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The Amsterdam Investor Forum, a leading forum for institutional investors and alternative investment managers in the EMEA region, is looming large. Hosted at ABN AMRO’s headquarters in Amsterdam on 6 and 7 March 2018, this year’s event promises to be just as engaging; so much so that if last year is anything to go by, there will be people standing in the aisles of the auditorium.
Delphine Amzallag (pictured), Global Head of Prime Services, ABN AMRO Clearing, says that in keeping with the spirit of the Amsterdam Investor Forum quantitative investing will form the backdrop, against which panellists will debate key developments
INTL FCStone’s Dubai-based subsidiary, INTL FCStone Commodities DMCC is to serve as the market maker for the Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange (DGCX) Sharia-compliant Spot Gold contract (DGSG), which will be available for trading beginning on 29 March, 2018.
The release of this contract is a first for DGCX, and will mark its entry into the Islamic Finance sector.
DGCX’s offering will be the first Sharia-compliant Gold product to be listed on a regulated trading platform in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. The pending launch comes at an ideal time, as global Sharia investments currently total approximately USD2
Lighthouse Investment Partners is to acquire substantially all of the assets of Mesirow Advanced Strategies (MAS) multi-manager hedge fund division.
A significant portion of the MAS team is expected to join Lighthouse as part of the transition and will continue to provide investment oversight, operational support and client service to the MAS business. This results in a broader and complementary set of resources and talent across the organisation and provides greater flexibility in constructing and executing portfolios.
“The combination of Lighthouse’s industry-leading managed account platform and strong track record, coupled with MAS’s strengths in less liquid strategies, such as
Luxembourg-based funds expert James Bermingham has been promoted to partner at Ogier.
Bermingham, who joined Ogier as Counsel in 2017, specialises in the structuring and formation of alternative investment funds.
As an expert in the commercial, legal, regulatory and tax issues affecting institutional investment in a cross-border context, Bermingham’s practice focuses primarily on supporting international clients establishing and operating in Luxembourg. He often works with other Ogier offices on a cross-jurisdictional basis to ensure that clients get the very best advice.
The head of Ogier’s Luxembourg office, Francois Pfister, says: “James is a true lawyers’ lawyer and with his
Vaultbank has launched the beta version of the Vaultbank Exchange, the first decentralised exchange to allow trading of security tokens.
Along with security tokens, Vaultbank supports trading of utility tokens and traditional investment securities like mutual funds. The Vaultbank Exchange is the first securities-compliant platform supporting KYC, AML, FATCA, and Accreditation.
Vaultbank aims to tokenise securities including mutual funds and hedge funds efficiently and at low cost to investors. While most exchanges only offer utility token trading, Vaultbank provides investors more options to buy, sell, and trade a range of tokenised securities and assets. Built on Stellar technology, Vaultbank
Fiera Capital Corporation is to acquire Clearwater Capital Partners (Clearwater), an Asia-focused credit and special situations investment firm.
Headquartered in Hong Kong, Clearwater is a privately held employee-owned asset manager with USD1.4 billion in assets under management. Clearwater’s assets will be added to Fiera Capital’s Private Alternative Investments division, complementing the Firm’s existing suite of private alternative investment strategies and adding extensive investment experience and depth through offices and teams across the Asia-Pacific region.
“The transaction establishes Fiera Capital’s Asia-Pacific footprint and provides a rare opportunity to gain entry to the Asian private credit market,” says Vincent Duhamel (pictured),
The European Energy Exchange (EEX) achieved a total volume of 274.3 TWh on its power derivatives markets in February, is a year-on-year increase of 37 per cent (February 2017: 200.8 TWh). In doing so, EEX was able to grow its power derivatives volumes across all market areas.
In total, the German and Austrian markets (Phelix-DE, Phelix-AT and Phelix-DE/AT) increased by 12 per cent to 169.7 TWh. This includes 153.4 TWh from the benchmark product Phelix-DE which achieved its highest volume since launch in April 2017. Volumes in the French market more than doubled to 26.9 TWh (February 2017: 12.3 TWh)
KKR & Co has appointed Xavier Niel to the Board of Directors of KKR Management, the managing partner of KKR.
Neil’s appointment brings the number of independent directors on KKR’s Board to seven out of a total of eleven Board seats.
Niel serves as Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Strategy Officer of Iliad SA.
KKR’s other independent directors include David Drummond (Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer of Alphabet Inc), Joseph Grundfest (Stanford Law Professor and former Commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission), John Hess (Director and Chief Executive Officer of Hess Corporation), Patricia Russo
Intertrust, a provider of high-value trust, corporate and fund services, has appointed James Ferguson, former US Bank and JP Morgan Executive Director, as Head of Americas and a member of the firm’s Executive Committee.
Ferguson will be responsible for Intertrust’s six offices in the USA, as well as offices in Bahamas, Brazil, BVI, Canada, Curacao, and its key office in the Cayman Islands.
Stephanie Miller, CEO of Intertrust, says: “I’m pleased that we’ve attracted such a talented leader as James. The Americas are an important market for our business and James will lead in taking advantage of opportunities in
EisnerAmper, a provider of accounting, tax and consulting services to global financial firms, is opening an office in London, under the leadership of Robert Mirsky who joins the firm as Head of the London office and Head of the Asset Management Group.
“As Brexit unfolds, Europe is facing an unprecedented period of economic and regulatory challenges and opportunities,” says Charles Weinstein, Chief Executive Officer of EisnerAmper LLP. “Adding Robert to our team will greatly enhance our ability to offer clients highly specialised, expert financial advisory services in this growing yet rapidly changing market.”
Mirsky (pictured), has more than 20
