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Hedge funds were up 0.92 per cent in May, according to the Barclay Hedge Fund Index compiled by BarclayHedge. The Index has gained 4.58 per cent year to date.
“Developed market equities lead the way to a profitable month for most hedge fund strategies,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge. “Japan outperformed as the Nikkei rose 5.6 per cent driven by positive economic news, the S&P 500 gained 1.29 per cent in spite of expectations of rising US interest rates, and the MSCI Europe Index advanced 0.8 per cent in the face of Greek exit fears.”
All but
Markit has launched an Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) external valuer service providing independent valuations for alternative investment fund managers.
Markit’s aim is to help customers address the statutory and policy requirements of fund managers, regulators and investors for independent calculation of prices used in determining net asset valuations.
Massimo Catizone, chief executive officer, Athena Capital, says: “We were looking for a cost effective external valuer service which meets AIFMD requirements and allows us to focus on the management of our fund. We are pleased with the support and quality of the services provided by Markit in each
Argos investment Management is working to eliminate subjectivity from its investment choices by employing a systematic approach to rank European stocks according to both fundamental value criteria and the outlook dynamics of each stock.
Drawing from behavioural finance theory, the firm is trying to eliminate human error and known investor biases from the investment process.
The focus of the approach is the Argos European Systematic Long/Short Fund managed by Renaud Froissart. In his analysis of companies, Froissart draws on a new research tool developed by Paris based research firm Equity GPS to systematically and rank objectively over 1,300
Lazard Asset Management (LAM) has appointed Léopold Arminjon as a portfolio manager/analyst. Based in London, Arminjon will be responsible for running a new European long/short equity strategy to be launched later this year.
“Léopold brings with him over 18 years of investment experience in European equities, which will benefit both our clients and our investment platform,” says Bill Smith, CEO of Lazard Asset Management London. “This new strategy will complement our strong European equity capabilities and will broaden our already robust expertise in long/short equities, a core focus of our investment offerings for clients.”
As of 31 March 2015, LAM
European policy makers have proposed money market fund (MMF) reforms relatively similar to the US changes slated to take effect next year, says Moody's Investors Service in a new report.
"As in the US, the goal in Europe is to enhance MMFs' ability to withstand stressed market conditions, reducing systemic risk. However, reforms will have diverging effects in these markets, given their very different starting points," observes Vanessa Robert, a Moody's Vice President – Senior Credit Officer.
"For investors, the new money fund regulations will generally translate to more conservative portfolios, because portfolio managers will want to limit net asset
Conestoga Capital Advisors has added Derek Johnston, CFA, and Larry Carlin, CFA, to the firm. Both will serve as Equity Research Analysts and support Conestoga's research of small- and mid-capitalisation stocks.
Johnston is joining Conestoga from 300 North Capital, a growth-equity investment manager based in Pasadena, CA. At 300 North Capital, he served as a Co-Portfolio Manager for the firm's SMid Cap Growth and Small Cap Growth strategies. Prior to 300 North Capital, Johnston worked at Engemann Asset Management and Banc of America Securities. Johnston brings a total of nineteen years of investment experience to Conestoga. He has a Bachelor
The Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry (ALFI) has appointed Denise Voss as chairman of ALFI. Voss takes up the position, which will initially run for two years, with immediate effect.
“I am very excited about this appointment,” says Voss. “The asset management industry in Europe has gone through dramatic change over the past few years, with extensive regulation that has been put in place following the crisis, and ALFI has played a key role in working through the implementation of this regulation.”
”Going forward, we face different challenges, for instance, from the greying of the population and more
May proved to be a tricky month for CTAs. According to Lyxor index figures, long term and short term CTAs were the only two strategies to post negative returns, down -0.95 per cent and -3.71 per cent respectively. Although they are still in positive territory, CTAs have not quite been able to kick on from the strong gains they made towards the end of 2014.
According to Lyxor, the majority of the drawdown suffered in May occurred during the first week due in large part to long USD positions, long US and EU bond positions, and shorts on commodities. What
Schroders has launched Schroder GAIA BSP Credit, an externally-managed fund on its GAIA platform managed by Benefit Street Partners (BSP), the debt investment arm of Providence Equity Partners.
The fund is a fundamental credit long short strategy that applies a bottom-up approach, combining deep credit analysis, sophisticated structuring and active trading to maximise expected returns while limiting downside risk.
Investing primarily in global high yield corporate credit with a focus in the US, the fund will aim to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns in both up and down markets and provide investors with an absolute return of 5-7 per cent per
Dedicated real estate secondaries vehicles that have successfully raised capital are concentrated among just a few established managers, more so than with private equity secondaries vehicles. Between 2003 and May 2015, a total of 21 real estate secondaries funds attained a final close, securing an aggregate USD10.1 billion; almost two-thirds of this capital was secured by just five managers.
Read the full factsheet here, containing more analysis alongside charts and tables featuring the latest Preqin data.
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