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Artificial intelligence and machine learning are reshaping the alternative investments landscape, but professional financial managers still make the most pivotal decisions.
That’s the conclusion of the latest Barclay Hedge Fund Manager/Investor Survey, a quarterly report on the sentiments of professionals in the alternative investments sector.
The July 2018 edition of the Hedge Fund Sentiment Survey asked managers of hedge funds and commodity trading adviser (CTA) funds for their insights and experience with AI and machine learning (AI/ML).
The survey found that more than half of respondents say they use AI/ML to inform investment decisions, while two-thirds say they
LiquidX has opened new offices in London and Singapore and established a New York-based desk exclusively focused on Latin American transactions.
“Clients around the world are recognising the power of doing business on the LiquidX marketplace,” says Glenn Kocher (pictured), Global Head of Sales at LiquidX. “We’re rapidly ramping up to better serve our clients, no matter where they are located. It is a tremendous opportunity for us but we are also excited to be able to provide the global infrastructure our clients demand.”
The firm now offers the ability to process transactions in 25 separate legal jurisdictions and
JP Morgan Alternative Asset Management (JPMAAM) is strengthening its efforts to assist hedge fund managers who are interested in increased adoption of environmental, social and governance factors into their underlying strategies and businesses.
This week JPMAAM hosted its first ESG Forum at its New York headquarters, bringing together a diverse range of hedge fund managers interested in learning more about institutional client interest in ESG, enhancing alpha with ESG, and best practices for incorporating ESG factors into their businesses.
“In our hedge fund solutions business we are seeing increased interest from our clients in the ESG practices of our
Albar Capital, a new hedge fund led by Javier Velazquez – formerly of Millennium Capital Partners – is now trading equities and futures using FlexNOW, FlexTrade’s new execution management system.
“The FlexNOW team was instrumental in solving several of our problems,” says Jason Ruder, Trader at Albar Capital. “Not only are they helping us with our compliance requirements, they are also responsive to requests that improve my workflow.”
According to Rhyd Lewis (pictured), FlexNOW Product Manager, FlexNOW’s quick onboarding and easy installation process was critical for Albar Capital’s launch on 2 July.
“We had no problem integrating FlexNOW
Edge Technology Group, a global technology advisory and fully-managed IT service provider catering for hedge funds, private equity firms and family offices worldwide, has been awarded the International Standard Organisation (ISO) 27001 certification for its information security systems’ infrastructure and operations supporting its Hong Kong based client offerings.
This recognition demonstrates Edge’s commitment to a reliable, adaptable, risk-based security program across its global organisation.
The ISO 27001 Certification is one of the most widely accepted and globally recognised security standards for organisations that identify, prevent and defend potential security vulnerabilities. Edge TG Hong Kong Limited is the latest Edge office to achieve ISO 27001
AcadiaSoft has appointed Lee McCormack (pictured), as Head of Collateral Product Management and Professional Services. He will be responsible for extending AcadiaSoft’s CollateralManager service to new customers and further expanding its capabilities for buy-side firms.
“We are thrilled to have Lee on board to lead our collateral product management team,” says Scott Fitzpatrick, Director of Collateral Business and Client Operations. “Lee’s extensive experience in post-trade market infrastructure, counterparty risk management and collateral management will be tremendous assets as we continue to roll out CollateralManager to buy-side clients and grow our collateral product business.”
McCormack was part of the six-person
Risk assets were under pressure during the second half of June as trade war concerns escalated. The MSCI World was down 3 per cent in USD terms during the second half of June, since Trump approved tariffs on Chinese imports.
Lyxor writes: “The equity market correction was accompanied by a sector rotation which sent cyclical sectors such as Materials and Industrials down. Meanwhile, defensive sectors such as Utilities and Telecommunications outperformed since mid-June. Translated into the world of risk factors, this movement is a momentum reversal.
“In the hedge fund space, momentum reversals tend to impact negatively L/S Equity
Active investment manager Allianz Global Investors has launched the Allianz Fixed Income Macro Fund, a new global absolute return fixed income fund aimed at the UK market and will be managed by Kacper Brzezniak from the Conviction Fixed Income team based in London.
Mike Riddell will be deputy portfolio manager, and the team will be supported by Ryan Chin, a multi asset portfolio manager based in the US.
The Fund aims to outperform cash by 4-6 per cent per annum, (gross of fees) through all market cycles, regardless of the direction of interest rates, credit or equities.
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Alternative fund manager Abacus Capital’s Hogi Hyun is stepping into the crypto world to bring investors a blockchain and tokenised investment grade diamond investment opportunity.
Abacus was established in Singapore in 1996 and has some USD1 billion in assets in special situations and private equity investments in commodities, natural resources and mining. It also has a family office fund platform.
Hyun’s new venture, the D1 Coin, is based on the physical delivery of an initial 1,500 investment grade diamonds from Alrosa, the world’s largest diamond miner. The diamonds will be used to support the new asset-backed token D1 Coin.
Hyun
Q&A with Cédric Dingens, a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst, who oversees risk management and quantitative analysis at Notz Stucki and is also a member of the Portfolio Management & Hedge Fund Selection team.
Q: Notz Stucki is recognised as a pioneer in alternative investment. What accounts for the firm’s longevity… where so many other firms have failed?
A: There are two major reasons for the longevity and success of Notz Stucki in alternative investment over the past 52 years. Notably, most of our investors have a long-term perspective. Many of our fund of funds investors, for example, have been associated
