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Clients of self-directed retirement plan administration company Vantage can now access FNEX.com to source, review and invest their funds in a wide variety of alternative investments.
Launched in September 2013, FNEX.com is a web-based platform that provides accredited investors, investment advisors, family offices and institutions access to private investment opportunities offered by investment banks and funds across the US.
The distribution platform lists offerings and provides investors with the necessary tools to educate themselves on alternative investment opportunities.
“We remain laser focused on building a dynamic platform that offers strategic ways for accredited investors to diversify their portfolios
Discretionary hedge funds tend to outperform systematic funds when markets are rising, but systematic funds can provide lower volatility and higher risk-adjusted returns, according to research by Preqin.
As such, systematic funds are generally perceived as providing good downside protection to investors in down markets. Given that a recent Preqin survey of investors highlighted that the majority invest in hedge funds for uncorrelated returns, risk-adjusted returns or reduced portfolio volatility, rather than high absolute returns, systematic funds can be an attractive prospect to certain investors.
Discretionary hedge funds have outperformed systematic hedge funds over the past five years in
Managed futures gained 0.87 per cent in May, according to the Barclay CTA Index compiled by BarclayHedge.
The index is now up 0.21 per cent in 2014.
“An easing of macro concerns coupled with the European Central Bank’s efforts to head off deflation helped fuel rallies in equity and interest rate markets,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge.
All eight of Barclay’s CTA indices were in positive territory in May. The Agricultural Traders Index was up 2.45 per cent, Financial & Metals Traders gained 1.36 per cent, Systematic Traders were up 1.05 per cent, Discretionary Traders
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has appointed Gretchen Lowe as principal deputy director and chief counsel in the commission’s division of enforcement.
Lowe was acting director of the division until the recent appointment of Aitan Goelman as director.
“Gretchen’s skill and expertise are invaluable to the CFTC, and I am pleased she will have this senior role in the enforcement division,” says CFTC chairman Tim Massad.
Prior to her appointment as acting director, Lowe was the chief counsel of the division. During most of her tenure at the Commission, Lowe served as an associate director. Lowe
Oil future prices for Brent rose above USD115/bbl on 19 June, the highest level of the past five years.
This is taking place on the back of a deterioration of the inter-confessional situation in Iraq, supply outages in Libya and an apparent build in China’s crude strategic reserve in April and May.
This environment is triggering a build-up of long energy positions by hedge funds, according to Philippe Ferreira, head of research at Lyxor’s managed account platform.
As a result, CTAs and global macro managers are currently providing a hedge against mounting geopolitical risks in the Middle East.
Stenham Asset Management has appointed Gary Rynhoud as global head of business development, while Lydia Carroll has assumed the position of business development manager.
Rynhoud has over 15 years’ international sales experience in the asset management industry and has built and managed a sales team to cover a global network of clients.
Rynhoud has held various senior positions at Man Investments which he joined in 1997 and was most recently deputy head of sales at Man Investments (Middle East).
In his role as global head of business development, he will work closely with Damian Brannan, managing director to
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged a Florida-based hedge fund advisory firm and its founder with fraudulently shifting money from one investment to another without informing investors.
The firm’s founder and another individual later pocketed some of the transferred investor proceeds to enrich themselves.
The SEC alleges that Weston Capital Asset Management and its founder and president Albert Hallac illegally drained more than USD17 million from a hedge fund they managed and transferred the money to a consulting and investment firm known as Swartz IP Services Group. The transaction went against the hedge fund’s stated investment strategy
Opportunities abound for the global asset management industry as the shrinking of the banking sector has thrust asset management to the heart of global capital flows and the pace of regulatory change is starting to ease off, according to a KPMG report.
KPMG's Evolving Investment Management Regulation report highlights that the regulatory uncertainty of the past years has settled down and predicts that 2014 is the year the wheel turns, with the sector now entering the implementation phase of regulation with much greater clarity.
Tom Brown, global head of investment management at KPMG, says: “It is indeed the 'age
Hedge funds gained 1.16 per cent in May, according to the Barclay Hedge Fund Index compiled by BarclayHedge.
The index is up 2.35 per cent after five months.
“An easing of Ukrainian turmoil fears, central bank signals of continuing easy money policies, and renewed M&A activity set the stage for a positive month for most hedge fund strategies,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge.
All but one of Barclay’s 18 hedge fund indices had gains in May. The Barclay Emerging Markets Index jumped 2.68 per cent, Equity Long Bias gained 1.04 per cent, the Multi Strategy
Simon Gergel (pictured), CIO for UK Equities at Allianz Global Investors, highlights the consequences of the recent addition of 29 new companies to the FTSE All Share index…
The changing of index constituents can have some important consequences. Index tracking funds buy the stocks in the index simply because they are there. So, when an index changes they have to buy the new entrants and sell or reduce holdings in those stocks which are ejected or whose weightings are reduced.
Many of the current crop of new index entrants into the FTSE All Share index, like Appliances Online and Poundland, are
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