Latest News
David Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, comments on Facebook’s inclusion in the S&P 500…
On 11 December, after the market closed, S&P Dow Jones Indices announced that Facebook will join the S&P 500 as of the market open on Monday, 23 December. This was probably one of most predicted, asked about and commented on additions to the S&P 500 in the last few years. Measured by the number of suggestions to (or demands of) the index committee, Facebook ranks with other tech darlings including Google, Yahoo and AOL.
Facebook closed at USD49.38 on 11
Alceda Fund Management SA announced this week that it had launched the ECPI MEGA TREND FUNDS-ECPI Sustainable Global Mega Trends in partnership with ECPI Group, a leading independent index solution and advisory provider.
The fund has been registered for institutional and retail investors in Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Luxembourg and for institutional investors in Italy. ECPI believes that by incorporating environmental, social and governance (ESG) analysis into the investment decision-making process it offers long-term value creation for both investors and society at large.
Climate change, emerging markets, scarcity of resources and population dynamics are key areas of focus in the
Fitch Ratings has updated its Investment Manager and Alternative Funds Criteria report, which applies to the ratings of traditional investment managers, alternative investment managers, business development companies and alternative funds.
The updated criteria report replaces the existing report of the same name that was published on 17 December 2012.
Changes to the criteria report are solely intended to provide appropriate clarifying language regarding Fitch's analytical approach, and do not reflect any changes in Fitch's analysis. As such, no rating implications arise as a result of the updated criteria report.
Amundi Alternative Investments SAS (Amundi AI) has obtained AIFM authorisation from the French securities regulator (Autorité des Marchés Financiers) for all of its investment solutions.
The AIFM directive, transposed by the EU member states on 22 July, regulates alternative fund managers for the first time as part of a dedicated framework.
Amundi AI says the development will enable it to offer institutional and private wealth clients access to alternative funds within a harmonised European regulatory framework.
In addition to the UCITS format, the AIFM directive has created a new label with an international scope that combines:
– Performance
The US Patent Office has awarded Green Key Technologies a patent for the design of its OTC liquidity allocation process called Decline Ratio Matching.
Within Green Key’s Block Pool, a quote management platform used by OTC derivative participants, brokers are able to rank traders in the matching algorithm according to performance metrics such as their “decline ratio” by dragging them up or down in a GUI.
“The problem with indicative markets is the no obligation-optionality embedded into each market maker quote. Since quotes are not the same as firm orders, brokers are often probed with indications from traders searching
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged a London-based hedge fund adviser GLG Partners and its former US-based holding company with internal controls failures.
The failures led to the overvaluation of a fund’s assets and inflated fee revenue for the firms.
GLG Partners LP and GLG Parters Inc have agreed to pay nearly USD9m to settle the SEC’s charges.
“Investors depend upon fund advisers to have proper controls in place to ensure that valuations and fees are not inflated,” says Antonia Chion, an associate director in the SEC’s division of enforcement. “GLG’s pricing committee did not
Hedge fund investors redeemed a net USD2.2bn (0.1 per cent of assets) in October, reversing course after buying USD4.4bn in September.
“The outflow in October was only the second for hedge funds this year,” says Sol Waksman, president and founder of BarclayHedge. “Hedge funds have taken in USD49.4bn so far in 2013, a sharp reversal from the outflow of USD12.9bn outflow in the same period last year.
“Industry assets stood at a five-year high of USD2.0trn, according to estimates based on data from 3,348 funds. Assets are up 15.3 per cent in 2013 but are down 16.1 per cent
As deleveraging ends and banks are finally supporting their economies the foundations are set for a multi-year economic expansion, says S&P Capital IQ Equity Research in its 2014 European Strategy Outlook report.
S&P Capital IQ Equity Research expects that a vigorous investment-driven rebound will develop aided by a restocking inventory cycle.
Furthermore, external events such as the European Central Bank’s Comprehensive Assessment and the Federal Reserve’s decision when to taper will both prove positive for European equities but will promote weakness in euro and credit markets.
“A balance sheet snapshot of European economies reveals that the capacity for
William Stern (pictured), New York based Partner in Goodwin Procter LLP’s Financial Institutions Group, comments on the publication of the new Volcker rule…
With respect to the covered funds aspect of the Volcker rule, the final implementing regulation includes a number of revisions that should alleviate many of the concerns raised by the banking industry, including a provision that limits the impact of the rule on certain funds that only use derivatives to a limited extent.
There is also good news for certain funds sponsored and managed by non-US banking organisations outside of the United States in that many
Hedge funds delivered their third consecutive month of positive returns as global markets maintained their upward momentum. The Eurekahedge Hedge Fund Index was up 1.37 per cent during the month, edging past the MSCI World Index, which gained 1.27 per cent in the month of November 2013.
Global markets remained upbeat on the back of positive macroeconomic data from the US, with incoming Fed chair Janet Yellen's testimony before the Senate's Banking Committee adding a further dose of optimism to the markets as she reiterated the necessity of the Fed's QE program for an enduring recovery in the US economy.
Special Reports
FeatureD
- Insight
