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Conifer Financial Services, a provider of fund administration, middle office, trade execution, and prime brokerage services to the asset management industry, has received an unqualified opinion in the Service Organisation Controls (SOC) 1 TYPE 2 (SSAE 16) 2014 examination of its fund administration entity, Conifer Asset Solutions.
Notable among the reports is the laudable lack of exceptions achieved by the business sector pertaining to Fund Services and Middle Back Office.
The SOC 1 Type 2 examination was conducted in accordance with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements No. 16 (SSAE 16) and
Columbia Management has launched a liquid alternative mutual fund, the Columbia Adaptive Alternatives Fund (CLAAX) providing investors with access to a multi-strategy fund from Blackstone Alternative Investment Advisers.
Through the convenience of a traditional mutual fund with daily liquidity and multiple share classes, the fund offers investors access to a range of underlying hedge fund advisers selected by Blackstone, and to alternative beta strategies and non-traditional asset classes (including commodities, REITs, inflation-linked bonds and listed private equity) managed by Columbia Management.
The structure of the fund can provide several benefits: Access to a wide array of alternative investments and strategies
Abacus Group, a provider of hosted IT solutions for hedge funds and private equity funds,has appointed Adam Wayne as Human Resources Director.
Wayne will be based in Abacus’s New York office and will report to Jonathan Bohrer, Chief Financial Officer. In his new role, Wayne will guide Abacus’s leadership development, bolster retention and scale recruitment of new talent to support the company’s long-term growth.
Wayne brings Abacus over 10 years of experience and joins from JP Morgan Chase, where he served as VP of HR Service Delivery and spearheaded HR program and project management initiatives across Latin America.
The Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) and the CAIA Association have jointly published the first of a series of hedge fund educational papers aimed at pension fund trustees.
The paper – “The Way Ahead: Helping trustees navigate the hedge fund sector” – sets out to give practical guidance about how existing investors have managed issues and challenges associated with their hedge fund investments as well as detailing the advantages of allocating to hedge funds.
The other papers in the series, to be released between now and Q1 2016, will cover such topics as hedge fund strategies, transparency and governance.
Ropes & Gray partner Michelle Moran has been appointed an Officer of the International Bar Association’s Investment Funds Committee.
Moran, a partner in the London office’s investment management practice, joined Ropes & Gray in August 2013 from Dechert LLP. She focuses on advising European and US clients on the establishment, authorisation and management of all types of retail and institutional investment funds domiciled in the UK, Ireland, Luxembourg and Jersey including UCITS, ICVCs, investment trusts, hedge funds, real estate funds and segregated institutional portfolios.
Established in 1947, the International Bar Association is the world’s leading organisation of legal practitioners, bar
Transparency-oriented global ECN broker Tickmill has appointed Sudhanshu Agarwal as Global Chief Executive Officer effective 28 January, 2015.
After a decade of holding key positions at respected brokerage firms, such as GFT and AvaTrade in Australia, Sudhanshu Agarwal now joins the management team of Tickmill.
Sudhanshu has previously overseen all key aspects of the brokerage business with a strong focus on customer experience, regulatory compliance and high performance forex operations.
Sudhanshu started in the industry at GFT and most recently sat on the Board of Directors for regulated firms, such as USGFX and Responsible Manager for Direct FX. Previously
SuMi TRUST Global Asset Services has launched the BlueBay Global Investment Grade Credit Fund managed by BlueBay Asset Management for exclusive distribution in Japan by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank Limited (SMTB).
The Fund has been structured as a Cayman Island open ended Unit Trust and will be distributed to the SMTB Trust Bank pension fund clients in Japan.
The Fund launched with USD69 million and offers both accumulation and distribution share classes denominated in Japanese Yen, both hedged and unhedged. BlueBay will be targeting returns that aim to meet the expectation of Japanese Pension Funds. SuMi TRUST global Asset Services will
Global Markets Exchange Group International (GMEX Group) has taken a strategic stake, through its GMEX Technologies Limited (GMEX TECH) subsidiary, in the UK based post-trade software firm Avenir Technology Limited (Avenir).
Avenir has developed a suite of innovative and cost effective systems for post-trade processing for exchanges, clearing houses, central securities depositories (CSDs) and share registrars across multiple assets classes including securities, derivatives and physical commodities.
Avenir’s first product is a share registry platform that is currently used by firms in the UK and New Zealand. Other products include AvenirSettle, a depository solution for handling physical settlement in securities as
Fundbase Fund Services has received FINMA approval to act as representative and distributor of foreign collective investment schemes for qualified investors in Switzerland.
At the same time, Fundbase has been fortunate to recruit Lilian Klose-La Scalea, who has a long track record as a hedge fund expert. As Managing Director of Fundbase Fund Services AG, she will now be responsible for expanding the company's representation and distribution business.
Fundbase Fund Services AG, which since September 2014 has provided free access to its hedge-fund platform Fundbase.com to qualified investors in Europe and the USA, was granted the license by the
Steben & Company, a provider of alternative investments, has promoted John Dolfin, CFA, to Chief Investment Officer of the firm.
"In the years that John has been with us, his skill, expertise and insights have made a great contribution to Steben & Company, in both our new and existing funds," says Ken Steben, President and CEO of Steben & Company. "John's leadership in the portfolio construction and hedge fund allocations for the Steben Select Multi-Strategy Fund has created an award winning Fund1 that has delivered strong performance so far and offers investors a way of diversifying their investments. We are
