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Howard Altman, co-chief executive and principal-in-charge of Rothstein Kass’ financial services group, has been elected treasurer of the Managed Funds Association (MFA).
Altman (pictured) has also been appointed by MFA to serve a one-year term as a member of the organisation’s board of directors. This marks the third consecutive year he has been named to the organisation’s board and elected treasurer.
MFA represents the global alternative investment industry and its investors by advocating for sound industry practices and public policies that foster efficient, transparent, and fair capital markets.
“As a leader in the alternative investment space for
Following the news that the US government has failed to agree a budget, Joanna Shatney, Head of US Large Cap Equities shares her views on what this means for US markets…
Haven’t we dealt with this before? With political gridlock over the 2014 budget, we have breached another US government deadline. And once we get past this issue, there is another one right behind it surrounding the need to raise the debt ceiling by mid-October.
The market was down slightly yesterday, but as we look toward the growth opportunities for the US economy and corporate profits over the next three
Alter Domus, a fund and corporate services provider dedicated to private equity houses and real estate firms, has set up operations in France through a dedicated fund administration entity.
Laurent Vanderweyen (pictured), chief executive officer, Alter Domus, says: “France is a critical market with huge potential for Alter Domus to extend its offer to our clients, building on the success of our current platforms in the Channel Islands and Luxembourg. The establishment of such operations is fully in line with our firm’s strategy to vertically integrate our value proposition and allow our clients access to local services and expertise.”
All six Market Vectors Investable Hedge Fund Beta Indices produced positive returns in September, according to figures released by Market Vectors Index Solutions (MVIS).
Each index is constructed using transparent, liquid exchange-traded funds to produce hedge fund-style returns without hedge fund pricing, opaqueness and redemption restrictions.
MV Emerging Markets L/S Equity Hedge Fund Beta Index was the top performer with returns of 4.01 per cent for the month, followed by MV Asia (Developed) L/S Equity Hedge Fund Beta Index (3.54 per cent) and MV North America L/S Equity Hedge Fund Beta Index (2.37 per cent).
The worst
Order book turnover on Xetra, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and Tradegate stood at EUR96.9bn in September 2013, down from EUR98.9bn in September 2012.
Of the EUR96.9bn, EUR88.8bn was attributable to Xetra (September 2012: EUR91.1bn) and EUR4.2bn was attributable to the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (September 2012: EUR4.7bn). Order book turnover on Tradegate Exchange totalled approximately EUR4.0bn in September (September 2012: EUR3.1bn).
In equities, turnover reached EUR85.7bn on Deutsche Börse’s cash markets (Xetra: EUR79.9bn, Frankfurt Stock Exchange: EUR2.1bn, Tradegate Exchange: EUR3.7bn).
Turnover in bonds was EUR1.0bn, and in structured products EUR1.2bn. Order book turnover in ETFs/ETCs/ETNs amounted to EUR8.9bn.
BGC Partners’ subsidiary BGC Derivative Markets has launched operations as a swap execution facility (SEF), consistent with the derivatives trading regulations under the Dodd-Frank Act.
"Today marks an important milestone as we enter a new era of derivatives transactions," says Shaun D Lynn, president of BGC. "After extensive preparations for this day we are excited to offer our clients the opportunity to trade regulated swaps through BGC’s swap execution facility."
BGC’s technology infrastructure includes fully-compliant execution methodologies such as anonymous central limit order book (CLOB), name disclosed request for quote (RFQ) system, intra-day electronic auctions, indications of interest,
Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) has created a new benchmark volatility index – the CBOE S&P 500 Short-Term Volatility Index (VXST).
Like CBOE’s flagship VIX Index, VXST reflects investors’ consensus view of expected stock market volatility.
Whereas VIX has a 30-day horizon, VXST looks out just nine days, making it particularly responsive to changes in short-term volatility triggered by market events, such as earnings, government reports and Fed announcements.
Plans call for CBOE and CBOE Futures Exchange (CFE) to introduce VXST Weeklys options and futures. The launch dates for these tradable VXST products are yet to be
SuperDerivatives has filed an application with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to become a fully registered swap execution facility (SEF).
In line with the regulations being introduced as part of the Dodd-Frank act in the US, SuperDerivatives has developed SDX Trading, a suite of SEF-compliant electronic trading solutions for currency and commodity derivatives.
SDX Trading will offer the choice of anonymous or disclosed trading, and all products will be eligible for clearing via a CCP where possible. Together with its front office platform, SDX, and its risk management system, RMX, SuperDerivatives now offers a consistent workflow
Singapore Exchange (SGX) has launched two thermal coal futures contracts – SGX API 8 CFR China Coal Index Futures, and SGX IHS McCloskey Indonesian Sub-bit FOB Index Futures Contracts.
SGX thermal coal futures will further enhance the current suite of AsiaClear Futures offerings to meet the needs of customers with a choice of futures and swaps. These futures contracts are fully fungible with their corresponding swaps currently cleared by SGX-DC. The contracts will be traded and cleared on SGX-DT and SGX-DC, respectively.
With a choice of futures or swaps, Asian thermal coal miners, consumers and traders can fulfil
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published final guidelines on the reporting obligations for alternative investment fund managers (AIFMs).
ESMA’s guidelines, which relate to the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD), will require AIFMs – including hedge funds, private equity and real estate funds – to regularly report certain information to national supervisors.
The guidelines clarify provisions of the AIFMD on required information, which will help to have a more comprehensive and consistent oversight of AIFMs’ activities. ESMA has also published an opinion that proposes introducing additional periodic reporting including such information as Value-at-Risk of AIFs
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