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Following the decision by the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) to withdraw from their exposure to hedge funds, Preqin looks at the wider trends of US state pension plans’ exposure and activity in the hedge fund asset class. Read more…
Preqin evaluates investor appetite for liquid alternatives and managed account structures, and examines the reasons behind investors’ growing interest in these specialized structures, based on the results of surveys with 100 institutional investors in hedge funds and 150 hedge fund managers.
In recent years, demand for greater liquidity and transparency among institutional investors has led to growing appetite for liquid alternatives and managed account structures.
These fund structures offer investors an alternative to pooled hedge fund investments and help to make hedge fund strategies accessible to different investor groups which may have previously been unable to invest in the asset
Privium Fund Management has launched the Privium Sustainable Alternatives Fund, which aims to achieve long-term capital growth by investing in investment funds focused on sustainable alternatives.
This includes micro finance funds and sustainable real estate.
The fund is structured as a Fund For Joined Account (FGR), domiciled in The Netherlands and registered with the Autoiteit Financiele Markten (AFM).
Privium has appointed Triodo MeesPierson Sustainable Investment Management BV as the fund’s investment advisor. Since launch in September, the fund has already received subscriptions totalling more than EUR215 million.
Mark Baak, director at Privium Fund Management, says: “We are
Confluence, a provider of data-driven solutions to optimise asset management operations, efficiency and control, has appointed Irfan Salim to its board of directors.
Salim brings with him more than 30 years of experience leading fast growing business software companies.
Salim most recently served as president and CEO of MarkMonitor, a leader in the enterprise brand protection space, which was acquired by Thomson Reuters in 2012.
Prior to MarkMonitor, he was the president and chief operating officer of Zone Labs, an internet security company, where he led its growth strategy and ensuing sale to Check Point Technologies in 2004.
Regulation and more detailed operational due diligence questionnaires used by institutional investors are pushing hedge funds to the limit of data management. Transparency is as great as it has ever been, but with that comes the need to process enormous volumes of data. Right now, however, large numbers of hedge funds do not have the required operational infrastructure to run a ‘Big Data’ strategy.
According to the results of a survey published by Thomson Reuters on 12 August 2014, 41 per cent of respondents (including broker-dealers, asset managers and hedge funds) currently lack a big data solution. The survey, ‘Big
September proved a challenging month for many investors as equities, bonds and credit sold off.
The MSCI World index was down 2.7 per cent, while the Barclays Global Aggregate Bond index lost 2.8 per cent, according to GAM.
Global macro hedge funds delivered 1.5 per cent, while the broader hedge fund universe was down 0.8 per cent, as measured by the HFRX Macro/CTA index and the HFRX Global Hedge Fund index, respectively (returns stated in US dollar terms).
“September was an encouraging month for global macro investors as the strategy delivered positive returns in the face of rising
AIFMD Annex IV reporting is rapidly approaching for alternative investment fund managers (AIFMs) and with that deadline has come a last minute scramble to determine reporting requirements, according to ConceptOne.
The FCA released two documents pertaining to Annex IV reporting for both EU and non-EU AIFMs on 29 September and a related Q&A on 1 October, 2014. The documents seek to clarify questions on report content and timing which are still causing confusion for managers.
Coinciding with the FCA releases, ESMA published its long awaited update to the Questions and Answers, Application of the AIFMD. The update answers a
Vanguard this week launched four Irish-domiciled Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) on the London Stock Exchange. The new funds complement Vanguard’s existing ETF range and will give UK investors the opportunity to construct low-cost equity portfolios with greater international diversification.
Vanguard Asset Management now offers thirteen ETFs in the UK. Since launching its range in May 2012, Vanguard now has more than USD10bn in European ETF assets under management.
The new ETFs will seek to track the performance of broadly diversified FTSE indices. The ongoing costs for Vanguard’s European ETF suite range from 0.07 per cent to 0.29 per cent
Castle Hall Alternatives has formed a partnership with SwissAnalytics, based in Zurich, to extend the reach of the OpsDiligence online diligence platform.
SwissAnalytics, founded in 2008, is a due diligence firm which has completed operational diligence on more than 400 fund entities.
“We’re delighted to partner with Castle Hall,” says Christian Nauer, CEO of SwissAnalytics. “SwissAnalytics and Castle Hall have, since inception, both adopted an identical business model, orientated around client service, independence of opinion, and lack of conflicts of interest. Both our firms believe that, to be effective, a diligence provider should only service the buy side investor
Average daily volume (ADV) in VIX futures was 178,531 contracts during September, an increase of 21 per cent from September 2013 and a decrease of 18 per cent when compared to the record ADV in August 2014.
According to CBOE, total volume in VIX futures was 3.75 million contracts during September, up 27 per cent from September 2013 and down 18 per cent from the record total volume in August 2014.
September exchange-wide ADV was 178,993 contracts, a 20-per cent increase from a year ago and an 18-per cent decrease from the record daily volume in August 2014. Exchange-wide
