Managers
Last February, just before ESMA published its updated guidelines on ETFs and UCITS, Lyxor Asset Management made its first foray into the alternative UCITS space. Hand picked from its managed account platform, Lyxor launched the Lyxor/Tiedemann Arbitrage Strategy Fund, a merger arbitrage strategy run by TIG Advisors.
It was a wise decision. In a little over 12 months the strategy run on the Lyxor platform has grown to approximately USD650m with the majority of assets in the UCITS fund. Two other UCITS funds currently sit on the platform: a version of Winton Capital’s Diversified Program (above USD215m) and the Lyxor/Canyon
Market regulation and the desire among investors for regulated alternative funds has proven to be a fantastic opportunity for platform operators, particularly those supporting alternative UCITS.
This asset class, which had its critics a few years back, has grown from strength to strength. Through June this year, assets have climbed to around EUR240bn (according to Alix Capital), up 20 per cent on end of year assets of EUR190bn.
All of which is good news for banks and independent platform providers. But for hedge fund managers considering such a fund, choosing who to partner up with requires careful consideration.
Context Asset Management’s alternative mutual fund, the Context Alternative Strategies Fund, is now available for purchase on three mutual fund platforms – Fidelity Investments, Charles Schwab and Pershing.
"At a time when many retail and institutional investors are seeking access to the strategies of highly knowledgeable hedge-fund managers, we are providing this exposure in a liquid and transparent investment vehicle," says Steve Kneeley, chief executive officer of Context. "We are glad that these three respected mutual fund marketplaces recognise the attributes of our fund, and we look forward to working with them to bring our absolute-return strategy to as many
By Holland Grant – The Bahamas International Securities Exchange (BISX) was established as a private, for-profit company in September 1999 and is the only securities exchange in The Bahamas to be regulated under the Securities Industry Act, 2011.
BISX was founded with the goal of bringing transparency, price discovery and market efficiency to the Bahamian Capital markets. With this goal in mind, BISX began formal listing and trading of securities in May, 2000 with nine domestic companies listing their ordinary shares on the Exchange resulting in a market capitalization of approximately $820 million. As at December 31, 2013, BISX had
Morgan Stanley this week announced the launch of the MS Nezu Cyclicals Japan UCITS Fund on its FundLogic Alternatives plc platform.
The Fund provides exposure to Nezu Asia’s equity capabilities and invests across Asia in a long/ short format with a clear focus on Japan. This latest fund addition brings total assets under management on the FundLogic platform to more than USD2.8bn and further expands its suite of Asian equity strategies.
Nezu Asia Capital Management is a Hong Kong-based Pan Asia equity focused hedge fund
manager, that runs various strategies with diverse geographical, sectoral and style biases. It has
Mirabaud has seen strong growth in Spain in 2013, including a 400 per cent rise in the volume of SICAV and fund assets under management compared with 2012.
The number of SICAVs managed by Mirabaud rose from 10 in December 2012 to 36 in June 2014. This is a 260 per cent rise and makes the group one the most active players in the Spanish SICAV market.
Meanwhile, the Mirabaud Equities Spain fund, managed from Barcelona by Antonio Hormigos and Gemma Hurtado, is rated as one of Spain's top five equities funds. In the past year it multiplied AUM
Natixis Global Asset Management (NGAM) has launched a core global tactical asset allocation fund that invests in stocks, bonds and volatility as an asset class.
The Seeyond Multi-Asset Allocation Fund offers the potential benefit of greater diversification by integrating equity volatility as an asset class along with traditional asset classes.
In the fund, equity volatility can be used to manage risk or to seek returns in different types of environments. This ability can be especially valuable to investors during market downturns.
“The Seeyond Multi-Asset Allocation Fund can provide investors with a range of benefits. The fund can be
La Française Group has obtained AIFM approval for all its management companies.
By capitalising on its experience in the registration of UCITS funds internationally and now its AIFM status, the La Française Group is able to extend its services across Europe.
The following Group management companies have obtained AIFM approval:
– La Française AM International (LFI)
– La Française Investment Solutions LFIS
– La Française REM
– La Française des Placements
– La Française Inflection Point
– New Alpha AM
As Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) managers, the companies will be able to manage AIFs in an EU member
UBS Asset Management has added its Xtra Yield strategy to the firm’s Luxembourg-domiciled SICAV by a launching a UCITS compliant version of the fund reported Citywire Global this week.
Investors can choose from four different strategies in the UBS Strategy Xtra Fund range: Fixed Income, Yield, Balanced, Growth. In addition to fixed income and equities, the Xtras also invest in hedge funds to enhance diversification and broaden the set of investment opportunities. The UBS (Lux) Strategy Xtra Yield (Ucits) fund will be run by Robert Hellstrand who manages the existing UBS (Lux) Strategy Xtra SICAV – Yield fund, which launched
Sussex Partners has signed an agreement with Credit Suisse to introduce the Credit Suisse (Lux) Small and Mid Cap Alpha Long/Short Fund to selected clients in Switzerland, Liechtenstein, the UK and the Netherlands.
The agreement between Sussex Partners and Credit Suisse follows a lengthy period of discussion and due diligence between the parties.
Patrick Ghali, managing partner of Sussex Partners, says: "We were looking for a good European long/short fund for a long time, but hadn’t been able to find a manager that we found truly convincing, able to deliver consistent risk adjusted returns and that was suitable also from
