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Aquila Capital has been mandated by ČEZ-Group to build a wind portfolio in Germany in the triple-digit-million Euro range. With this mandate, ČEZ is further expanding its activities in CO2-neutral energy generation.
The ČEZ-Group is the largest energy company in Central Eastern Europe and ranks among the ten largest energy suppliers in Europe, both in terms of installed capacity and number of clients. The listed company has a growing focus on renewable energy infrastructure investments and currently has a wind portfolio with an installed capacity of more than 600 MW. Partnering with Aquila Capital also includes the asset management of
Hedge fund consulting and marketing firm Agecroft Partners has released its annual prediction of the trends it believes will have the biggest impact on the hedge fund industry during 2016.
Agecroft”s Managing partner Don Steinbrugge (pictured) believes that the hedge fund industry is very dynamic and both managers and investors can benefit from anticipating, and preparing for, what changes are likely to occur. Those who effectively evolve with the industry will succeed, while stagnant firms will be left behind. Agecroft’s top ten trends for 2016 are:
1. Reduction of expected returns for a diversified Hedge Fund portfolio. Hedge fund
Beechbrook Capital has held the first close of its inaugural UK SME Credit Fund, with commitments of more than GBP100m. The fund will support UK small and medium-sized businesses with a turnover of between GBP10 million and GBP100 million and EBITDA of more than GBP1 million.
Among the institutional investors that have made commitments to the new fund are British Business Bank Investments Limited, the commercial arm of the British Business Bank, and the European Investment Fund. With additional investments to the fund already pledged, Beechbrook expects to hold a second close in the second quarter of 2016 with a
Towards the end of 2015, Global Macro and CTAs experienced mixed fortunes. During November they were able to make returns amidst difficult market conditions. For both strategies, strong tailwinds in FX proved to be beneficial, the Lyxor Global Macro Index gaining 1.3 per cent mid-way through November and ending the year up +3.9 per cent. These gains were largely in response to the buoyancy of the USD against G10 and Emerging Market currencies.
In short, both strategies were trading on the expectations of a US Federal Reserve rate hike, which duly materialised in December.
As the Wall Street Journal wrote
ALPS Fund Services is to expand its Denver-based hedge fund administration business with the acquisition of Kaufman Rossin Fund Services (KRFS), an independent, full-service provider of specialised administration services to the financial community.
Established in 1994, KRFS has offices in Miami, Boston, San Francisco, Dallas, and Grand Cayman. The company’s hedge fund services include accounting and valuation, back-office outsourcing, investor services, treasury services, and customised reporting. KRFS is an affiliate of Kaufman Rossin & Co
“We see this acquisition making us a top-20 provider in the hedge fund administration business,” says Ned Burke (pictured), CEO of ALPS Holdings, Inc., the
The nature of how research is disseminated and accessed within the funds industry is changing. In some respects, sellside institutions are adopting a Good Cop Bad Cop stance. On the one hand, they are starting to scale back the value of the research they send out to smaller clients. On the other hand, they are committed to providing best execution prices to those same clients.
One of the primary drivers behind this scaling back, which is known as ‘ghosting’, is that under Mifid II, sellside institutions will be required to disentangle research from trade commissions and as such place greater
The State Street Global Investor Confidence Index (ICI) rose to 108.3 in December 2015, up 1.0 point from November’s revised reading of 107.3, driven by an increase in the European ICI from 96.2 to 103.7 along with the Asian ICI rising 4.6 points to 105.1.
By contrast, the North American ICI decreased by 5.9 points to 106.6.
The Investor Confidence Index was developed by Kenneth Froot (pictured) and Paul O’Connell at State Street Associates, State Street Global Exchange’s research and advisory services business. It measures investor confidence or risk appetite quantitatively by analysing the actual buying and selling patterns of
Todd W Betke has joined K&L Gates from Pepper Hamilton as a partner in the firm’s Washington DC office.
Betke focuses his practice on commercial, legal, and regulatory issues surrounding private equity, venture capital, and hedge fund formation, as well as related acquisitions and dispositions of portfolio companies and assets. He has served as outside counsel to dozens of funds over the course of his 20-year career, and has extensive experience with the formation, regulation, and operation of varying types of funds, including Small Business Investment Companies licensed by the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Betke represents investment funds with capital
Exchange traded fund sponsor and asset manager WisdomTree has launched the WisdomTree Dynamic Long/Short US Equity Fund (DYLS) and WisdomTree Dynamic Bearish US Equity Fund (DYB) on the BATS Exchange.
DYLS offers a stock selection strategy designed to add alpha in the core long stock portfolio, while hedging market drawdowns with a dynamic hedge on the market. DYB also offers a stock selection strategy designed to add alpha in the core long stock portfolio, but is designed to provide “more bearish” net positioning. DYLS and DYB each have a net expense ratio of 0.48 per cent.
As markets have become
China Everbright Limited (CEL) has launched a multi-strategy alternative investment fund (FoF) with an initial RMB5 billion of committed capital, RMB1.25 billion of which is from CEL’s principal capital.
The fund’s target is RMB10 billion, which will be invested in CEL's primary market funds as well as in leading private equity funds that maintain good cooperation with CEL, an excellent market reputation and a strong performance track record.
CEL believes that a multi-strategy alternative investment fund (FoF Fund) can significantly diversify the investment portfolio of institutional investors, alleviating the volatility attributed to similarity in investment portfolios.
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