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American Stock Transfer & Trust Company (AST) has been appointed as transfer agent to NexPoint Credit Strategies Fund, a closed-end fund managed by NexPoint Advisors, an affiliated adviser of Highland Capital Management based in Dallas, Texas.
AST Fund Solutions, the closed-end and mutual fund affiliate of AST, also serves as the fund’s proxy solicitor.
NexPoint Credit Strategies Fund invests primarily in below investment grade debt and equity securities and has the ability to hedge risk. NexPoint Advisors attempts to exceed the return of Dow Jones Credit Suisse Hedge Fund Index in a transparent, registered fund format with monthly
Finance professionals punched out in an eight-bout tournament at the seventh Xie Shares Hedge Fund Fight Nite.
In usual fashion, the event was conducted in a marquee set-up on the grounds of the Indian Recreation Club. At 6.30pm, guests dressed in black tie made their way to the show grounds for pre-event drinks courtesy of Links Concept.
HSBC supporters were anxious to see if HSBC would retain its undefeated title, while the fights that drew the most attention were the fight between Chinese fighter Jimmy Heng (Michael Page) and Sam Biggins (Colliers International), and the women’s fight of
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has approved the co-operation arrangements between the Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC) and the EU securities regulators for the supervision of alternative investment funds (AIFs), including hedge funds, private equity and real estate funds.
ESMA has negotiated the agreement with the GFSC on behalf of all 27 EU member state securities regulators as well as authorities from Croatia, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.
The co-operation arrangements include the exchange of information, cross-border on-site visits and mutual assistance in the enforcement of respective supervisory laws. This co-operation will apply to Bailiwick of Guernsey
The turnover of investment certificates and leverage products traded on European exchanges rose significantly in the first quarter of 2013.
Volumes were up by 19.97 per cent to EUR24.9bn year on year.
This is shown by the latest market data collected by the European Structured Investment Products Association (EUSIPA) from its members and analysed by Derivative Partners Research.
For the first time EUSIPA has also released open interest data from the deepest European markets. At stock exchanges in Germany, Austria and Switzerland open interest in the first quarter of 2013 amounted to EUR246.9bn, up 1.3 per cent
Bermuda has been approved as a signatory for the cooperation agreement with EU member states in relation to the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD).
ESMA has approved co-operation agreements between securities regulators from the 27 EU member states and the European Economic Area, and 34 of their global regulatory counterparts including the Bermuda Monetary Authority.
“This re-affirms Bermuda’s position in terms of satisfying the core conditions under the AIFMD as a third country,” says Jeremy Cox (pictured), chief executive of the Authority. “Bermuda remains a solid opportunity for Bermuda-based funds and fund managers looking to conduct business
One of the biggest challenges managers have faced in the last couple of years has been greater regulation. In parallel with investor demand for transparency, having the right risk infrastructure in place to handle regulatory and client reporting has become de rigeur.
That means having an even greater understanding of risk throughout the lifecycle of an investment strategy: from pre-trade risk exposures to leverage levels, margining management, liquidity profiling, real-time risk analysis, post-trade impact on P&L, through to risk reporting and compliance.
“Regulation is forcing managers to think carefully about risk and to be able to accurately report it in
Operational risk, it could be argued, is equally as important to today’s hedge fund manager as market risk.
To help support its global client-base of approximately 750 funds, Apex Fund Services established Apex Technologies last year. Headed up by managing director Paul Spendiff (pictured), the firm works with a variety of partners. One of these key partnerships is with Linedata. This has resulted in Apex Vision, a portfolio management solution that sits on the Linedata Beauchamp platform.
Other partners include StatPro, offering portfolio analysis, risk and asset valuation support, and Eze Castle Integration, which has given rise to the Apex
By James Williams – “It seems to be a law of nature, inflexible and inexorable, that those who will not risk cannot win.” – John Paul Jones
The Holy Grail for any portfolio manager is to find a way of maximising their investment returns by taking the least amount of risk. Fine in theory. Difficult in practice. As managers continue to access hitherto inaccessible markets in the elusive search for alpha, they are exposing themselves to more investment risk. Effective risk management has become a vital exercise as a result.
Swiss-based Harcourt Investment Consulting is the alternative investment and advisory
“Loss aversion is the single biggest reason for failure in our industry and it’s incredible how deeply rooted in our psyche it is,” comments Simon Savage (pictured), risk specialist at GLG Partners, part of Man Group.
The most successful portfolio managers are those who can clearly articulate and express how they make money. If they can’t, logic would suggest that they are merely resorting to a random process.
In an intriguing paper entitled “Fear, overconfidence and irrationality: overcoming the psychological traits that undermine the asset management industry”, published in March 2013, Savage and co-author Paul Gibson, chief tactical writer at
Inflation risk is very much a known unknown. It’s not a question of whether inflation will rise, but rather when, in developed markets. Admittedly, the UK recorded a fall in inflation to 2.4 per cent in April. But from a longer-term perspective, inflation is something that investors should be thinking about and planning for.
One way to protect against inflation risk is through commodities. These aren’t exactly flavour of the month right now with investors favouring riskier asset classes like equities. But as Jeremy Baker (pictured), senior commodity strategist at Harcourt Investment Consulting, states: “The trend in commodity prices recently
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