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Hedge funds gained 1.12 per cent in March, according to the Barclay Hedge Fund Index compiled by BarclayHedge.
The index is up 3.96 per cent year to date, and has enjoyed ten straight months of gains.
“The mid-month announcement of a flawed Cyprus bailout plan unsettled global markets and sentiment shifted back to risk-off,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge. “Interest rates moved lower and equity markets were muted with the notable exceptions of the US and Japan. The Nikkei Index gained 7.25 per cent as the BOJ aggressively moved to reflate Japan’s economy and stressed
The International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) has published a consultation paper on Principles for Financial Benchmarks, which seeks public comments on a set of high-level principles for benchmarks used in global financial markets.
Because of the wide diversity of benchmarks, IOSCO is also asking for public comment on a subset of more detailed principles for benchmarks having specific risks arising from their reliance on submissions and/or their ownership structure.
The principles form part of IOSCO ́s efforts to enhance the integrity, the reliability and the oversight of benchmarks by establishing guidelines for benchmark administrators and other relevant
Appleby, a provider of offshore legal, fiduciary and administration services, has made two senior additions to its funds and investment services team in Guernsey.
Appleby’s global head of funds, Ian Gobin (pictured), will transfer from the Cayman office to lead the global funds practice for a period of time from Guernsey. He will be joined by Deborah Poole who will be returning to Appleby in May as a partner in the same team.
Gobin joined Appleby last November having spent 11 years with another offshore firm. An expert in the funds and finance arena, with extensive knowledge of both the
RWC has launched a Cayman-based European Focus Fund with USD145m under management, representing support from existing investors.
The fund will be managed by the European Focus team who joined RWC from Hermes in October 2012 and replicates the existing strategy they have managed in a UK limited partnership since February 2009.
Dan Mannix (pictured), chief executive of RWC, says: “We believe there are growing opportunities for long-term investors to capitalise on the market conditions in which many companies are undervalued and overlooked. Investors are increasingly looking for different ways to access the equity markets to complement their growing books
Western European CDS spreads have experienced a relatively stable quarter, despite receiving news that Cypriot banks – after taking a hit on their investment in Greek bonds – were insolvent, according to S&P Capital IQ’s latest quarterly Global Sovereign Debt Credit Risk Report.
A last minute bail out of Cyprus prevented a default as upfront prices fluctuated 7pts towards the end of the quarter. However, default risks remain high at 70 per cent over five years, according to the report.
Meanwhile in the UK, spreads widened to 55bps after the much anticipated credit rating downgrade, but finished the quarter
The Market Authority of the Channel Islands Stock Exchange (CISX) has approved its 5,000th security for admission to its Official List.
The listed security, sponsored by Ogier, is a special purpose vehicle from specialist real estate debt provide, Capital A Finance.
The milestone, achieved in its 15th year, has been reached at a time when the CISX has recorded consistent growth despite the difficult trading conditions. During 2012 there were 510 new listings in total compared to 498 the previous year and trading volumes increased by 64 per cent.
Ogier was the sponsor for the Exchange’s milestone
Neuberger Berman, an employee-controlled asset manager, has appointed Susan Kasser as managing director and head of private debt at Neuberger Berman Alternatives.
Kasser joined Neuberger Berman in March and is based in New York.
Neuberger Berman’s private debt business is focused on building portfolios of attractive yield-oriented investments, including uni-tranche, second lien and mezzanine, and financing portfolio companies of private equity investors. The private debt business is a part of Neuberger Berman Alternatives, a private equity limited partner and an experienced direct equity co-investor. Neuberger Berman Alternatives has approximately 60 investment professionals in its integrated private equity platform,
Torstone Technology, a provider of securities and derivatives processing software to the global financial markets, has launched the Inferno back office system for Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) environments such as Amazon or Rackspace.
Torstone believes it is first in its sector to offer this deployment option with the security and robustness to reassure target customers such as investment banks, larger hedge funds and brokers.
Brian Collings, chief executive of Torstone Technology, says: “We believe Torstone has stolen a march on our competitors and is very early in enabling our customers to take advantage of the flexibility, resilience, scalability
Stoxx and Eurex Repo have launched the Stoxx GC Pooling index family, including the migration of the existing GC Pooling Indices calculated by Deutsche Börse into the new index family.
The Stoxx GC Pooling Indices provide a representation of the secured euro funding transactions taking place on the Eurex Repo GC Pooling Market. A unique feature of this index family is the introduction of two funding rates that measure secured interbank funding rates and volumes in the euro zone.
All Stoxx GC Pooling Indices are designed to provide transparent, rules-based alternatives to unsecured interbank benchmarks such as Libor
Gravitas is expanding its presence in India, including moving to a new larger office in Mumbai, prompted by an increase in demand for its services. Gravitas is a co-sourcing platform providing cloud technology, collaborative outsourcing, risk support and research to the alternative investment industry.
“The alternative asset management industry has entered an era of expansion as firms compete for capital while addressing the demands of an increasingly institutional clientele in the most heavily regulated environment ever,” says Gravitas CEO Jayesh Punater (pictured). “Hedge funds and private equity firms are responding to these challenges by embracing operational efficiency through the innovative
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