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The hedge fund industry took in USD16.9 billion (0.7 per cent of assets) in May, down slightly from USD19.1 billion (0.8 per cent of assets) in April, according to TrimTabs and BarclayHedge.
“Hedge funds raked in USD72.2 billion in the first five months of this year, the strongest January-May inflows since 2007,” says Sol Waksman, president and founder of BarclayHedge.
Industry assets climbed to a five-and-three-quarter year high of USD2.3 trillion in May, according to estimates based on data from 3,426 funds. Assets rose 18 per cent in the past 12 months but were down six per cent from
Private equity and alternative firms are moving down market to support the retail marketplace, according to research from analytics firm Cerulli Associates.
"Private investment managers, following in the tracks of hedge-fund-focused alternative firms and traditional long-only managers, are tapping the public markets," says Michele Giuditta, associate director at Cerulli. "Delivering illiquid private investments to the retail marketplace is challenging, as the typical buyout fund on average has a lifecycle of approximately 10 years."
Cerulli's latest annual report, Alternative Products and Strategies 2014: Identifying Opportunities in a Dynamic Investment Landscape, focuses on the US retail and institutional alternative product landscape,
Following the launch of its EUR275 million European senior debt fund in July 2013, Lyxor is launching a commingled European senior debt fund, the Lyxor European Senior Debt Fund.
The fund, which is open to subscription by professional investors for a period of 12 months from 30 June 2014, is an AIFMD-compliant fund (SICAV-SIF) domiciled in Luxembourg.
The fund invests mainly in floating rate senior secured loans issued by European companies to finance acquisitions and corporate growth. The fund will provide investors with exposure to a market that is characterised by increasing loan issuance numbers so far this year
GBX Technologies, the Hong Kong-based developer of bespoke foreign exchange technology solutions, has expanded its range of liquidity providers to include prime broker TopFx.
Authorised and regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission with a cross-border license to provide services to all European Union member states, TopFX sources foreign exchange liquidity from 11 top-tier banks and delivers tight spreads and substantial depth-of-market to end users.
"We are pleased to incorporate TopFX as a liquidity provider. Their commitment to providing tight liquidity and excellent pricing to clients and traders is consistent with GBX's commitment to being the premier technology
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has issued a new Guidance Update – “Private Funds and the Application of the Custody Rule to Special Purpose Vehicles and Escrows.”
According to Cordium, this regulatory update is relevant to certain registered investment advisers to private pooled investment vehicles using special purpose vehicles (SPVs) when making investments (investment SPVs) and to firms that use escrow accounts when selling interests in portfolio companies, in both cases typically private equity firms.
The Guidance Update discusses how advisers with Investment SPVs may comply with Investment Advisers Act of 1940 Rule 206(4)-2 (the “Custody Rule”), specifically
SS&C GlobeOp has obtained Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) approval for its Depositary “Lite" service offering.
The recently launched service helps managers of non-EEA AIFs in fulfilling their Alternative Investment Fund Manager Directive (AIFMD) requirements.
SS&C will help managers comply with various aspects of the AIFMD including functions relating to asset verification, cash flow monitoring and oversight services.
"We have been operating as a Depositary 'Lite' under the transitional provision for a number of months and we are delighted to now receive our full authorisation," says Des Pierce, senior director, SS&C GlobeOp.
"We've seen strong interest in our
Singapore Exchange’s (SGX) global physical benchmark SICOM Rubber Futures contracts achieved a new record month in June with 40,679 lots traded, surging 53 per cent higher than a year before.
Open interest also achieved a new high on 27 June 2014, hitting 29,679 contracts or 148,395 tonnes.
Volume traded in the first half of 2014 hit 1.06 million tonnes, representing a 30 per cent increase over the same period last year.
The rapidly rising trading interest in the SGX SICOM Rubber Futures market follows increased activity by financial participants including banks and proprietary trading companies – from
SS&C GlobeOp, one of the hedge fund industry’s leading administrators, is currently supporting European fund managers under the AIFMD’s Depositary “Lite” regime having recently gained authorisation from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority.
For hedge fund administrators, the ability to provide offshore depositary services to managers running non-EEA AIFs is an excellent opportunity to enhance their value proposition; and at SS&C GlobeOp, they’ve built a dedicated team for the sole purpose of running their new Depositary “Lite” solution.
Under Article 36 of the AIFMD, the appointed depositary(ies) – the Depositary “Lite” – must still perform the three core functions of
Activist hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management is proposing a slate of six independent directors for the board of directors of Allergan.
The six members of the slate are: Betsy Atkins, Cathleen P Black, Fredric N Eshelman, Steven J Shulman, David A Wilson and John J Zillmer.
As previously announced, Pershing Square is seeking to call a special meeting of Allergan shareholders. At this special meeting, Allergan shareholders will be able to voice their support for a number of critical matters, including the removal of six incumbent members of the Allergan board, the appointment of the independent Pershing Square
The choice of domicile for insurance-linked securities (ILS) transactions was among the hot topics discussed at a Guernsey Finance-hosted thought leadership event in the reinsurance centre of Zurich last week.
The event attracted 80 delegates from around the world, including Japan, Hong Kong, France, the UK and Switzerland and from across the asset management, wealth management and reinsurance and adviser communities.
It was held at the Park Hyatt Zurich where there were two panel sessions featuring ILS experts from Guernsey, the UK and mainland Europe. Domicile choice was one theme which stood out through both sets of discussions and
