Funds
March proved to be a challenging month with the majority of alternative UCITS strategies delivering negative returns. According to figures released by Geneva-based Alix Capital, provider of the UCITS Alternative Index Global which tracks more than 700 single-manager funds, the overall return was -0.33 per cent.
The only two strategies to finish in positive territory were Multi-Strategy and Fixed Income funds, returning 0.41 per cent and 0.10 per cent respectively. The worst performers were CTA and Event-Driven funds, returning -1.10 per cent and -0.59 per cent. On a year-to-date basis Long/Short Equity funds remain the top performer, up 1.50 per
Napier Park has received a managed account allocation from an investment fund managed by Topwater Capital, a division of Leucadia Asset Management.
The allocation was made to Napier Park’s strategic credit strategy managed by Ram Putcha, who has more than 30 years of experience in leading credit strategies for large multi-strategy hedge funds and alternative asset management divisions prior to joining Napier Park.
Travis Taylor, who co-heads Topwater Capital with Bryan Borgia, says: “We are extremely pleased to have added the Napier Park strategic credit strategy to our portfolio. We have tremendous respect for Napier Park as an alternative
GoldMoney has separated its digital currency-focused arm, Netagio Limited, which it launched in December 2013, from the GoldMoney group.
Chief executive officer Geoff Turk says the decision to make Netagio a standalone company is down to the dynamic nature of the digital currency business.
“It is a rapidly evolving opportunity and we felt we could best take advantage of that by creating a small, nimble operation that can be focused on the unique nature of this new market, allowing GoldMoney to continue to concentrate on its established customer base and core business opportunities,” he says.
“Netagio has been
The Amber Equity Fund, a Luxembourg UCITS fund on the Alpha UCITS Platform, has grown assets under management to USD174m only six months after launch on 2 October 2013.
The Amber Equity Fund is managed by Giorgio Martorelli at Amber Capital Italia SGR, which is a Milan-based asset management company regulated by the Bank of Italy and part of the Amber Capital Group.
The Amber Capital Group is an investment firm founded in 2005 by Joseph Oughourlian with main offices in London and New York and a current firm AuM of about USD1.7bn.
Amber Capital Italia decided in
Investcorp's US-based hedge fund business and Eyck Capital Management, a London-based investment manager led by Khing Oei, have formed a strategic relationship.
The tie-up will provide Eyck Capital acceleration capital while offering Investcorp and its investors access to a specialised event-driven and distressed credit strategy spanning the European opportunity set.
Founded in 2013, Eyck Capital is the latest asset manager backed by Investcorp, which has more than USD11bn in client and proprietary assets under management. Historically, Investcorp provides initial seed and acceleration capital ranging from USD50m to USD100m.
"We are pleased to announce this strategic relationship with Eyck,
IA Englander & Co has agreed to transfer its managed account and prime services platform (MA&PS) to Concept Capital Markets.
IA Englander says its resources are best aligned with other parts of the marketplace and that transferring MA&PS to Concept Capital is in the best interest of its clients and employees.
“Concept Capital has continued to demonstrate a commitment to the prime brokerage business through investments in personnel and technologies that combine to deliver a comprehensive set of solutions for investment managers and those that allocate to them. Our clients could potentially benefit from these solutions and our employees
This week the European Securities and Markets Authority ("ESMA") issued a final report containing new guidelines on collateral management by UCITS ("New Guidelines") (ESMA/2014/294).
As detailed by law firm Maples and Calder, the consultation was held to review the requirements in paragraph 43(e) of the Guidelines that collateral received by a UCITS should be diversified on a country/issuer basis and subject to a 20 per cent issuer limit.
The key points of the New Guidelines are summarised below:
(a) Paragraph 43(e) of the Guidelines is replaced with the New Guidelines to reflect that any UCITS may be fully
Corporate credit specialist fund manager Muzinich & Co has continued to grow its UK presence with the appointment of a new sales manager, James Tomlinson.
Tomlinson, who joins from Schroders, will be responsible for managing relationships with existing Muzinich clients and for new business development.
Joshua Hughes, Muzinich director of institutional sales, says: “James comes to us with an extremely strong record of developing and maintaining relationships with investors seeking high quality investment solutions. We have been growing our UK sales and marketing efforts over the past few years and James’s appointment is part of that continuing process.”
Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofAML) and Sandell Investment Services have launched the Merrill Lynch Investment Solutions – Castlerigg Equity Event and Arbitrage UCITS Fund.
The sub-fund, which merges Sandell’s Castlerigg Merger Arbitrage UCITS fund onto the Merrill Lynch Investment Solutions (MLIS) alternative UCITS platform, provides institutional investors access to a variety of announced equity event-driven and arbitrage opportunities in developed markets.
The portfolio’s overall objective is to generate consistent net returns that are less dependent on systematic influences than traditional investments.
The Sandell fund was launched in October 2010 and joins the MLIS platform with approximately USD200m
2013 was a record year from a transaction perspective with EUR64bn of Europe’s non-core loans sold as part of portfolio transactions last year, a 40 per cent increase on the previous year, according to PwC.
Increased activity levels were mainly driven by the UK and Ireland, along with Spain and Germany.
Richard Thompson, partner, PwC, says: “We expect that 2014 will be another record year for the European non-core loan market, with activity levels expected to reach an all-time high of around EUR80bn. We also estimate that loan portfolios with a total face value of more than EUR30bn have
