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The demand among institutional investors for managed account solutions continues to evolve, as they seek out new structuring solutions and vehicles to meet their investment return, liquidity, transparency and jurisdictional needs.
One of the manifestations of this evolution is the emergence of using regulated fund vehicles to optimise their hedge fund allocations, not only in UCITS funds but also Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) under the European AIFM Directive. Lyxor Asset Management has been operating managed accounts for two decades. Over that time, it has seen, and responded to, changing market dynamics. More recently, this has meant focusing on building out a
By Andrew Lapkin – Institutional investors are increasingly shifting their hedge fund investments from traditional, commingled structures to Dedicated Managed Accounts (DMAs). A DMA is a customised single investor hedge fund with portfolio assets ultimately owned (and controlled) by the investor. One of the most attractive benefits of DMAs is the opportunity to utilise the DMA structure to achieve “structural alpha”. Structural alpha is the ability to enhance returns by taking advantage of the unique structural aspects of a DMA. There are several ways that investors achieve structural alpha through a DMA structure.
A DMA is a separate vehicle and can
In an environment of fund fee compression, leveraging a private managed account platform may offer an easier way for an outsourced chief investment officer (OCIO) to get approval from pension fund investment committees.
The traditional consultant model has been non-discretionary, where the consultant makes investment suggestions to the pension plan board, which then makes a collective decision. Now, the consultant community is pivoting to act as the OCIO as institutions look to reduce pressure on internal resources and deal with the complexity of generating sufficient returns to meet their long-term liabilities.
The growth opportunity in this space is clear, with
Some of the industry’s leading managed account platform providers continue to evolve their solution-based models to meet the custom desires of institutional investors. Platforms have come a long way in the last decade. Whereas originally, they were built as product-focused distribution models to put managers in the shop window, many of today’s platforms have pivoted to offer bespoke, solutions businesses to address the myriad demands of investors, large and small.
Public commingled platforms, such as those operated by Lyxor Asset Management, remain highly viable, with Lyxor in particular evolving the platform beyond its Jersey roots to cater increasingly to European
Saxo Bank, the multi-asset trading and investment specialist, has appointed Lars Kufall Beck as Global Chief Financial Officer (CFO), effective no later than 1 May 2019.
Kufall Beck will report directly to Steen Blaafalk, Head of Group Finance & Risk (GFR) and Group CFRO. Kufall Beck will be part of the global management team in GFR and Saxo Group’s Senior Management Team (SMT).
In his role, Kufall Beck will be responsible for all the important functions within Group Finance overseeing regional Finance Operations, Business Planning and Analysis, Facility Management, and Group Procurement.
During his 15-plus year career, he
The world’s first space security token has been announced at the Zurich Crypto Summit, by SpaceFund Inc, a Texas-based venture capital firm focussed on using new blockchain technology to fund ‘frontier enabling’ space startups.
“SpaceFund’s goal is to support the development and profitability of amazing new space startups around the world,” says Rick Tumlinson, founding partner of SpaceFund. “With Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and others investing billions into a space economic infrastructure, a revolution is underway in space. We want to allow more visionary people to get involved, to support the entrepreneurs opening space to humanity, and to share in
State Street Global Advisors, the asset management arm of State Street Corporation, has launched the SPDR Bond Compass.
The Bond Compass will be published quarterly and uses proprietary research from State Street Global Markets’, the research and trading division of State Street. It presents a snapshot of global fixed income flows and holdings indicators from Q3 2018, derived from a sample of USD10 trillion of assets, which captures more than 10 per cent of the world’s outstanding fixed income holdings. In so doing, the Bond Compass provides unique insight into how investors are positioning their portfolios based on State Street Global
When it comes to protecting your business, you can never be too prepared. In the competitive investment management world, downtime for any reason is not an option. Whether it be a natural disaster, inclement weather, or even a flu epidemic sweeping the office, your firm needs to have both Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Plans to ensure that your firm doesn’t undergo the costly financial and reputational losses in the case of downtime.Firstly, it’s important to understand difference between Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Plans.
Disaster Recovery refers to the policies and procedures to enable the recovery of key technology
AlphaCentric has surpassed USD2.5 billion in assets under management (AUM). This represents a 150 per cent increase in assets in 13 months.
“AlphaCentric’s growth over the last four years is a testament to the strategies that we offer investors,” says Mark Kamies, managing member and co-founder of AlphaCentric. “We are committed to offering products that provide diversification and utilise unique investment strategies, while attempting to mitigate risk. As we continue to grow, we will remain steadfast in our focus on distinct fund offerings and strong investment management teams.”
AlphaCentric, which launched in 2014, currently offers six unique alpha-driven strategies in
SharesPost, a provider of liquidity solutions to the private growth asset class, has launched the SharesPost Token Index, a tool designed to track the growth of the token market.
The Index focuses on a select group of tokens based on the ERC-20 protocol, and uses factors such as market capitalisation and trading history to assign a weight to each token based on price and circulating supply. As such, the Index is able to accurately reflect the market’s overall maturity in real-time on a daily basis while minimising liquidity risk and transaction costs.
SharesPost Founder and CEO Gregory Brogger
