Managers
Highland Capital Management has launched its first European regulated fund and will act as the sub-advisor of the BB Highland Floating Rate Fund.
The fund has been launched as an Irish Qualified Investor Fund (QIF) in partnership with BB DTVM, the asset management arm of Banco do Brasil.
The fund is designed to replicate the Highland Floating Rate Opportunities Fund by investing primarily in US bank loans and other floating rate products that seek to generate yield in a rising interest rate environment. As of 30 June, the Highland Floating Rate Opportunities Fund was ranked as the number one
CBOE Futures Exchange plans to launch futures trading on the CBOE/CBOT 10-year US Treasury Note Volatility Index (VXTYN) beginning on 13 November, pending regulatory review.
CBOE chief executive Edward Tilly made the announcement during his address to attendees at the CBOE Risk Management Conference Europe, currently taking place outside of Dublin.
The VXTYN Index, on which futures on VXTYN is based, is calculated by applying the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX Index) methodology to futures options data from CME Group's 10-year US Treasury note contract, one of CME Group's most active interest rate options products. In May 2013, CBOE began disseminating
The most recent rebalance of the Global X Guru Index exchange-traded fund (GURU) saw 11 additions and 13 removals from the fund, while 45 components remained unchanged.
GURU sector allocation reveals that hedge fund managers are overweighting industrials with their highest conviction ideas.
The overweight in the industrials sector could represent a bet from hedge fund managers on a strengthening economy, particularly in domestic manufacturing.
During Q2 2014, GURU celebrated its two year anniversary. Since the fund’s inception, GURU has returned over 86 per cent and reached nearly USD500m in assets under management.
Specialist fund manager VAM has launched a Luxembourg-domiciled UCITS IV fund targeting the high growth potential of frontier market equities.
The VAM Frontier Markets Fund has an investable universe primarily consisting of companies domiciled or doing business in the 33 countries classified by MSCI as frontier markets.
The fund follows an all-cap strategy and will typically hold between 60 and 90 stocks to provide exposure to a diverse portfolio of underlying companies and economies.
The fund will be available to institutional fund buyers, including discretionary fund managers, wealth managers, funds of funds, private banks, pension funds and family
Dr Vladimir Tikhomirov, Chief Economist at BCS Financial Group comments on the rouble’s recent fall to a new low…
Hopes that the Minsk summit and the first direct talks between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents would open the way for a peaceful resolution of the conflict were short-lived.
On 28 August, less than two days after the summit ended, Ukrainian authorities publicly stated that Russia intensified its support for the rebels and moved regular troops in to Ukraine numbering in the thousands. These statements provoked an escalation in Russia-West relations, which were accompanied by renewed discussions of sanctions against Russia.
Swiss alternative investment company ALTIN’s portfolio generated positive returns over the first half of 2014 with a return of 3.43 per cent, outperforming the HFRI FoF Composite index which recorded 1.53 per cent for the same period.
The period was characterised by a strong and somewhat renewed appetite for yield, a forceful rotation from growth/momentum-driven stocks to value stocks and by heightened geopolitical risk emanating from Russia, Ukraine and the Middle East.
Overall the first semester of 2014 was positive for most asset classes.
As expected corporate activity was strong, providing a broad range of opportunities for managers
Lyxor Asset Management has expanded its range of ETFs available on the London Stock Exchange with the launch of four new European equity products:
– LYXOR UCITS ETF FTSE Developed Europe ex UK
– LYXOR UCITS ETF CAC 40
– LYXOR UCITS ETF DAX
– LYXOR UCITS ETF FTSE MIB
The extension of the European ETF range is part of Lyxor’s drive to provide more choice around key exposures. Through these new Lyxor ETFs, investors can be more specific with their European exposure, targeting specific countries or regions to gain the precise exposure they require.
Three of the new products
Gar Wood Securities and Axxcess Wealth Management have formed a strategic relationship and joint marketing effort to introduce emerging US hedge fund managers to institutional clients, ultra-high net worth individuals and family offices.
The combined effort increases the manager talent pool for clients of Axxcess Wealth Management by providing unique access to Gar Wood Securities' emerging managers, in addition to the investment strategies currently available to investors via Axxcess Wealth Management's customisable investment platform.
"Gar Wood is pleased to offer this very unique capital-raising platform to our approved fund managers. The Axxcess Wealth Management platform provides a powerful tool
Three quarters (73 per cent) of hedge fund managers say competition in fundraising has increased in the past 12 months, according to a survey by Preqin.
However, 64 per cent of fund managers that run pooled products noted that their assets in these products had increased in the first half of the year.
Similarly, 61 per cent and 50 per cent of firms that manage alternative UCITS and alternative mutual fund products respectively reported net inflows to these vehicles.
Only 12 per cent of managers of pooled hedge funds noted their assets in these funds had decreased in
Alternative asset manager The Carlyle Group has closed a collateralised loan obligation (CLO) fund in the US totalling approximately USD816 million.
The CLO, arranged by Citigroup, is the firm’s third of 2014 in the US.
Carlyle GMS CLO 2014-3 will invest predominantly in senior secured bank loans.
Including these latest closings, in 2014 Carlyle has raised approximately USD3.23 billion in CLOs — USD2.16 billion in the US and USD1.07 billion (EUR777 million) in Europe, the second consecutive year in which Carlyle has raised more than USD3 billion in new issue CLOs.
