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Gottex Fund Management, an independent global alternative asset management group, has combined client assets of USD8.6 billion as at 31 March 2014, compared to USD8.1 billion at 31 December 2013.
Combined fee earning assets were up 14 per cent during the quarter when excluding platform assets, primarily as a result of client subscriptions, particularly in advisory mandates.
The company received shareholder approval for the Gottex EIM transaction at Gottex’s annual general meeting (AGM) held on 16 April 2014, as well as FCA approval. Completion is now subject to approval by FINMA, the Swiss regulatory authority.
Gottex’s bond
ALTIN, the Swiss alternative investment company listed on the London and Swiss stock exchanges, posted a six per cent increase in net asset value (NAV) during the first quarter.
The share price discount to NAV fell significantly since the beginning of 2013, reducing from 34.5 per cent to 20.1 per cent.
The portfolio remains sufficiently liquid, with 67.9 per cent of assets invested in funds with monthly or better liquidity, allowing the manager to make allocation shifts when deemed necessary.
The first quarter of the year was a period of contrasting forces and of irregular market dynamics.
Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) has entered into an agreement to acquire smart beta business Westpeak Global Advisors.
In addition to customisable solutions for smart beta investing, Westpeak also brings strategic alliances with global index providers and asset owners.
The transaction reinforces GSAM’s focus on investment innovations across global equity markets and in providing clients the opportunity to tailor their equity exposure to investment factors in a customised approach.
GSAM has also launched an Advanced Beta Strategies platform, which currently represents nearly USD30bn of assets under supervision. The foundation of this new platform will include the smart beta business
The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed insider trading charges against a former accounting manager at Nvidia Corp, who tipped a friend with confidential company information that set in motion a chain of tipping and illegal trading among a network of hedge fund traders who reaped millions of dollars in illicit gains.
The SEC alleges that Chris Choi of San Jose, California, tipped his friend Hyung Lim with non-public information about Nvidia’s financial performance in advance of the technology company’s quarterly earnings announcements in 2009 and 2010.
Lim relayed Choi’s information to a fellow poker player Danny Kuo, who
Official institutions are looking to new markets and a broader range of assets as they search for greater returns, according to a report by State Street.
The report, “New Horizons for Official Institutions”, surveyed more than 60 senior executives at official institutions, defined as central banks, sovereign wealth funds (SWF) and public pension reserve funds.
In a fluid and volatile investment environment where regulatory sands are continually shifting, official institutions are required to be more adaptable than ever to new risks and new opportunities.
Despite concerns about the challenges associated with new markets and asset types, 80 per
Schroders’ Johanna Kyrklund, head of multi-asset investments, and Urs Duss, fund manager, multi-asset, give their views on emerging market equities…
Emerging market equities have had a difficult time over the last few months. In USD terms, the 12 month return to 31 March 2014 for the MSCI World index was 19.7 per cent compared to -1.1 per cent for the MSCI Emerging Markets index. As fund manager sentiment has turned extremely negative according to surveys such as the BAML Global Fund Manager, the question becomes whether this pessimism offers a good investment opportunity.
A cursory examination of current valuations
ACE IT Solutions has partnered with IBM to provide security services that help hedge funds mitigate cyber security risks and meet SEC mandates.
The SEC has just issued a risk alert detailing its plans to examine financial firms' cyber security preparedness.
According to IBM's 2014 IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence Quarterly, the financial services industry offers hackers significant potential payoff, accounting for over 20 per cent of all security incidents. A hacker attack could be devastating to a fund and investors will be wary of doing businesses with a fund that has experienced a security breach.
The accuracy of identifying threats
Forex signals provider iFexx has launched an algorithmic investment programme (AIP) for auto forex trading.
It aims to help small investors implement a high-frequency trading strategy on their Forex account.
HFT, or high-frequency trading, is a special class of algorithmic trading, which is used by investment banks and institutional traders, recording high profits in different market conditions.
HFT allocates total portfolio risk into small orders in a diversified basket, in order to hedge risk and market impact. The technology is capable of analysing multiple strategies on a variety of charts and executing pre-programmed orders simultaneously.
“Small traders
The SS&C GlobeOp Forward Redemption Indicator for April 2014 measured 3.23 per cent, down from 3.81 per cent in March.
“April redemption activity decreased slightly from March, but remains in line with historical averages,” says Bill Stone, chairman and chief executive officer, SS&C Technologies.
The SS&C GlobeOp Forward Redemption Indicator represents the sum of forward redemption notices received from investors in hedge funds administered by SS&C GlobeOp on the GlobeOp platform, divided by the AuA at the beginning of the month for SS&C GlobeOp fund administration clients on the GlobeOp platform.
Forward redemptions as a percentage of SS&C
Clearstream is acquiring Citco’s Cork-based financial institution hedge fund custody processing business for a sum in the mid double digit million euro range.
The deal allows Clearstream to expand its hedge fund services for financial institutions whilst enabling Citco to focus on its core fund investor client base – namely fund of hedge funds, family offices, insurance companies and pension and endowment schemes – via its Citco Alternative Investor Services (CAIS) division.
The acquisition of Citco Global Securities Services’ (CGSS) hedge fund custody infrastructure adds around 300 CGSS employees based in Cork to Clearstream and licences Clearstream to use
