Managers
US private equity and real estate groups are paying close attention to the opportunities on offer in Ireland to pick up distressed assets, as the ripples of the '08 financial crisis continue to be felt there. Whether they are buying actual assets, or the debt that is held on those assets, depends on what the individual manager is trying to achieve but as Nicholas Tsafos, Chairman and Director of EisnerAmper Global Ltd, observes: "Whether it is commercial real estate or retail real estate, we are seeing managers invest in a variety of property portfolios, buying landmark properties such as the
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has welcomed the common approach adopted by the European Commission and the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on the equivalence of central counterparty (CCP) regimes.
ESMA Sees this as an important step towards market participants being able to use clearing infrastructures in both the US and Europe, and for the proper functioning of the global derivatives markets.
Once the equivalence decision by the European Commission on the US regime for CFTC-supervised CCPs is adopted, ESMA will rapidly resume the recognition process of specific CFTC-supervised US CCPs that had applied to ESMA
Parametric Portfolio Associates has added a new Liquid Alternative strategy to its suite of Volatility Risk Premium (VRP) strategies.
The Parametric Liquid Alternative strategy is designed to provide investors with a diversifying risk premium that targets risk-adjusted returns similar to many hedge funds. The strategy employs a mix of fully collateralised S&P 500 Index options, creating an effective beta targeted by many hedge funds, but without the complicated structure, leverage, illiquidity or high fees typically associated with them.
The Parametric VRP strategies include a spectrum ranging from covered calls to cash-secured put selling, and include hybrid strategies which vary the
The Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF), the body responsible for ensuring the operational integrity of the Global Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) System, has launched its data quality management program.
Based on a set of clearly defined criteria, the program allows the quality of the LEI data pool (the publicly available information on legal entities identifiable with an LEI) to be monitored, assessed and further optimised. The first monthly report, published today, reflects the very high level of data quality already achieved in the Global LEI System.
The LEI connects to key reference information that enables clear and unique
The Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) has released a new guide to operational risk management for alternative asset management firms.
The AIMA Guide to Sound Practices for Operational Risk Management focuses on a wide variety of risks that could result in loss from inadequate or failed internal processes, people and systems or from external events.
This is the first time that AIMA has produced a Guide covering all aspects of operational risk. Previous AIMA guides have focused on certain features of this broad area including cyber security, valuation and business continuity management.
The new guide, which is available
A new financial platform is aiming to bridge the gap between simple words and complex investment strategy. For the first time, investors and traders can write down their ideas which are then analysed, optimised, converted into investment strategies and executed on a chosen trading platform.
The platform sits on the trading page of a bank or broker and is accessible via a simple Google-like text entry field that reads written words and makes suggestions for more rounded instructions.
An investor might write a simple request ; “Buy 100 shares of Google at market price” or a much more complex
A total of 42 hedge fund deals were closed or announced globally in 2015, exceeding the 32 transactions that closed in 2014, according to the 4th edition of Madison Capital’s hedge fund industry M&A overview.
Additionally, 2015 transaction volume as measured by AUM was approximately 27% higher than 2014. Propelled by the wave of transactions in the fourth quarter of 2015, there are other key drivers creating deal momentum, positioning 2016 to be a record year in terms of hedge fund M&A transactions.
According to the report, hedge fund industry assets are at an all time high despite the
BIL Manage Invest, the third-party management company of the Banque Internationale à Luxembourg (BIL) Group has received approval from the CSSF_ to launch its Lux Multimanager SICAV, a hosted “rent-a-compartment” UCITS fund platform.
Lux Multimanager SICAV provides third-party investment managers, fund initiators and other fund promoters (managers) of investment funds with a fully UCITS-compliant umbrella fund platform within which they can manage a sub-fund (compartment) in accordance with their own investment strategies. BIL Manage Invest has appointed RBC Investor Services Bank SA in Luxembourg to provide custody, central administration and domiciliary services to the platform.
The managers are appointed
All managed futures indices posted positive returns in the first month of the year, with Societe Generale’s headline SG CTA Index leading performance. At 4.21 per cent this is the highest monthly return for the index since 2015’s opening month. Short-term traders also made significant gains, ending up 3.73 per cent.
The newly launched SG CTA Mutual Fund index made a strong start, completing its first live month up 2.64 per cent.
The SG Trend Indicator mirrored the gains of the SG Trend Index, ending up 2.35 per cent. Performance attribution from the Trend Indicator shows trend-followers benefitted from
David Lamb (pictured), head of dealing at the forex specialists FEXCO, on Mark Carney’s latest press conference…
Mark Carney's press conference revealed that he too gave up something for the New Year – forecasting interest rate rises.
Understandably the Governor chose not to mention the large amount of egg left on his face after the embarrassing ditching of his prediction – made last summer – that we would have greater clarity on interest rates at the start of 2016.
With UK inflation continuing to be dragged down by tumbling commodity prices, the prospect of an interest rate rises
