Managers
Markets were on standby mode ahead of the Fed’s meeting last week. Hedge funds were flat and there was little dispersion in returns across the managers (see chart). Event-Driven outperformed as equity volatility edged lower. Meanwhile, Fixed Income strategies underperformed as sovereign bond yields moved higher.
Hotspot, a leading institutional foreign exchange (FX) market owned and operated by BATS Global Markets (BATS), launched its new London-area matching engine on 14 September, with USD1.2 billion traded (single-count) in the first full week of operation.
The new venue will target Europe and Asia and specific FX currency pairs that dominate the European and Asian trading hours. To incentivise customers, all trading for all transactions that take place on the London matching engine will be free until the end of the year.
Chris Concannon, BATS CEO, says: “Exactly six months after acquiring Hotspot, we have demonstrated our commitment to
OppenheimerFunds has announced a strategic partnership, whereby Apollo Credit Management, an affiliate of Apollo Global Management, will serve as sub-sub-advisor to the Oppenheimer Global Strategic Income Fund (GSIF).
"As a progressive money manager, OppenheimerFunds consistently strives to add value for our clients. Apollo Credit Management offers a wide range of alternative investment credit strategies that complement our strong in-house fixed income capabilities, which will help us continue to deliver a very compelling offering," says Art Steinmetz (pictured), Chairman, CEO and President of OppenheimerFunds. "Continuing the fund's history of innovation, we wanted a quality partner in terms of performance, investment team
While CFTC Commissioners and staff have in the past asserted that the CFTC has jurisdiction over bitcoin derivatives in speeches and testimony, for the first time the Commission has issued a definitive finding that bitcoin derivative exchanges must register as a SEF or designated contract market.
The CFTC will now uphold the laws and regulations of the Commodity Exchange Act for all derivative bitcoin trading venues
“This begins a new chapter in the evolution of the bitcoin market,” says Palu L Choue, CEO LedgerX. “This demonstrates that bitcoin is a new commodity subject to CFTC jurisdiction and that
The CFTC has settled charges against Bitcoin options platform operator Coinflip and its chief executive officer Francisco Riordan for conducting commodity options transactions without complying with the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC Regulations.
Specifically, the charges relate to operating a facility for the trading or processing of commodity options without complying with the CEA or CFTC Regulations otherwise applicable to swaps or conducting the activity pursuant to the CFTC’s exemption for trade options. Coinflip is based in San Francisco, California, and Riordan resides in San Francisco.
The Order finds that, from in or about March 2014 to at least August
Eurex Exchange is to offer a new interest rate future based on the long-term bonds issued by the Spanish government, starting 26 October 2015.
The new Euro-Bono-Futures contract represents an important addition to the existing range of efficient and cost-effective hedging instruments on the European government bond market, complementing Eurex’s already listed long-term interest rate derivatives products such as Bund-, BTP- and OAT-Futures.
“With the introduction of this contract, we are responding to the significant interest from our participants in more customised hedging solutions and in new spread trading opportunities,” says Eurex Executive Board member, Mehtap Dinc.
Eurex
The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) has launched a new industry data project, aimed at developing an open-source standard derivatives product identification system that can be applied across all derivatives facilities.
That would include trading venues, clearing houses, repositories and other infrastructures.
ISDA is overseeing the symbology project, which involves a consortium of buy- and sell-side market participants, vendors, platforms and trade associations. London-based capital markets technology consultancy Etrading Software is acting as project manager
The initiative comes in response to a variety of regulatory changes, including the European Union’s revised Markets in Financial Instruments Directive/Regulation (MIFID
In the face of volatility in the surrounding European continent, Germany has remained relatively stable and attractive to many private equity investors. Here, Preqin provides the latest statistics for German fundraising and deals, as well as details of the largest transactions of 2015 YTD.
Read the full factsheet here, featuring charts and tables demonstrating the latest research into the German private equity market.
NewStar Financial has agreed to acquire Feingold O'Keeffe Capital, a private alternative asset management firm based in Boston, Massachusetts. The acquisition will add approximately USD2.3 billion to NewStar's assets under management, increasing total pro forma AUM to approximately USD6.4 billion.
The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter, subject to customary closing conditions, and be accretive to earnings per share in Q1 2016.
FOC Partners was established in 2001 by Co-founders Andrea Feingold, former Co-Head of PIMCO's High Yield Group, and Ian O'Keeffe, former PIMCO Head of High Yield Trading. The Co-founders launched the firm in 2001 to
TeamCo Advisers, a privately owned investment advisory firm that manages portfolios of select hedge funds and other opportunistic alternative assets, has released an in-depth overview and analysis of Special Situations Funds (SSFs).
The white paper, entitled: “Special Situations Funds: A Private Party Worth Crashing,” which was co-authored by TeamCo Managing Directors Kurt L Braitberg (pictured), CFA, CAIA and Aimee F. Kish, CAIA, outlines the factors investors should consider when evaluating these funds for inclusion in their portfolios.
In the report, TeamCo notes that:
• SSFs enable hedge fund managers to capitalise on illiquid, potentially high performing investment opportunities,
