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ICSA, the Institute for professionals working in governance and compliance, is holding an introduction to their new Level 4 International Finance and Administration (IFA) qualifications on 29 January n Jersey.
The event, at the Royal Yacht Hotel, Weighbridge, St Helier, Jersey, is open to all and will include presentations by Kelly Padwick, Qualification Development Manager and Theresa Minnie, Head of Client Relations and Members.
The event will:
• introduce the new International Finance and Administration qualifications
• discuss how the qualifications can support individuals and businesses
• explain the changes from the outgoing Certificate in Offshore Finance and Administration
Market abuse is expected to be one of the primary focuses of regulators in the coming year, according to a global survey of nearly 300 finance professionals conducted by Kinetic Partners.
Regarding what respondents believed the priority for regulators would be in 2015, twice as many senior executives cited market abuse as those who named tax-related investigations, the next most commonly cited issue.
The results of the survey, analysed in Kinetic Partners’ annual Global Regulatory Outlook report, show 37% of those surveyed (and 44% of C-suite executives) named market abuse as a key issue for regulators, ahead of tax-related
Preqin has launched its 2015 Preqin Global Alternatives Reports, revealing significant growth in assets held by private equity, hedge fund, private debt, real estate and infrastructure fund managers. Total industry assets now stand at USD6.91tn*, up from USD6.22tn as of this point last year.
Infrastructure enjoyed another year of solid growth in 2014, with the prospects for continued expansion looking good for 2015 and beyond. Assets under management for unlisted infrastructure managers reached an all-time high, having increased by 85% over the past five years.
The 2015 Preqin Global Infrastructure Report provides a comprehensive review of the industry along with
ALTIN, the USD250 million multi-strategy fund of hedge funds listed on the London and Swiss stock exchanges, has appointed Cantor Fitzgerald as the company’s sole financial adviser and corporate broker in the UK.
The ALTIN share price was up +8.60% and +10.20% on the Swiss (SIX) and London (LSE) exchanges respectively in 2014. The ALTIN NAV per share was up +5.75% over 20141, clearly outperforming the HFRI index (+3.19%).
Total hedge fund assets fell 0.61% in December to end 2014 with total assets of USD3.041 trillion, according to eVestment’s latest hedge fund asset flows monthly report.
Redemptions were elevated during the month, a trend which has persisted in December of each of the last four years and is likely a seasonal factor, rather than one of overwhelmingly negative investor sentiment towards the industry.
Investors withdrew USD13.2 billion from hedge funds in December. The redemptions were enough to push Q4 flows to negative USD8.4 billion, the industry’s first quarterly decline in six quarters and its largest outflow since Q4 2012.
SYZ Asset Management has merged its SYZ AM (Lux) Absolute Return Institutional funds with its UCITS UK-registered OYSTER Absolute Return funds.
This move makes this proven strategy available to a wider investment public, particularly thanks to the launch of a retail-friendly RDR share class in GBP. Conservative and transparent, SYZ’s multi-asset approach combines cash, bonds, equities and alternative investments to deliver consistent performance with low volatility. Indeed, honed over 11 years by the same in-house investment team, this strategy has achieved a +35.5% cumulative return since fund launch in April 20081, with no negative calendar years and a moderate maximum
Some 61% of London AIFMs feel the AIFMD has opened up new opportunities in Europe, according to research by KNEIP. By contrast, only 35% of New York AIFMs agree with their European counterparts.
The research also shows that Luxembourg firms share London’s sentiment, as well over half of firms based in the region agree that the AIFMD has been beneficial in opening new business opportunities in other European markets, thus demonstrating a contrast to the way the AIFMD has benefited non-European and European firms.
The findings come from a survey, now in its third year, of AIFMs domiciled in
Altana Wealth, an investment management group founded by Lee Robinson, has launched a new fund – The Altana Directors’ Dealings System Fund (ADDS).
The Fund, now open to external investors, tracks the short term opportunistic buying behaviour of company directors in US liquid listed companies and replicates the best 0.5% of their trades. Rigorous back testing of the system shows that during the period 2003 to 2014 ADDS significantly outperformed the S&P 500 index. The strategy has already attracted significant investor interest including a large external cornerstone investor.
The strategy has been running live in a (non-UCITS) wrapper since November
Over recent weeks the market focus has switched from the Fed to central banks in Europe. Last week, the Swiss National bank (SNB) moved to scrap the euro cap, triggering sharp market moves on local FX and equity markets. This week, the ECB announced exceptional expansionary measures to reflate the economy. In this report we look at the implications for hedge funds and confirm what we presumed last week, i.e. the impact on hedge funds from the SNB move was rather positive for CTA/ Global Macro managers and negligible for L/S Equity.
Preqin launched its 2015 Preqin Global Alternatives Reports last week, revealing significant growth in assets held by private equity, hedge fund, private debt, real estate and infrastructure fund managers. Total industry assets now stand at USD6.91tn*, up from USD6.22tn as of this point last year.
Real estate as an asset class has been an important contributor to this growth, as improving valuations of unrealised assets have seen the value of private real estate industry assets rise by USD85bn over the 12 months to June 2014. However, rising prices have also led to tougher competition in the marketplace.
The 2015 Preqin Global Real Estate Report provides a comprehensive review of
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