Managers
MUFG Investor Services, the global asset servicing group of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, is to acquire UBS Global Asset Management’s Alternative Fund Services (AFS) business.
“This transaction is part of our strategy to build MUFG Investor Services into an industry-leading administrator, both organically and through acquisitions," says Junichi Okamoto, Group Head of Integrated Trust Assets Business Group, Deputy President, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation. "AFS’ strong client franchise, global footprint, and notably its strong presence in Asia, are an excellent strategic fit.
“We are confident that our clients will benefit from the depth of combined resources and capabilities and
New hedge fund launches rose to the highest level in three quarters in Q1 2015, as strong performance industry-wide drove both total global hedge fund capital and the total number of hedge funds to record levels.
Hedge fund launches totalled 264 in Q1 2015, the highest level since 2Q 2014, bringing the total number of hedge funds globally to 10,149 according to the latest HFR Market Microstructure Industry Report. Total hedge fund capital increased to a record of USD2.94 trillion in Q1 2015, while the HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index and HFRI Equity Hedge Index posted gains of +3.9 and
Franklin Templeton Investments has amended the objectives for its three Luxembourg-registered multi-asset funds to include return and volatility targets effective 19 June.
The funds, which are part of the Franklin Templeton Investments Fund (FTIF) range, will also be renamed to better reflect their respective return and volatility targets.
Jamie Hammond, managing director for Europe, Franklin Templeton Investments, says: “Following the merger of the FTSAF range into FTIF range earlier in March 2015, this recent development is a significant step in shaping Franklin Templeton’s multi-asset fund proposition for international investors. We are seeing increasing demand for outcome-oriented products, which give
Liquidnet is integrating with seven Order Management Systems (OMS) to provide direct connectivity into the first dark pool for corporate bonds, which is scheduled to launch in Q3.
Through these integrations, Liquidnet is centralising a critical mass of corporate bond liquidity to market participants so that they can take advantage of corporate bond trading opportunities that are currently not available in the marketplace.
“Our clients have asked us for a dark pool that enables them to match based on passive blotter-level dark liquidity. By connecting to their existing order management systems, asset managers will have direct access to a
Hedge funds were up 0.92 per cent in May, according to the Barclay Hedge Fund Index compiled by BarclayHedge. The Index has gained 4.58 per cent year to date.
“Developed market equities lead the way to a profitable month for most hedge fund strategies,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge. “Japan outperformed as the Nikkei rose 5.6 per cent driven by positive economic news, the S&P 500 gained 1.29 per cent in spite of expectations of rising US interest rates, and the MSCI Europe Index advanced 0.8 per cent in the face of Greek exit fears.”
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Markit has launched an Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) external valuer service providing independent valuations for alternative investment fund managers.
Markit’s aim is to help customers address the statutory and policy requirements of fund managers, regulators and investors for independent calculation of prices used in determining net asset valuations.
Massimo Catizone, chief executive officer, Athena Capital, says: “We were looking for a cost effective external valuer service which meets AIFMD requirements and allows us to focus on the management of our fund. We are pleased with the support and quality of the services provided by Markit in each
European policy makers have proposed money market fund (MMF) reforms relatively similar to the US changes slated to take effect next year, says Moody's Investors Service in a new report.
"As in the US, the goal in Europe is to enhance MMFs' ability to withstand stressed market conditions, reducing systemic risk. However, reforms will have diverging effects in these markets, given their very different starting points," observes Vanessa Robert, a Moody's Vice President – Senior Credit Officer.
"For investors, the new money fund regulations will generally translate to more conservative portfolios, because portfolio managers will want to limit net asset
May proved to be a tricky month for CTAs. According to Lyxor index figures, long term and short term CTAs were the only two strategies to post negative returns, down -0.95 per cent and -3.71 per cent respectively. Although they are still in positive territory, CTAs have not quite been able to kick on from the strong gains they made towards the end of 2014.
According to Lyxor, the majority of the drawdown suffered in May occurred during the first week due in large part to long USD positions, long US and EU bond positions, and shorts on commodities. What
Schroders has launched Schroder GAIA BSP Credit, an externally-managed fund on its GAIA platform managed by Benefit Street Partners (BSP), the debt investment arm of Providence Equity Partners.
The fund is a fundamental credit long short strategy that applies a bottom-up approach, combining deep credit analysis, sophisticated structuring and active trading to maximise expected returns while limiting downside risk.
Investing primarily in global high yield corporate credit with a focus in the US, the fund will aim to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns in both up and down markets and provide investors with an absolute return of 5-7 per cent per
Dedicated real estate secondaries vehicles that have successfully raised capital are concentrated among just a few established managers, more so than with private equity secondaries vehicles. Between 2003 and May 2015, a total of 21 real estate secondaries funds attained a final close, securing an aggregate USD10.1 billion; almost two-thirds of this capital was secured by just five managers.
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