in cash at closing, funded up to 50 per cent in equity. Upon the closing of the transaction, senior management at each of the firms will continue to hold an unchanged majority of the equity in each
Laven Legal Services to continue alternative funds expansion
Clients of Laven Legal Services, the law firm linked to Laven Partners, are to move to London-based law firm GRM Law’s expanding alternative funds and financial services team, led by partners Alper Deniz and David Egan.
In Luxembourg, GRM Law will partner with MMS Legal Services to provide a package of English law and Luxembourg Law advice within a single offering.
Since its foundation in 2005, Laven Partners has expanded into providing a range of services including compliance consulting (amongst which UK regulatory hosting), and due diligence on compliance and operational risks.
The Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) has welcomed the European Commission consultation on reducing barriers to the cross-border marketing of investment funds.
AIMA believes that barriers to the take-up of the so-called “passport” for investment funds have held back growth in the European economy and hurt savers and investors.
AIMA cited the imposition by many EU jurisdictions of registration and notification fees on funds, which can amount to hundreds of thousands of euros annually for individual firms, as a major obstacle to a better functioning single market for investment funds. These fee costs are often borne by the end
Sanne Group (SANNE) has completed the acquisition of IDS Fund Services (IDS), a leading independent South African based provider of outsourced investment administration services to the asset management industry, with a particular focus on hedge fund clients.
IDS was established in 2002 and is based in Cape Town, South Africa with operations in Malta. IDS employs more than 140 staff, the majority of whom are based in its Cape Town headquarters, and administers structures and funds with assets in excess of R 80 billion (c. £.3.6 billion). Its services encompass middle office and back office functions, including NAV calculations, fund
SS&C Technologies Holdings has successfully transitioned Citi’s hedge fund customers to the latest version of the Geneva platform – SS&C’s real-time portfolio management, reporting and investor accounting solution.
The swift implementation of Geneva 15.2 for Citi Alternative Investor customers demonstrates the value of SS&C’s synergistic acquisition strategy – with technology experts from Advent combining with Citi’s expertise to benefit clients.
With the latest version of Geneva (15.2), SS&C has enhanced its services by streamlining accounting workflows for complex asset classes such as bank loans and swaps, as well as offering easy access to other SS&C applications such as GoRisk
EEX and Powernext have confirmed the launch date of the additional trading venues (non-MTFs) for German and French power derivatives as well as gas derivatives for all hubs and maturities available today through the regulated platform, in response to on-going MiFID II legislation.
The new products will be available as of 1 July 2016.
The MiFID II legislation outlines a specific framework for power and gas contracts that must be physically settled and are traded on an “Organised Trading Facility” (OTF) which will be formalised in the course of 2016. Physically settled transactions concluded on an OTF are not considered
The latest Hedge Fund Exposure and Tail Risk report from eVestment seeks to quantify how major historical events, or current market shocks, might impact top hedge funds today across a variety of strategies and categories.
To offer a broad look at the industry, the report looks at portfolios containing the following hedge funds reporting to eVestment: the 30 largest hedge funds by AUM, the top 10 long-short equity hedge funds, the top 10 fixed-income credit funds, the top 10 macro funds and the top 10 multi-strategy funds.
eVestment then tested those hedge fund groupings against a variety of disruptive events,
Private equity firm TA Associates has completed the acquisition of Frank Russell Company’s asset management business (Russell Investments) from London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) in a transaction valued at USD1,150 million.
Reverence Capital Partners, a financial services-focused investment firm, partnered with TA Associates and has made a significant minority investment in Russell Investments. Russell Investments’ management invested alongside TA Associates and Reverence Capital to acquire a meaningful equity stake. The transaction closed on 1 June.
Russell Investments is a global investment manager, with an 80-year heritage of delivering innovative solutions, strong investment results and high quality client service to institutional
