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Options, a managed service and IT infrastructure provider to the global capital markets industry, has appointed former Finastra and OpenLink Financial executive Michael Russo to its management team.
Russo joins the New York team as VP, Product Management where he will be responsible for driving new business growth and supporting the firm’s Managed Application services.
Russo brings nearly two decades of industry experience to Options from Finastra and OpenLink Financial, where he oversaw global business development and growth of the firm’s burgeoning cloud-based solutions. Michael was a key contributor and leader in the expansion and development of the firm’s
Hedge funds returns were overall negative last week, dragged down by CTAs, with early signs of the BoJ moving out of ZIRP also hitting their Japanese bonds and short JPY positions, according to the latest Weekly Brief from Lyxor’s Cross Asset research team.
Some Event Driven funds also suffered from idiosyncratic events, including the NXP deal.
Lyxor writes that while L/S Equity funds consistently added alpha in 2017, their contribution has been more modest and more volatile in 2018. It has also been more heterogeneous across regions. Peaking global growth concerns and an unusual stream of political wildcards overshadowed
OpenInvest, a digital investment advisor for socially responsible investing, has raised USD10.4 million in a Series A funding round led by QED Investors, with additional participation from Andreessen Horowitz (who led OpenInvest’s previous venture round in 2017) SYSTEMIQ, Wireframe Ventures, Yard Ventures and Abstract Ventures.
According to Morningstar’s Sustainable Funds US Landscape report, assets under management in portfolios using various approaches to sustainable investing have grown to an estimated USD23 trillion globally, an increase of more than 600 per cent over the past ten years. OpenInvest’s platform delivers customised investment portfolios aligned with an individual’s or institution’s values. ESG (environmental,
Blockchain investment and advisory firm NKB Group has partnered with CRYPTOALGO Holdings, a provider of cryptocurrency trading and an investment gateway for financial institutions, to provide crypto trading, brokerage and asset management services for institutional investors.
Under the partnership, NKB Group will utilise CRYPTOALGO’s Order Execution Management System (OEMS), AlgoTrader product, OTC and custody services for its clients, while CRYPTOALGO will extend its asset management and advisory offering through NKB Group’s regulated fund and investment banking platform.
The partnership is a collaboration between two firms born from top-level traditional banking and algotrading. NKB Group and CRYPTOALGO were founded by
Investment banking and alternative asset management firm JMP Group has closed a USD407.8 million collateralised loan obligation (CLO) transaction issued by two newly formed special purpose vehicles and backed by a diversified portfolio of broadly syndicated leveraged loans.
The notes offered in the transaction are issued by JMP Credit Advisors CLO V Ltd and co-issued in part by JMP Credit Advisors CLO V LLC and are subject to a two-year non-call period.
A wholly owned subsidiary of JMP Group purchased USD2,500,000 of the Senior Subordinated Notes and 100 per cent of the Junior Subordinated Notes, which are not rated.
Online Blockchain (OBC), a UK blockchain company, has launched ManilaCoin, a cryptocurrency for financial inclusion in the Philippines.
Designed as an alternative form of finance and transaction, the coin is free to use, 100 per cent secure and self-governing. It does not rely on any interaction with an authoritative body or government, putting Filipinos in control of their own finances.
The launch of ManilaCoin comes as the local government spurs growth of crypto and blockchain bodies. Announced in late April, the Philippines is on the verge of becoming a crypto hub as governmental initiatives have opened up the market
Active investment management firm Man Group has appointed Jason Mitchell as Co-Head of Responsible Investment. Together with Steven Desmyter, Co-Head of Responsible Investment, Mitchell will oversee responsible investment activities across Man Group.
In his new role, Mitchell (pictured) will work across the firm’s investment engines to ensure that investment processes and policies identify and integrate operational, governance and strategic risks. Reporting to Sandy Rattray, Man Group’s Chief Investment Officer, Mitchell will be responsible for directing the development of impact, thematic and norms-based investment strategies as well as the broader integration of ESG criteria across asset classes and multi-asset solutions.
Frostrow Capital, an independent investment companies group and AIFM, has appointed Matthew Burrows as a director in its distribution team where he will add support to the business’ well-established team promoting its investment company clients.
The hire comes as Frostrow continues to implement its ambitious growth strategy.
Burrows joins Frostrow having spent three years at Standard Life Wealth as a senior client portfolio manager where he managed discretionary portfolios for private clients, pensions, charities and trusts. Prior to joining Standard Life, Burrows worked at Falcon Private Wealth as an investment manager and adviser from 2013 to 2015. He began
BitGo, a specialist in institutional-grade cryptocurrency investment services, has launched Predictive UTXO (Unspent Transaction Output) Management for fee-sensitive transaction building to address the costs associated with operating high traffic wallets.
BitGo says it is the first company to bring Predictive UTXO Management to institutional investors and that early results show that it can deliver transaction fee savings of up to 30 per cent.
The increasing fragmentation of coins has created an environment where customers often hold up to hundreds of thousands of tiny coin fragments. Using each of these fragments requires a processing fee and customers can incur
Guernsey Finance is set to take a broader role in the development of the island’s financial services sector through the permanent appointment of Dr Andy Sloan as Deputy Chief Executive, Strategy.
Sloan (pictured), has been Acting Director of Strategy on part-time secondment from the Guernsey Financial Services Commission for the past nine months. He now joins permanently to oversee development of jurisdictional-wide financial services strategy through Guernsey Finance in line with the role set out in the Committee for Economic Development’s recently approved Economic Vision.
Dominic Wheatley, Chief Executive of Guernsey Finance, says: “Dr Sloan complements the strong team
