Managers
ING Investment Management (ING IM) has hired the convertible bond team from Avoca Convertible Bond Partners, adding a strategy to its range that offers equity upside participation with downside capital protection.
Tarek Saber and Jasper van Ingen, managers of the Avoca Convertible Select Global Fund that went live in April 2012, joined ING IM at the end of November. Saber joins as Investment Team Manager Convertible Bonds and Van Ingen as Senior Portfolio Manager Convertible Bonds.
“In the current investment environment we expect investors to focus on yield, lower volatility and limited draw down risk. Convertible bonds fit very
Aggregate hedge fund performance was positive 1.08% in November, ending the industry’s two-month decline, according to eVestment’s latest monthly Hedge Fund performance report.
Year-to-date aggregate returns of 2.85% are well below 2013’s full-year increase of 10.20%.
Aided by rebounding US equity markets and strong moves in currency and interest rate markets, November’s biggest winners were managed futures strategies and activist funds. Credit and commodity-focused strategies posted aggregate declines, while funds focused on the energy sector and with Brazil exposure faced the industry’s largest losses during the month.
Managed futures’ current four-month run is this group’s best stretch in nearly four
Trading in investment products and leverage products on European financial markets fell slightly in the third quarter of 2014. At EUR26.2 billion, the trading volume was down one per cent compared to the previous quarter.
However, exchange turnover was up 9 per cent compared with the same quarter of 2013. This is one of the findings of an analysis by Derivative Partners Research AG of the latest market data collected by the European Structured Investment Products Association (EUSIPA) from its members.
The members of EUSIPA include: Zertifikate Forum Austria (ZFA), Association Française des Produits Dérivés de Bourse (afpdb), Deutscher Derivate
FxPro Financial Services Ltd (FxPro) has launched FxPro Prime, a prime-of-prime offering that will leverage its exceptional pool of multiple stream tier one FX liquidity and open it up to institutional businesses.
FxPro’s retail clients already benefit from very deep FX liquidity, with low dealing costs and reliable trade execution on the MT4 and cTrader platforms. Now, with plans to add more liquidity providers (LPs) on top of the existing LPs, small to medium sized institutions will be able to benefit in the same way and make considerable cost savings on their FX trade execution.
“For small to medium sized
Asset managers have told TABB Group that they are focusing more attention on index derivatives as market structure changes in both OTC and cash markets are impacting their portfolio decisions.
As they change the way they manage cash flows and risk exposures, index derivatives are seeing greater growth as part of the evolution of existing strategies, already generating record level volumes on multiple days in October 2014.
According to Matt Simon, a TABB principal, head of futures research and author “US Equity Index Derivatives: The Next Phase of Institutional Discovery,” traditional drivers of equity-index based derivatives usage will persist, evolving
CTAs are up 1.5% over the week as short positions on commodities, including oil, once again proved to be a driver of performance, according to Lyxor.
CTAs had nonetheless a diversified source of gains, posting profit on equities, rates, and FX. This implies the strategy could prove resilient if oil prices experience a (short lived) rebound.
Global Macro managers, in turn, are long energy on the back of their constructive outlook on global growth. Yet, the strategy is up 0.3% this week as most energy bets are played via relative trades on the curve or between Brent and WTI, rather
On the surface, average hedge fund performance in 2014 has been underwhelming but when one has a clear window on performance, as Lyxor Asset Management does with its commingled managed account platform, the picture becomes more nuanced.
“There have been two major events that have negatively impacted hedge fund performance. Firstly, the slide in equity markets earlier in the year, which affected long/short equity and to a lesser extent equity market neutral strategies. Secondly, the merger arbitrage space was impacted in October as a result of some large M&A deals not going through. Long/short equity and event-driven strategies were the
The ways in which investors are employing managed accounts to build their exposure to alternatives are becoming multifarious. Many of the well-established public platforms are having to cater for a wide spectrum of needs, from straightforward commingled funds for first-time investors right through to sophisticated infrastructure solutions for the largest institutional investors.
But it’s not just the structure that investors are considering; the rise of liquid alternatives means that onshore funds – UCITS, AIFs and ’40 Act funds – are becoming just as popular as offshore funds.
“What makes this more complex is understanding the motivations of the investor. What
Man Group is to acquire the investment management contracts from Merrill Lynch Alternative Investments to manage a portfolio of multi-strategy and strategy-focused fund of hedge funds with total AUM of USD1.2 billion.
The acquisition is expected to complete in the second quarter of 2015, subject to certain approvals and consents, including approval of the board of managers and investors of a US registered investment company.
Man Group’s fund of hedge fund arm, FRM, has been selected to manage the Portfolio following a due diligence process which assessed its investment expertise, quality of personnel, investment process and ability to service
The latest figures for Jersey’s finance industry reflect a particularly strong performance for the funds sector, with the value of funds business in the island reaching the highest level in five years.
The statistics highlight that the net asset value (NAV) of regulated funds increased by GBP5 billion in the third quarter of 2014, and by around 5.5% year-on-year, to reach just over GBP205 billion, the highest figure since March 2009. In addition, the total number of regulated funds rose by 21 during the quarter.
This was led by another strong performance in the alternative asset classes, with private equity
