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Irving H Picard, SIPA Trustee for the liquidation of Bernard L Madoff Investment Securities (BLMIS), has filed two motions with the US Bankruptcy Court seeking approval of recovery agreements totalling USD543m for BLMIS customers.
The motions seek court approval to settle the avoidance claims asserted by the SIPA Trustee against JPMorgan for USD325m, as well as common law claims brought separately by the SIPA Trustee and in a class action lawsuit, which mirrored the claims developed by the SIPA Trustee’s legal team, for USD218m. The SIPA Trustee’s original complaint was filed in December 2010.
Of the USD325m that JPMC
NYSE Euronext global derivatives average daily trading volume (ADV) in December 2013 was 5.9 million contracts, down 7.6 per cent from December 2012 and down 10.8 per cent from November 2013.
NYSE Euronext European derivatives products ADV in December 2013 of 2.4 million contracts, excluding Bclear, increased 1.5 per cent compared to December 2012 but decreased 13.3 per cent from November 2013 levels.
Including Bclear, NYSE Liffe’s trade administration and clearing service for OTC products, European derivatives ADV decreased 11.3 per cent compared to December 2012, and decreased 3.9 per cent from November 2013. Total MSCI World Index yearly
Carmignac Gestion Group has appointed four-man European equities team, headed by Muhammed Yesilhark.
The team is based in Carmignac Gestion Luxembourg’s London branch and will assume management of EUR1.6bn of European funds: Carmignac Grande Europe, Carmignac Euro-Patrimoine and Carmignac Euro-Entrepreneurs.
Yesilhark and his team previously managed a large European equity portfolio for four years at SAC Global Investors’ London office.
Carmignac Gestion Group’s founder and chairman, Edouard Carmignac, says: “We’re bringing on board a talented team under Muhammed Yesilhark’s leadership to underscore our commitment to generate strong investment performance in European equities. The objective is to raise our
Ramius has appointed Bradley Sussman as managing director and head of liquid alternative products.
In his role, Sussman will be responsible for the firm's mutual fund platform and growing its suite of liquid alternative products.
Sussman is a managing director, hedge fund strategist at Merrill Lynch where he has been a member of the investment committee for alternative investments and head of non-traditional mutual fund due diligence.
Michael Singer, chief executive officer of Ramius, says: "Brad, a veteran in the alternatives space who has spent his career constructing and overseeing portfolios of hedge funds and more recently leading
Meritage Capital has launched its first alternative mutual fund, The Insignia Macro Fund, which seeks long-term risk adjusted return by employing global macro-managed futures investment strategies.
The fund differs from other liquid alternative macro offerings primarily because of its allocation to discretionary focused managers.
The Meritage team has over 50 years of collective experience dynamically allocating capital to global macro managers across a variety of investment styles.
"Investors in the Insignia Macro Fund will be able to access a flexible investment approach designed to capitalise on investment strategies that are generally uncorrelated to equity markets and which we
NorthStar Financial Services Group has launched a hedge fund administration unit, Gemini Hedge Fund Services, as a new subsidiary.
Gemini Hedge is a provider of customised and adaptable solutions for hedge fund managers, assisting with middle- and back-office duties, financial reporting and investor services.
The business also offers high tech, high touch services for managers requiring frequent liquidity and enhanced reporting capabilities as well as access to distribution channels to help launch and distribute hedge funds.
"Gemini and NorthStar are leveraging best-of-breed technology and 30 years of experience bringing pooled investment vehicles to market to help hedge fund managers
Hedge funds had a strong final quarter of 2013 and ended the year up 6.7 per cent, as measured by the HFRX Global Hedge Fund index returns in US dollar terms.
“The four main hedge fund strategies all performed positively over the final quarter and we believe this momentum is likely to continue into 2014, although we must be aware of dark spots on the horizon,” says Anthony Lawler, portfolio manager in GAM's alternative investments solutions team.
“In 2013 the trade that was most beneficial was to be long developed market equities. The investment outlook for 2014 looks far
Coherence Capital Partners, a New York-based asset manager and advisory firm focused on the fixed income markets, has hired Michael Cannon as a senior portfolio manager and partner.
Prior to Coherence Capital Cannon spent 16 years at UBS Investment Bank, most recently as managing director and co-head of investment grade credit trading.
Cannon has extensive experience in trading distressed, high yield, and investment grade credit. At UBS Cannon worked directly for Coherence CEO Sal Naro from 1999 to 2005 in addition to trading alongside Coherence Partners, Vincent Mistretta and Greg MacKay. Additionally, Cannon worked with fellow Coherence colleagues, Kevin
Cantor Fitzgerald Europe has expanded its European credit fixed income team with the appointment of Franz Bucher as managing director in London.
Bucher will focus on high yield, distressed debt and special situations, and on expanding Cantor's presence in German-speaking markets.
"We are pleased to welcome Franz to the Cantor team. As a seasoned professional, his deep industry knowledge and long-standing client relationships add immediate value to our European Credit fixed income team, which is an important growth area for our firm," says Shawn P Matthews, chief executive officer of Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. "We have been aggressively expanding
The Securities and Exchange Commission has named Michael J Osnato, Jr as chief of the enforcement division unit that conducts investigations into complex financial instruments.
Osnato, who joined the SEC staff in 2008 and has served as an assistant director in the New York regional office since 2010, has played a key role in a number of significant SEC enforcement actions.
Osnato helped spearhead the SEC’s case against JPMorgan Chase & Co and two former traders for fraudulently overvaluing a complex trading portfolio in order to hide massive losses, and the subsequent action in which the bank admitted that
