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2015 has certainly been an interesting year thus far, with macroeconomic negativity and uncertainty mixed with idiosyncratic events resulting in a sustained period of market volatility, with the traditional fear gauge or VIX Index peaking at 50.78 on 24 August, the highest level since 2009.
In theory, this increased level of volatility and dispersion amongst financial markets should allow hedge funds to distinguish themselves from traditional strategies, fighting back against the increasing criticism of the last five years that questioned their purpose. In fact, many of the larger industry names have struggled, with the asset weighted, large manager biased HFRX
SS&C Technologies services four of the world's top 10 managed account platforms, providing a critical administration function in the MAP space. The firm has continued to grow the number of clients (both MAPs and individual fund managers) in 2015 and as Tom Kirkpatrick (pictured), European COO at SS&C GlobeOp, observes, hedge fund managers are taking on more managed account mandates.
"For some of our larger clients, we've seen investors writing sizeable investment tickets for managed accounts. We support managers mostly on the middle office side of things, as sometimes the investor will have their own preferred administrator. We are still
Lyxor Asset Management has developed another innovative solution for investors to allocate to liquid alternatives in a cost-effective fashion. In addition to offering commingled and segregated managed account solutions for hedge fund investing on the Lyxor MAP, investors can now avail of a multi-manager managed account solution, which, structurally speaking, is similar to the multi-manager '40 Act alternative mutual fund springing up in the US.
As Daniele Spada (pictured), Head of Lyxor MAP, explains, the solution answers the needs of investors who want diversified exposure to a particular investment theme without investing in a fund-of-funds, which will typically contain a
We live in an age where technological innovations like the e-hailing company, Uber – on track to becoming the most successful start-up ever – and Netflix, which data maps our viewing preferences, are empowering us to live increasingly customisable lifestyles. And in the world of hedge fund investing, the same rules apply, particularly for institutions who want control, transparency, and investment mandates that work on their terms, not those of the manager.
In that sense, managed account platforms are in a highly favourable position in 2015. Take the California State Teachers' Retirement System (Calstrs). It is currently discussing the possibility
The Lyxor Hedge Fund Index was up +1.1 per cent in October. Eight out of 11 Lyxor Indices ended the month in positive territory. The Lyxor LS Equity Long Bias Index (+4.5 per cent), the Lyxor Special Situations Index (+3.5 per cent) and the Lyxor Global Macro Index (+2.1 per cent) were the best performers.
Encouraging October economic releases, speculation about non-US central banks actions, and the re-risking of the smart money helped to fuel a rally. The wheel turned in favor of Event Driven and the longest bias L/S Equity. In contrast, CTAs underperformed, hit on their long bonds
Northern Trust has appointed Ali Sheikh as head of Hedge Fund Services, Asia-Pacific.
“With record assets of USD5.3 billion raised in Asia, the hedge fund industry continues to evolve with service demands. Northern Trust understands the challenges and is uniquely positioned to cater to industry movements.”
Based in Hong Kong, Sheikh will be responsible for leading Northern Trust’s Hedge Fund Services business across the Asia-Pacific region. He reports to Peter Sanchez, global head of Northern Trust Hedge Fund Services.
“We are pleased that Ali will be leading our Hedge Fund Services Business in Asia-Pacific,” says Sanchez. “With record
Convergex has entered into a clearing agreement with INTL FCStone Financial enabling it to offer its clients access to FCStone's futures execution capabilities and prime brokerage platform.
With FCStone, Convergex Prime Services will be able to offer its clients 24-hour trading access and full portfolio and risk reporting features traditionally only available to larger hedge fund managers. In addition, Convergex's clients will also have full access to FCStone's research geared towards CTAs, CPOs, and hedge funds.
Convergex Prime Services will leverage its existing world class platform by offering an innovative new suite of futures offerings geared towards CTAs and
Gravitas Technology Services is to provide alternative investment manager Mill Hill Capital with cloud hosting, archiving, network support and failover capabilities across its trading, investment, portfolio management, finance, and operations functions.
Mill Hill Capital relies on proprietary valuation, cash flow models and vast amounts of market data to perform its investment analysis and trading activities, there by requiring a chief provider of infrastructure support for on-site servers, cloud storage, backup recovery and archival.
“We have created a scalable institutional platform and first-class infrastructure at Mill Hill and partnering with Gravitas allows us to deliver a best in class hosting
Fund governance firm DMS Offshore Investment Services (DMS) has appointed Murray McGregor as Global Head of Structured Finance, to lead the company’s structured finance team.
McGregor brings over 15 years structured and asset finance experience to DMS as an independent director, manager and business developer who has worked in multiple jurisdictions. He will also serve DMS as an independent director on the boards of structured finance vehicles, other special purpose entities and hedge funds.
"As DMS services are required more and more in the structured finance space, Murray's exceptional expertise and multi-jurisdictional experience will help us accelerate our growth
Chicago Board Options Exchange is collaborating with LiquidityBook to expand connectivity to its CBOE PULSe trader workstation, an execution management system that allows traders to simultaneously and electronically access the markets via Direct Market Access (DMA), advanced routing and high-touch broker relationships.
The PULSe Execution Management System (EMS) offers connectivity to CBOE, C2 Options Exchange (C2) and CBOE Futures Exchange (CFE), as well as other equity and options exchanges in one low-cost platform. Value-add features include rule 15c3-5 risk controls, 12 leg complex orders, specialised index trading tickets and CBOE extended trading hours access.
LiquidityBook, with expertise in designing
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