Funds
Convergex, an agency-focused global brokerage and trading related services provider, has just completed its best-ever quarter of growth for its prime services business.
From January to March of 2015, Convergex Prime Services added more assets under management from new clients than in any previous quarter since the founding of its predecessor company in 2006.
“We’re seeing unprecedented growth as new clients come onboard and existing clients expand their relationships with us,” says Doug Nelson, Convergex executive managing director and head of global clearing and prime services. “Our flexible, multi-custodian model is striking a chord with funds that are being
The Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA), the global hedge fund association, has published an updated Fund Directors’ Guide, which is designed to be used by investment managers, fund promoters and existing and prospective fund directors.
The Guide, last published in 2008, takes account of regulatory and tax reforms since the financial crisis, such as the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) and the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), which have brought significant changes to the role and responsibilities of fund directors and boards.
New sections have been added covering, among other topics, the general approach to fund governance,
Burren Capital Advisors has launched Global Arbitrage equities fund on the MontLake UCITS platform, an independent platform providing investors with access to a range of liquid, transparent and regulated investment products domiciled in Dublin.
The MontLake Burren Global Arbitrage UCITS Fund will be managed in line with the core fund which has approximately five years track record but with a modest amount more leverage and will specialise in Pure Arbitrage, Tender Arbitrage, Merger Arbitrage and Relative Value investing. The strategies seek to take advantage of a broad investment spectrum providing multiple sources of alpha throughout the economic cycle.
The strategy
Private equity fundraising through the first quarter is examined in this extract from the Preqin Quarterly Update: Private Equity, Q1 2015.
Q1 2015 has seen a marked drop in the number of private equity funds closed, down from 324 in Q4 2014 to just 166 in the first quarter of the new year (Fig. 1). When compared with Q1 2014, the same downward trend is apparent, with 263 vehicles closed in the first quarter of 2014. However, despite a decline in number of funds, the level of aggregate capital raised has not fallen proportionally. Private equity vehicles closed in
The Cyprus Investment Funds Association (CIFA) has formed a strategic partnership with law firm, King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) to develop the legal and regulatory framework for investment funds in Cyprus.
KWM will conduct a comprehensive review of the Cypriot investment funds framework, including corporate tax arrangements and registration laws, to enhance Cyprus’ position as an international jurisdiction for the domiciliation and management of funds.
The findings of the consultative review are expected to be published later in 2015 whereupon KWM will work with CIFA to promote Cyprus as a gateway to Europe for regional fund managers, particularly in
Northern Trust Hedge Fund Services has launched its Portfolio Analytics and Compliance (PAC) service, a guideline testing and portfolio metrics service for hedge fund managers, managed account platform sponsors.
The PAC service allows clients on Northern Trust’s Omnium technology platform to monitor characteristics and guidelines at every level of their portfolios.
Using a proprietary reporting engine fully integrated into Northern Trust Hedge Fund Services’ platform, PAC can produce reports with custom metrics and calculations based on virtually any data element maintained by the system. Examples include, but are not limited to:
• Daily investment guideline testing against investment restrictions such
In the Bain & Co Global Healthcare Private Equity Report 2015, the prominence of early stage investments in the healthcare sector is a recurring theme, detailing how larger funds are continuing the trend of investing down market. Preqin’s Funds in Market online service tracks 99 early stage venture capital vehicles currently in market with a focus on the healthcare industry, either solely or as part of a wider industry focus; these funds are collectively targeting USD7 billion in commitments.
Early stage healthcare venture capital fundraising has undoubtedly been strong in recent years: 2014 saw the highest ever amount of capital
Following on from last week’s article, which identified groups that found success through the first three months of 2015, this extract from the Preqin Quarterly Update: Hedge Funds, Q1 2015 looks at which funds and strategies struggled to perform in Q1.
Discretionary CTAs
CTAs experienced a revival in the latter half of 2014 following several years of subdued performance. Trend followers in particular continue to benefit from reduced levels of correlation between markets; systematic CTAs tracked by Preqin’s Hedge Fund Analyst have returned on average 17.18 per cent over the last 12 months. This contrasts markedly with the performance
The international credit rating agency, Standard & Poor’s, has updated its rating of Guernsey following December’s GBP330 million bond issue for the inaugural States of Guernsey Bond.
Guernsey remains at AA+ (Stable outlook), which represents an excellent assessment. It highlights a number of economic and financial strengths which include the States of Guernsey’s revenue flexibility and sizeable assets underpinned by the government's robust fiscal position.
AA+ is the highest that a jurisdiction such as Guernsey, without its own currency, can achieve under the ratings methodology.
Dominic Wheatley (pictured), Chief Executive of Guernsey Finance, says: “This continued strong rating is consistent
London-based alternative investment manager Omni Partners, has held the first close of its second secured lending fund, Omni Secured Lending Fund II (OSL II), with initial commitments of USD45 million.
OSL II is targeting a total fundraise of USD250 million by the time it holds its final close later this year.
The launch and initial close of the second vintage fund follows the success of Omni Secured Lending I (OSL I), which delivered a 10.4 per cent net return during its first 12 months of trading.
OSL I, which launched in February 2014, funded almost $50 million of lending
