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Exchange turnover in investment products and leverage products on Europe’s financial markets were up at the end of the first quarter of 2018, according to an analysis by Derivative Partners AG of the latest market data collected by the European Structured Investment Products Association (EUSIPA).
Compared with the fourth quarter of 2017, turnover rose by 12.0 per cent to EUR32.5 billion. This also represented a 14.0 per cent increase year on year.
The members of EUSIPA who provide the figures for the market report include: Zertifikate Forum Austria (ZFA), Belgian Structured Investment Products Association (BELSIPA), Association Française des Produits Dérivés
Pico, a financial infrastructure services provider, has launched direct connectivity to the Warsaw Stock Exchange (GPW) colocation facility in Warsaw, Poland.
The GPW is the largest and most liquid venue in Central and Eastern Europe and clients interested in connecting to the multi-asset trading marketplace may now do so via direct connectivity or by hosting with Pico within the Warsaw colocation facility. Pico provides one of the lowest latency connections between London metro and Warsaw via a PicoNet access point within London’s Interxion data centre. PicoNet is a private, proprietary network mesh that provides the electronic trading community with powerful
Nasdaq is establishing connectivity to three data centres in Hong Kong to increase its service to the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region through a Nasdaq Point of Presence (POP).
From July, Nasdaq will begin to offer access to data from the US financial markets via POP services in the following Hong Kong data centres – HK1 Equinix, Mega-i, and HKEx. The Nasdaq POP is designed to enable firms to access market data and trading applications, as well as APAC financial web portals, with real-time US equity and index/ETF information from a local centre. This new, cost-effective service provides firms low latency connectivity
Research unbundling is going global following its introduction in Europe in January as part of MiFID II, according to a new survey conducted by RSRCHXchange.
The poll, which was carried out by Survation in Q2 2018 and canvassed the views of 418 respondents from over 30 countries, representing over 350 firms with over USD30 trillion of AUM in aggregate, reveals that 83 per cent of US respondents expect unbundling to take effect within the next four years and 52 per cent of Asian repsondents within two years.
The smallest firms believe that change will come through regulation, whereas those in
UMB Fund Services (UMBFS) has hired three associates to join its business development team – Michelle Benner, Ana Burke and Jose Rincon who all join as vice presidents, business development.
The trio will focus on new business development for UMBFS’ array of services for the asset management industry which include fund accounting, administration, tax, investor services, transfer agency, custody and distribution.
In addition, UMBFS has promoted Chanté Schultz to assistant vice president, business development. In her role, she will support the new business development efforts of the national sales team.
“We are committed to expanding our registered fund and alternative investment
Highland Capital Management has launched the Highland Flexible Income UCITS Fund, an Irish-domiciled fund focused on collateralised loan obligation (CLO) debt.
An innovator in the structured credit space, Highland enhances its suite of alternative credit offerings with the new fund, extending the firm’s reach among European investors.
“Improving and expanding access to the floating-rate debt market is in Highland’s DNA, and this fund is the latest manifestation of that,” says Mark Okada, Highland Capital Management co-founder and co-chief investment officer (CIO). “The UCITS framework provides a number of advantages for investors, and with Highland’s structured credit expertise and
Saxo Bank, a Fintech specialist focused on multi-asset trading and investment, has appointed Eric Krueger (pictured), to a newly established position as Global Head of Client Services, effective from 2 July 2018.
He will report directly to Damian Bunce, CCO of Saxo Bank A/S.
Krueger will play a lead role in managing and developing Saxo Bank’s client relationships and the infrastructure serving those clients. He assumes the overall responsibility to lead Saxo Bank’s global client services organisation to further strengthen Saxo Bank’s renowned client service.
Krueger joins Saxo Bank with 20 years of experience in the financial industry
Hedge funds delivered healthy performances last week, with beta-driven strategies outperforming.
L/S Equity funds extended their gains in line with their underlying markets, according to the latest Weekly Brief from Lyxor’s Cross Asset Research team.
Special Situations benefitted from both their higher market beta and some of their activist positions. Tightening deal spreads along with the consolidation wave in the Media sector supported Merger Arbitrage. That included positions on stocks such as NXP and Sky, to name a few.
CTAs were the main detractor to the performance, hit by rising bond yields in Europe and the slide in
Currency manager Record Currency Management (Record) has been accepted as a signatory to the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), and is one of the first dedicated currency managers to do so.
James Wood-Collins, Record’s Chief Executive, says: “Record has long had a policy of managing its business in a socially-responsible fashion. We are delighted now to be in the lead amongst currency managers seeking to incorporate ESG issues into our investment practice as well as our business management. While the nature of the portfolios that we manage on our clients’ behalf imposes some particular challenges, we are excited about exploring
Financial services and regulatory partner Arun Srivastava is to join the London office of law firm Paul Hastings from Baker McKenzie, where he is head of the Financial Services Regulatory Group.
Srivastava will lead Paul Hastings’ London regulatory and fintech and payments practice.
“Arun is one of the leading financial regulatory lawyers in London and will enhance our capabilities across our finance, fintech and payments, funds and transactional practices,” says Seth Zachary, chair of Paul Hastings. “It is central to our growth strategy in London that we attract the finest lawyers in their specialisms, and Arun’s practice and pedigree
