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Intercontinental Exchange’s ICE Gilt futures achieved a record daily volume of 1.4 million contracts on 24 May, 2018, an increase of 30 per cent on the previous volume record of 1.1 million contracts set in August 2014.
Open interest for ICE Gilt futures also continues to rise and is 945,870 contracts as at 25 May, 2018.
Daily volume for Gilt futures has risen notably since the start of the year as market participants seek to hedge economic and political risk resulting from central bank monetary policy and Brexit. Average daily volume for ICE Gilt futures is 244,000 contracts year to
Widening deal spreads in March-April translated into an underperformance of Merger Arbitrage in early Q2, but the strategy recovered in May along with the tightening of deal spreads, according to the latest Weekly Brief from Lyxor’s Cross Asset Research team.
The reasons why deal spreads widened earlier in Q2 are mainly related to two exogeneous factors (there was no deal break for instance), which are now less of a concern.
Firstly, the rising probability that the U.S. and China would engage in a trade war raised concerns about potential retaliation measures from the Ministry of Commerce of China (MOFCOM) which
The Swiss exchange has launched two new order types – Limit Plus and an enhanced Iceberg order, Iceberg Plus – which provide participants with even more flexibility and efficiency to trade successfully in today’s market.
Their introduction underlines the commitment of SIX to cater to the needs of its clients and to broaden its Exchange Services portfolio, as well as to increase the liquidity and quality of the home market for Swiss securities.
Both new Plus order types allow participants to simultaneously access the lit book and SwissAtMid, the non-displayed liquidity pool of the Swiss exchange. This dual representation offers
Guernsey’s funds industry is seeing a number of new inquiries so far this year and expects to see a rise in the value of the sector before the end of the year, following a decline in the first quarter’s statistics.
Latest figures from the Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC) showed the net asset value of funds business in the island declined by 2.9 per cent (GBP8 billion) during the quarter, with total assets under management and administration amounting to GBP262.5 billion. But the underlying trend is positive, with GBP40 billion growth over the past three years.
The decline was led
Intensifying market competition in an increasingly crowded space is the top concern among credit fund managers, according to new research from global law firm Ropes & Gray.
The report, ‘Driving Success: Challenges and Opportunities in Credit Fund Platforms’, analyses the responses of 100 senior level executives within US and UK-based credit funds, in the first quarter of 2018. Key findings reveal that 71 per cent of respondents cited their biggest concern as competition, while 65 per cent stated they intend to launch funds focusing on distressed/stressed debt opportunities in the next 12 months. Although general credit opportunities are the flagship
Hedge funds focused on the Middle East and Russia/Eastern Europe led Emerging Markets (EM) hedge fund performance through early 2018, as the US Dollar strengthened and the US Federal Reserve continued increasing interest rates.
The HFRI Emerging Markets (Total) Index posted a narrow gain of 0.08 per cent YTD through April, paring the gain of 4.0 per cent in January and following the gain of 19.4 per cent for all of 2017, as reported today by HFR, the established global leader in the indexation, analysis and research of the global hedge fund industry. The HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index,
XTRD.io, a company that is developing a set of technologies that will allow institutional investors to trade cryptocurrencies, has joined the FIX Trading Community, an international organisation aimed towards fostering the interoperability of global financial markets.
By joining FIX, which is mostly made up of traditional financial companies, XTRD looks to work alongside global financial organisations to develop universal standards for their own FIX protocols that will integrate with cryptocurrency markets. The company also looks to act as an ambassador for onboarding traditional financial players into the world of cryptocurrencies.
The Financial Information eXchange (FIX) protocol is an electronic
Probitas Partners has promoted four of its team to the position of managing director.
Additionally, the firm has expanded its real estate advisory capabilities to include providing bespoke access to large scale US commercial real estate opportunities to a targeted universe of the most active and sophisticated investors globally.
Probitas Partners was founded in 2001 and is an independent global placement advisory firm. The firm continues to be led by the longest-standing senior management team of any global placement advisor. The founders of Probitas congratulate their colleagues on their promotions and look forward to the next decade of great
HSBC Global Asset Management has held the final close of its first dedicated HSBC Diversified Loan Fund, which combines both loan investing and direct lending within a fully managed, alternative credit solution.
With close to USD800 million raised since its launch, the fund has proved popular with investors looking for a diversified, core loan solutions.
The fund will primarily invest in floating rate, senior secured credit instruments such as syndicated loans, as well as senior secured and unitranche loans to middle market companies. The combination of loan investing and direct lending increases the opportunity set for the fund and
The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) has conducted one of the largest co-ordinated series of enforcement actions by state and provincial securities regulators in the United States and Canada to crack down on fraudulent Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), cryptocurrency-related investment products, and those behind them.
NASAA members from more than 40 jurisdictions throughout North America participated in “Operation Cryptosweep,” which to date has resulted in nearly 70 inquiries and investigations and 35 pending or completed enforcement actions related to ICOs or cryptocurrencies since the beginning of May. NASAA members are conducting additional investigations into potentially fraudulent conduct that may
