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Hedge fund performance for August was negative as measured by the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index, which was down 0.8 per cent, bringing year-to-date performance to 3.4 per cent.
Performance for each of the four main hedge fund strategy categories was negative between -0.2 per cent and -1.7 per cent, according to HFRX strategy index data.
Anthony Lawler, portfolio manager at GAM, says: “Volumes were light as expected during August and investors remained focused on the lingering issue of the timing and magnitude of Fed tapering. Given this focus, markets were volatile as investors assessed new growth-related data and
Derivatives volumes at Singapore Exchange (SGX) increased in August compared with the previous year, with total futures and options volume up 32 per cent to 8.6 million contracts.
Year-on-year, China A50 Index Futures volume more than doubled to 1.8 million contracts and MSCI Taiwan Index Futures trading was up 13 per cent to 1.6 million contracts.
Nifty Index Futures volume was up 34 per cent to 1.6 million contracts and reached a record daily average volume of 80,119 contracts.
Nikkei 225 Index Futures volume was up six per cent from a year earlier to 2.2 million contracts.
While funds of hedge funds (FoHFs) and investment consultants continue to dominate the industry as conduits for assets, the two propositions are likely to experience greatly different fee pool growth trajectories over the next 18 to 24 months.
These findings are presented in Barclays’ Hedge Fund Consulting team’s latest report, Battle for the Middle.
“Our work has shown that while both these hedge fund intermediaries are seeing margin compression due to price conscious investors, hedge fund consultants have been net beneficiaries of recent market developments,” says Anurag Bhardwaj, Head of Hedge Fund Consulting. “The biggest challenge for both Consultants
By Ugo M Giordano, partner and Sofia De Cristofaro, senior associate, Paul Hastings – The Alternative Investment Funds Managers Directive (the “AIFMD”) and the level 2 delegated Regulation No. 231/2013/EU entered into force on 22 July 20131, but the legal framework for the full transposition of the AIFMD in Italy is not yet in place.
However, on 26 July 2013 the Italian securities regulator (CONSOB) and the Bank of Italy, consistent with the action taken at the time of the entry into force of the UCITS IV Directive in summer 2011,2 issued a resolution (the “Joint Resolution”), allowing for an
All six Market Vectors Hedge Fund Beta Indices were negative in August, according to Market Vectors Index Solutions.
MV Emerging Markets L/S Equity Hedge Fund Beta Index was the worst performer with a return of -1.55 per cent, followed by MV Global L/S Equity Hedge Fund Beta Index (-1.53 per cent) and MV North America L/S Equity Hedge Fund Beta Index (-1.52 per cent).
The top performer was MV Global Event L/S Equity Hedge Fund Beta Index with return of -0.51 per cent, while MV Asia (Developed) L/S Equity Hedge Fund Beta Index and MV Western Europe L/S
Lyxor Asset Management has appointed Frank Frecentese as global head of hedge fund research.
The appointment continues Lyxor’s growth in the North American market.
Frecentese’s appointment will bolster Lyxor’s existing dedicated portfolios team which offers advisory services and portfolio solutions to institutional investors. Lyxor’s multi-billion dollar advisory business services institutional investors across Europe, MENA, Asia and North America.
Frecentese (pictured) succeeds Dennis Heskel, who will retire in October 2013, and will report directly to Lionel Erdely and Nicolas Gaussel, chief investment officers of Lyxor.
Frecentese joined Lyxor from Citi Private Bank earlier this year, where he
Moscow Exchange has made a number of senior hires to its management team to strengthen key operations and increase the exchange’s international competitiveness.
Luis Vicente has been appointed managing director of risk and clearing. Upon receiving the pertinent clearance from the Central Bank of Russia, Vicente will take up the post of deputy risk officer of the National Clearing Centre, which is part of Moscow Exchange, where he will be responsible for the implementation and improvement of risk-management systems.
Vicente has 16 years’ risk-management experience. He worked for 12 years in central counterparty risk management at Brazil’s BM&FBOVESPA, a multi-market,
REGIS-TR and TriOptima will provide portfolio reconciliation of REGIS-TR’s trade repository data with data in TriOptima’s triResolve reconciliation service for OTC derivatives as requested by their clients.
With the impending regulatory deadlines in Europe for both trade reporting and portfolio reconciliation, companies affected by the new rules are currently seeking solutions for both requirements. By 15 September, financial and non-financial firms will have to start reconciling their OTC derivatives portfolios; and trade reporting will begin on 1 January 2014 under ESMA’s rules.
REGIS-TR has seen its client base double in a three-month period with over 400 pilot customers
The European Securities and Market Authority (ESMA) has published its advice to the European Commission on the equivalence of the regulatory regimes for OTC derivatives clearing, central counterparties (CCPs), and trade repositories (TR) of non-EU countries with the European Markets Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR).
ESMA has assessed the equivalence of the regulatory regimes of Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland and the US. The third-country rules were compared with EMIR requirements for central clearing, reporting, CCPs, TRs and non-financial counterparties as well as risk mitigation techniques for uncleared trades.
ESMA considers third-country regimes equivalent where the legal provisions and
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has issued an order filing and simultaneously settling charges against Macquarie Futures USA, a New York-based registered futures commission merchant (FCM), for failing to maintain adequate funds in secured accounts.
The CFTC order requires Macquarie to pay a USD150,000 civil monetary penalty and to cease and desist from violating CFTC Regulation 30.7.
The order finds that on 15 October 2012 ICE Clear Europe converted its existing OTC swaps and options to US exchange-listed futures and options to be listed for trading on ICE Futures US Energy Division and ICE Futures Europe
