Latest News
LiquidX, a global network for illiquid assets, continued its rapid expansion in the third quarter, as the firm added new market participants, new products and new technology. The quarter was capped by a 43 per cent increase in September volume year over year.
That momentum continued into the beginning of the fourth quarter with a 76 per cent rise in volume in October.
“We are serving more clients in different parts of the world than ever before,” says Glenn Kocher (pictured), Managing Director at LiquidX. “We are rolling out new products and expanding our client base with institutional investors
Mosaic Smart Data (Mosaic), a real-time FICC data analytics company, has launched a new feature for its MSX platform enabling users to instantly generate text reports on their trading activity data using machine learning.
The feature will be available to all MSX users and will allow a trading activity report, which would take a member of staff hours to create, to be generated instantly.
Using a machine learning technique called natural language generation (NLG), MSX can generate trading activity reports on any set of analytics on the platform including both voice and electronic trade data. These reports highlight
ProMeritum Investment Management, an emerging markets fixed income manager focussing on Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (EEMEA), has appointed James Marshall as Director, Local Markets.
Marshall (pictured), will primarily be involved in the research and execution of the firm’s investment strategy in local markets, particularly sub-Saharan Africa. Previously, he was a Senior Portfolio Manager at Enko Capital Management (Enko).
Prior to Enko, Marshall worked at JP Morgan for 12 years, having joined that firm in 2005. At JP Morgan, Marshall was an Executive Director within Global Emerging Markets with responsibility for the sub-Saharan Africa Local Markets trading business.
Electronic US Treasuries (UST) trading venue LiquidityEdge has announced record trading volumes during October 2018.
Average daily trading volumes reached USD15 billion, whilst on 3 October, participants traded over USD22 billion in US Treasuries across both on-the-runs and off-the-runs.
The surge in activity has been driven by favourable market conditions and the growing popularity of the directed, disclosed model championed by LiquidityEdge. As the line between the traditional sell-side and buy-side continues to blur, participants are seeking more flexible methods of accessing liquidity, tighter prices and greater depth of market.
Since launching in September 2015, LiquidityEdge has rapidly
BNP Paribas Capital Partners (BNPP CP), BNP Paribas Asset Management’s alternative investments selection specialist, has appointed of Charlotte Laurent as Head of Sales.
Based in Paris, Laurent (pictured), joined in September and reports to Gilles Guerin, CEO of BNPP CP. In this newly-created role, she will be responsible for developing BNPP CP’s alternative offering with European investors, including pension funds, insurance companies, banks and family offices, with a key focus currently on BNP Paribas CP European Special Opportunities Debt Fund, a closed-ended fund of funds that recently held an initial closing.
BNPP CP offers a range of alternative investment
RBC Investor & Treasury Services (RBC I&TS) has been appointed custodian by Picton Mahoney Asset Management (Picton Mahoney) for three liquid alternative mutual funds added to Picton Mahoney’s Fortified Fund family.
RBC I&TS will also provide fund administration and shareholder services.
The three liquid alternative mutual funds were added to the Fortified Fund family on 28 September 2018 and provide Canadian retail investors access to sophisticated hedging expertise, improved diversification and additional tools for risk mitigation.
Liquid alternatives, known as ‘liquid alts,’ are strategies used through alternative investment vehicles including derivatives, leveraging and shorting. The Ontario Securities
INTL FCStone Ltd Precious Metals (INTL) integration of Integral BankFX has enable the firm to access new liquidity sources and double trading volumes over the past year and a half.
INTL needed a solution for their precious metals client base which would allow them to improve flexibility, price more competitively and achieve their intended growth. Their prior offering only provided one price feed into their platform, resulting in sub-optimal pricing.
INTL worked in close collaboration with Integral to design and deliver a bespoke solution that supported their demands to serve their existing customers and add new business. This approach provided them
Blueprint Capital Advisors (Blueprint), an investment firm focussed on manager sourcing, due diligence and the structuring of investments in emerging managers and strategies, has adopted The Gemini Companies dedicated managed account (DMA) offering.
Through this structure, Blueprint’s investors can benefit from reduced fees and implementation costs and increased transparency of their underlying assets – both of which are strategic imperatives for Blueprint and the clients they serve.
Gemini’s DMA structure will provide a platform of managed accounts or funds dedicated to Blueprint’s institutional investors and support a variety of investment types (e.g., traditional liquids, illiquids, and existing fund
Independent fund administrator Centaur Fund Services has joined the North American Fund Administration Association (NAFAA), an association that represents the alternative investment fund administration industry.
“We are thrilled to have Centaur join our association.” says NAFAA founding director, Chris Meader (pictured). “November will see the launch of the NAFAA working groups whose initial focus will be to discuss and define best practices and standards in the industry. We are pleased to have a global firm such as Centaur collaborating with our existing members in promoting the best interests of the alternative fund administration industry.”
Des Johnson CEO of Centaur Fund
MarkitSERV has launched a new, cloud-based technology for post trade processing of OTC derivatives trades. Called TradeServ, the new platform launched in September for matching, confirming and clearing trades of non-deliverable forwards (NDFs).
Some 32 banks and major asset managers are live with TradeServ. More than 1 million cleared NDF trades have been processed using MarkitSERV this year (January through October), 80 per cent more volume than in 2017 and nine times higher than 2016 for the same period.
TradeServ is a modern platform as a service (PaaS). It uses micro-services architecture and cloud infrastructure to make the platform highly flexible,
