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April data for the ICAP UK Labour Market indices (UK LMI) shows moderate improvements in the UK labour market.
After four consecutive monthly increases, applications per vacancy fell 1.3 per cent in April. Hiring levels also improved in April, with the ICAP Vacancy Index returning to growth by rising 5.3pts, however the Unemployment Index remains 22 per cent higher than a year ago.
On a month-on-month basis, both permanent and temporary vacancies grew in April (+2.0 per cent and +2.8 per cent), continuing the increases from March.
On a year-on-year basis, both permanent and temporary vacancies also
Even with the recent drop in gold prices, many hedge funds and analysts believe gold is still a good investment and the best store of value.
Paul Singer, founder and president of the Elliot Management, which manages over USD22bn in assets, is still one of the believers in the yellow metal.
“We remain unconvinced that genuine normalisation of global economic and financial conditions has been achieved,” says Singer in a recent interview with Bloomberg. “There is only one store of value and medium of exchange that has stood the test of time as ‘real money,’ and that is
DataArt has released free Form PF software to create a more efficient and reliable filing process for hedge funds.
Form PF is a regulation requirement for the hedge fund industry involving collecting, aggregating and validating filing data.
DataArt’s free Form PF software simplifies the implementation of automated filings for the creation, editing and approval of the form.
Features for either in-house integration or individual application usage include:
• Intuitive and user-friendly application
• Report sharing between multiple users
• Data validation
• FAQ: Instructions and Q&A from SEC
• User notes functionality for specific questions (for hedge
Both the number of Alternative UCITS funds and assets under management grew in the first quarter of 2013 according to the Alceda Quarterly UCITS Review, produced by leading independent structuring specialist Alceda Fund Management S.A.
Tracking the Absolute Hedge Global UCITS Index, the Alceda UCITS review revealed that the sector advanced 2.56 per cent in Q1 2013. Assets under management stood at EUR96.6billion in March 2013, a 5.1 per cent rise over the first quarter, including the addition of 11 new funds.
All alternative UCITS strategies recorded positive performance in Q1 2013, making it one of the best quarters on
Risk managers are at times advising portfolio managers to take more risk, which – especially in the aftermath of large market events and subsequent de-risking – marks a milestone in the hedge fund industry’s move toward the integration of risk and return management.
That was one of the chief findings at the inaugural Risk Summit, which drew more than 115 attendees from asset allocators and managers, and featured a panel of financial experts including Richard Hoey (pictured), chief economist of BNY Mellon and The Dreyfus Corporation.
Summit panel moderator Tatiana Segal, head of risk management for Skybridge Capital,
In light of continual struggles from European fund managers to comply with the impending AIFMD directive, Nicola Smith, chief executive of hedge fund administrator Helvetic, says that plans by the European Commission to introduce liquidity buffers and leverage caps on financial firms have come at the most inopportune time.
Smith (pictured) states the managers and service providers need to focus their efforts on the implementation of AIFM passports, and therefore require the support of the European institutions, and clear guidance from national regulators, to do so.
“The lack of detailed information, combined with the delays from ESMA, has
The impact of new regulations in the financial services industry is by far the most important systemic-risk concern facing the global capital markets, according to a recent client survey conducted by The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC).
The survey revealed that 82 per cent of industry leaders ranked meeting new regulatory requirements as a top concern in mitigating systemic risks.
“Given the massive scope of Dodd-Frank, CPSS IOSCO, Basel III and other new or enhanced regulations, the tremendous commitment of time and resources necessary to build and maintain compliance structures is clearly keeping people up at night,”
Astmax Asset Management, an asset management firm based in Tokyo, and Gottex Fund Management Sarl have agreed mutual sub-advisory services to provide institutional and other Japanese clients with hedge fund and multi-asset investment solutions.
The parties will offer Japanese clients relevant investment products and services including advanced customised hedge fund investment solutions, active liquid multi-asset products, hedge fund advisory services, managed accounts and specific products for Japanese institutional investors.
Astmax and Gottex believe there is a growing need in the Japanese institutional market for advanced customised hedge fund and multi-asset investment products, as these investors are becoming increasingly apprehensive
Hedge funds took in a net USD817m (0.04 per cent of assets) in March, building on an inflow of USD11.4bn in February.
The results are based on data from 3,409 funds, according to TrimTabs and BarclayHedge.
“The hedge fund industry continues to struggle with performance relative to the S&P 500,” says Sol Waksman, president and founder of BarclayHedge. “The industry delivered a return of 1.1 per cent in March, less than one-third of the S&P 500’s 3.6 per cent rise. Although hedge funds delivered positive returns in 10 of the past 12 months, they trailed the S&P 500
Investors increased allocations to Asian hedge funds in 1Q13 as stimulus measures; quantitative easing and increased bond purchases by the Bank of Japan drove gains across both equities and the HFRX Japan Index.
Total Asia-focused hedge fund capital increased by +7.6 per cent in 1Q13 to nearly USD95 billion, reaching the highest level since Asian hedge fund capital peaked in 2007, according to the latest HFR Asian Hedge Fund Industry Report. Investors allocated over USD1.3 billion in net new capital to Asian hedge funds in 1Q13, the largest quarterly inflow since 3Q11, as the total number of Asian hedge funds
