Funds
Sentiment overall is positive for hedge fund industry growth with investors forecasting a 3.5 per cent increase in AuM during 2016, according to the 8th Annual Credit Suisse Hedge Fund Investor Survey.
If accurate, this projection would push industry assets over USD3 trillion with an upper quartile forecast for USD3.2 trillion by year end.
Some 87 per cent of investors indicated that they would maintain or increase their hedge fund allocations in the coming year. Within that universe, insurance companies identified themselves as being most underweight hedge funds (compared to institutional peers), which could allow for further growth.
Four European trade associations representing investors, issuers and other market participants have come together for the first time to support the new framework for securitisation regulation.
The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME), the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA), the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) and Insurance Europe have issued a joint paper backing efforts by EU policymakers to develop a robust and successful framework for simple, transparent and standardised (STS) securitisation.
In line with the Commission’s flagship Capital Markets Union initiative, the associations believe that a new framework for securitisation could play a pivotal role
The Preqin Investor Outlook: Alternative Assets, H1 2016 finds that investors are mixed in their attitudes to the alternative assets industry. The majority (65 per cent) of investors holds a positive general perception of private equity, and only 6 per cent have a negative perception.
However, more hedge fund investors hold a negative view of the asset class (38 per cent) than have a positive perception (32 per cent), and almost twice as many natural resources investors currently have a negative perception (33 per cent) compared to those who are positive about the asset class (17 per cent).
This
50 South Capital Advisors, the investment advisory subsidiary of Northern Trust is to acquire the hedge fund solutions provider Aurora Investment Management, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Natixis Global Asset Management.
The addition of Chicago-based Aurora will offer clients of both firms access to an expanded global alternative investment platform with the size and resources to deliver comprehensive hedge fund, private equity and real asset solutions.
“This strategic acquisition supports our objective as a trusted asset manager to provide solutions that are suited to client investment objectives and risk tolerances,” says Northern Trust Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Frederick H
Preserver Partners has launched a liquid alternatives mutual fund – the Preserver Alternative Opportunities Fund – to provide investors with access to multiple asset classes and strategies in a single diversified portfolio, while providing daily liquidity and transparency.
The new fund trades under the symbols PAOIX and PAORX.
Liquid alternative mutual funds are one of the fastest growing segments in the mutual fund industry as investors and financial advisors seek to hedge downside risk, protect principal and manage volatility. A 2013-2014 Alternative Investment Survey sponsored by McKinsey & Company reports that alternatives represent 12 per cent of mutual fund
Tradeweb Markets, an operator of global fixed income and derivatives marketplaces, has acquired CodeStreet, a specialist in data-driven trade identification and workflow management software development.
The transaction will leverage the technology and expertise of both firms to enhance corporate bond trading on a global scale, delivering innovative tools that help identify likely counterparties and improve quality of execution with greater information protection.
The acquisition of CodeStreet enables Tradeweb to pair effective trade execution and processing with better trade identification tools for the buy-side and enhanced workflow management for liquidity providers, which will enable buy-side investors to better source liquidity.
Opus Fund Services has been named Best Global Hedge Fund Administrator at the 2016 Hedgeweek Awards. The annual Hedgeweek ceremony recognises and rewards hedge fund industry participants, including funds and service providers for their success and contributions in their respective areas.
The winners were announced in a ceremony which took place on 26 February at the Reform Club in London.
Paul Barlass, Head of Risk at Opus Fund Services, says: “We continue to grow methodically, globally and strategically within the space and have built a strong platform for clients of all sizes.”
Also commenting on the award, Jorge Hendrickson
February average daily volume (ADV) at the CBOE Futures Exchange was up 23 per cent from February 2015, but down 25 per cent from January 2016. Exchange-wide total volume also rose in February compared with a year ago, up 29 per cent compared with February 2015, but down 21 per cent from January 2016.
Total February volume in futures on the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX Index) was 4.1 million contracts, up 29 per cent from February 2015, but down 21 per cent from January 2016. February VIX futures' ADV was 204,609 contracts, up 23 per cent from a year ago and
Intercontinental Exchange is to acquire Standard & Poor’s Securities Evaluations, Inc. (SPSE), a provider of fixed income evaluated pricing, and Credit Market Analysis (CMA), a provider of independent data for the over-the-counter (OTC) markets from McGraw Hill Financial (MHFI).
When completed, the acquisition will enable ICE to offer customers new data and valuation services. Under the terms of the agreement, ICE can elect to satisfy its payment of the purchase price due at the close of the transaction in either cash or shares of ICE’s common stock. All other terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The transaction is subject
The support, maintenance and continued development of SIX x-clear’s Clara clearing system has been taken on by Baymarkets.
Since 2010 SIX x-clear’s Clara has been used as the platform for central counterparty clearing on trades in equities, equity certificates, derivatives, SLB contracts and ETFs for their Nordic customer base. SIX x-clear will continue to use Clara and will further expand the use of the platform for clearing of additional Exchanges and MTFs for the benefit of our customer base.
Under the new arrangement, in addition to providing support and maintenance, Baymarkets will co-market Clara with SIX x-clear to deliver
