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Seward & Kissel is pleased to announce that David Tang has joined the Firm as Counsel in its Investment Management group. Previously, he was Counsel to compliance consultant and investment management law firm Orical LLC.
This marks a return to Seward & Kissel for Tang, who was an Associate in the Investment Management group from 2002 to 2006.
Tang concentrates his practice on providing regulatory compliance consulting, compliance support services and legal counsel to fund advisers and asset managers. His experience includes SEC mock audits and compliance testing, SEC exam response, implementation of compliance policies and procedures, regulatory filings, private
Hedge fund strategies outperformed equity markets in the first two months of 2016, according to the performance of IndexIQ’s IQ Hedge family of benchmark hedge fund replication indexes.
“The volatility that characterised 2015 and the start of 2016 continued through the beginning of February but sentiment improved in the second half of the month,” says Adam Patti (pictured), CEO of IndexIQ. “Overall, our family of benchmark hedge fund replication indexes was mostly positive for the month, led by our IQ Merger Arbitrage Index, which returned 2.07 per cent, while only the IQ Hedge Long/Short Index finished February in negative territory.”
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has unanimously approved a substituted compliance framework for dually-registered central counterparties (CCPs) located in the European Union (EU), together with a comparability determination with respect to certain EU rules.
This action follows the historic agreement between the CFTC and the European Commission regarding dually-registered derivatives clearing organisations (DCOs)/CCPs and represents a major step in paving the way for the EU’s recognition of US CCPs. [See CFTC-EU Common Approach]
In the Notice of Comparability Determination for the European Union: Dually-Registered Derivatives Clearing Organisations and Central Counterparties (Determination) announced today, the CFTC determined that certain
Deutsche Börse and London Stock Exchange Group have reached agreement on the terms of a recommended all-share merger of equals which the companies believe will result in a significantly enhanced product offering for customers.
The newly formed combined group will have the ability to serve global customers across the investment, trading and risk and balance sheet management life cycle in multiple asset classes – derivatives, equities, fixed income, FX and energy products. The merger will also deliver a platform of choice for risk and balance sheet management, increasing safety, resiliency and transparency in global markets.
Carsten Kengeter, Chief Executive Officer
Gemini Hedge Fund Service has expanded its suite of distribution channels and relationships, by partnering with Hedge Connection to help managers strengthen their engagement with accredited investors.
"Hedge Connection has brought together thousands of hedge fund managers and investors online and at industry events since its inception, and we are eager for the managers we work with to capitalise on this distribution opportunity," says David Young, President of Gemini Hedge Fund Services. "We are always on the lookout for innovative technology solutions that make it easier for managers to reach their desired investment audience and reach their funds' long-term goals.
MFS Investment Management has launched the MFS Meridian Funds – Managed Wealth Fund, a global long/short equity fund that seeks total returns with less volatility than the broad global equity market by using a tactical asset allocation overlay.
The fund’s investment strategy is based on the belief that equities offer the most attractive long-term return potential, but also that prudent consideration of market dynamics may warrant a reduction in net equity exposure. The fund employs a consistent portfolio construction process that consists of three distinct parts: strategic global equity allocation, flexible market exposure and systematic hedges to help manage tail
Quaero Capital’s Real Assets fund has been made available in a UCITS wrapper following a three year ‘incubation’ period. The ‘Argos Real Assets Fund’ invests primarily in equities and REITs in developed markets across the world.
The fund, which provides exposure to four key sub-classes: Infrastructure, Real Estate, Forestry Assets and Agricultural Assets, was launched in 2012 and is run by veteran investor Marc Ebert, and is an actively managed, conservative, long-only, thematic equity fund.
Quaero Capital CEO Jean Keller says: “I’m delighted that after just over three years we can now offer our Real Asset fund within a UCITS
Ahead of the deadline for full implementation of UCITS V on Friday (18 March), Matt Gibbs (pictured), product manager at Linedata, comments on the impact of the introduction of a published register of non-compliant firms…
With changes introduced under UCITS V set to become effective on 18 March, most companies should now be fully prepared to comply with the new requirements. While there is every indication that punitive fines will be levied against non-compliant firms, the promise of public naming and shaming will be a sobering prospect for the industry.
UCITS V will introduce a published register of firms
CME Group is to sell its suburban Chicago data centre in Aurora, Illinois to data centre services provider CyrusOne for USD130 million. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.
As part of the sale, CME Group will enter into a 15-year lease for data centre space and will continue to operate its electronic trading platform, CME Globex, from the data centre and will offer co-location services there. CME Group will have the ability to expand co-location services within the leased space going forward. The agreement also outlines the ways in which CyrusOne and CME Group will enhance the range
By Philip Graham (pictured), Harneys, TEAM BVI Member – One of the hottest topics in the hedge fund industry for 2016 is the Common Reporting Standard (CRS). It is affecting everyone far and wide and given it was implemented in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) on 1 January, 2016, the investment funds community in this jurisdiction are working very hard and diligently towards ensuring that every fund domiciled in the BVI is fully compliant before all of the requisite time periods.
For those that have been hibernating in caves over the last few months, CRS is the standard for automatic exchange of financial
