The extensive damage caused by the enormous earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan at 2.46pm (local time) on Friday afternoon has gradually taken form over the weekend. Our thoughts are first and foremost with those affected by this tragedy. The human impact is still difficult to fully comprehend – the loss looks to be grievous. The economic and financial consequences are still largely unformed with nuclear facilities in the locality still at some considerable risk. History tells us that such natural disasters rarely leave lasting damage to the Japanese economy though the short term effect can be quite a different

Kleinwort Benson has agreed a deal to acquire Close Brothers Offshore Group (COG) for a cash consideration of GBP29.1m, subject to adjustments by reference to the net asset position of the business at the time of completion. The acquisition comprises COG’s private banking, fund administration, fund management, trust and asset management businesses across Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man. It also includes COG’s wholly-owned shared service centre in Cape Town. The purchase increases the size of Kleinwort Benson’s private wealth assets under management to approximately GBP7bn. It extends Kleinwort Benson’s offshore reach with an additional presence in the Isle

Credit Suisse is to outsource the administration of its Guernsey-domiciled funds of hedge funds managed internationally by Credit Suisse Asset Managers, which were previously serviced in-house. The business will be moved to the new provider over the next six months. Credit Suisse will not disclose the name of the third-part administrator, nor the volume of assets involved, but says the new service provider is “one of the biggest fund of funds administrators globally”.   A spokeswoman for Credit Suisse says: “The outsourcing of our fund of funds administration business in Guernsey involves devolving a non-core administrative function, which is in

Hedge funds gained 1.18% in February according to the Barclay Hedge Fund Index compiled by BarclayHedge. The Index is up 1.65% year-to-date. “In the face of Mideast political turmoil and rising commodity prices, the rally in developed market equity prices extended to a sixth consecutive month,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge. “Hedge funds have been able to take advantage of the favourable trading environment as evidenced by a gain of 11.1 percent in the Barclay Hedge Fund Index over the  past six months.” Overall, 16 of Barclay’s 18 hedge fund indices had positive returns in February. The

Pillsbury’s Investment Fund and Investment Management group recently submitted comment letters to the California Corporations Commissioner (the Commissioner) and the North American Securities Administrator’s Association (NASAA) on behalf of the private investment fund industry. Specifically, the letter to the Commissioner was intended to seek clarification regarding the application of California’s securities license requirements for investment adviser representatives (IARs) of SEC-registered investment advisers and the letter to the NASAA was intended to provide comments regarding the proposed model custody rule of the NASAA that was released on February 17, 2011. In its letter to the Commissioner, Pillsbury sought clarification regarding the