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Most hedge fund strategies are in positive territory this month, with fixed income arbitrage, event-driven and L/S equity strategies are up in excess of 1 per cent so far, according to the latest Weekly Brief from Lyxor’s Cross Asset Research Team.
The Lyxor Event-Driven broad index is up 7 per cent year to date, with a balanced contribution from merger arbitrage and special situations. On the merger side, positions in the health care sector contributed to gains last week. On a negative note, CTAs gave back some gains last week and stand in the red month to date as a
BGC Partners, a global brokerage company servicing the financial and real estate markets, has appointed Shawn McLoughlin is being appointed CEO of BGC Financial for the Americas region, effective immediately.
McLoughlin (pictured), brings to the role more than 30 years of experience in the financial services industry.
“Shawn will work to define business strategy for new products and drive revenue growth in the North American market,” says Shaun Lynn, President of BGC Partners. “Our longstanding Americas CEO Lou Scotto, who has played an instrumental role in the development of our US business since 2011, will stay on to oversee
Portfolios that include managed futures funds perform better and reduce more risk than those without them, according to research published by the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA).
The paper, which is about commodity trading advisers (CTAs) and managed futures funds and titled ‘Riding the Wave’, explains the roles that managed futures funds typically play in investor portfolios and the diverse strategies on offer. The paper also highlights the considerations investors should adopt when investing.
AIMA and Societe Generale analysed the risk and return profiles of investment portfolios including and excluding managed futures funds from 2000-2016. For example the
Tradeweb Markets, a global provider of fixed income, derivatives and ETF marketplaces, has executed the first cleared inflation swap transaction using in-competition request-for-quote (RFQ) protocolon its [European] Interest Rate Swap (IRS) platform.
The trade was executed by Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) and cleared by LCH. Tradeweb currently supports cleared zero coupon GBP inflation swaps up to 50 years, and EUR and French inflation swaps up to 30 years, with 8 dealers providing liquidity in inflation swap instruments.
Inflation swap execution has traditionally been conducted by phone or chat, a time-consuming process that carries the inherent risk of
Smartkarma, an Asia-based provider of independent investment research, has opened a new UK office to serve as a hub to build out its independent research analyst community in Europe and support its buy-side investor clientele.
Arzish Baaquie (pictured), who joined the firm in 2014 and previously led the Special Situations offering, is spearheading the growth of Smartkarma in the UK and will build a team based in Baker Street, London.
Smartkarma’s move to the UK coincides with major banking legislation, MiFID II, which takes effect in January 2018 and is forcing transparency around the supply and payment of research.
Research from TeleWare reveals that just 42 per cent of senior decision makers are confident in their firm’s knowledge of MiFID II requirements. Although only 99 days away, worryingly more than half (54 per cent) believe more education is needed on details of the European directive.
MiFID II is set to impact three times more financial firms than its predecessor. It aims to strengthen investor protection and inject greater transparency into markets. From asset managers to traders, brokers, banks and exchanges, everyone is having to prepare for the new regime that comes into effect on 3 January 2018.
The
DRS Markets, an international trading platform for ‘Contract For Difference’ trading (CFDs), has launched in London with a fully FCA regulated platform.
The company, which offers flexible trading across several channels, evaluated multiple jurisdictions before choosing London so that investors can take confidence in the quality of its platform, processes and services. It will work with investors around the world to trade through London.
DRS Markets offers very competitive commission charges on its trading products, giving investors one of the most cost-effective ways to benefit from CFDs, and a highly attractive margin structure. It currently offers access to over
OP Investment Management (OPIM), a member of the Oriental Patron Financial Group, has made a strategic investment in Fundseeder Holdings (Fundseeder), an emerging financial software company located in Florida, United States.
OPIM is a leading hedge fund structuring and incubation platform based in Hong Kong. The firm partners with Asian investment managers to build offshore hedge fund products, combining early stage track records with the firm’s institutional infrastructure and ecosystem. OPIM also works with established institutional investors, funds of funds, and family offices to evaluate undiscovered trading talent in the ever-expanding emerging manager space.
Founded by US financial industry
Cowen Inc has been named Best North American Prime Broker at the 2017 Hedgeweek USA Awards for the third consecutive year.
The award is based on a peer review system whereby Hedgeweek’s readers, including institutional and high net worth investors, as well as hedge fund managers and other industry professionals at fund administrators, prime brokers, law firms, custodians, and advisers, select the top performer in a series of categories.
Jack D Seibald (pictured), Global Co-Head of Prime Brokerage Services, said, “We are proud that we have again earned the Best North American Prime Broker Award from Hedgeweek and are
Axioma has appointed Nico Kicillof to the newly created position of Managing Director, Head of Platform Engineering. He was previously Head of Software Development Lifecycle at Two Sigma, the technology-driven institutional investor, since 2015.
“Streamlining flows of content into Axioma’s expanding range of cloud-based products and solutions is a core strategic objective,” says Ian Webster, Chief Operating Officer. “Only the cloud gives us the cost-efficient computing power, access to the latest technologies, and the scalability and flexibility required to create the robust on-demand data and analytics that are critical to the success of our clients.”
“Nico’s extensive engineering experience
