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US prime money market fund (MMF) exposure to eurozone banks decreased slightly during December 2012, with the notable exception of French banks, according to a new Fitch Ratings report.
This represents the first time since end-June 2012 that MMF eurozone holdings decreased.
Overall, MMF allocations to Eurozone banks have increased by more than 70 per cent since falling to a historical low in end-June 2012 and now represent 12.9 per cent of MMF assets. However, Fitch notes that MMF allocations to Eurozone banks remain more than 60 per cent below end-May 2011.
The one exception to the December trends was
The UK’s fund management industry has been given an extra year to comply with the EU’s Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD), says Bovill, the financial services regulatory consultancy.
In its consultation on how to implement the European rules, HM Treasury gave a boost to UK private equity and hedge funds by proposing that UK managers will not have to comply with the new rules until 22 July 2014. This means existing firms will have full use of a one year transitional period provided by the Directive, which actually takes effect on 22 July this year.
In a sign that
Insparo Asset Management has appointed commodity specialist Lucas Wurfbain to oversee a new global food fund, expected to be launched later this year.
Wurfbain brings with him a wealth of experience in the commodity space, having worked at Fortress Investment Group, Rubicon Fund Management and Global Asset Management (GAM). Wurfbain has worked both in London and in Asia and has travelled extensively throughout his career.
Wurfbain joins Insparo’s six-strong investment team, led by CIO Mohammed Hanif, which manages the firm’s frontier market products.
The firm’s existing funds, the Insparo Africa Equity Fund (IAEF) and the flagship Insparo Africa and
Dion Global Solutions, a technology partner to the financial services industry, has launched the FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) TRAC Indicia Check Service to assist financial firms in making an initial assessment of the impact of the FATCA regulations on their business.
The announcement follows the publication of the long-awaited final regulations for the implementation of FATCA by the US Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service. Aimed at combating offshore tax evasion, FATCA has far-reaching implications for financial institutions around the world. Firms globally now need to put compliance programmes in place to ensure required timeframes are met.
Financial data integration specialist Volante Technologies has opened an office in Dubai to serve the Middle East and Africa (MEA) regions.
Mick Fennell, general manager MEA, has been appointed to run the Dubai operation, reporting to Fiona Hamilton, vice president EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa).
Fennell joins Volante after more than 20 years at Misys where he was latterly head of transaction banking MEA with responsibility for front-to-back processing of payments, trade finance and cash management, based in Dubai.
Prior to this role, Fennell held numerous positions within the Misys organisation largely in the payments and financial messaging fields
The Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) has initiated a formal consultation process with the financial services industry and other stakeholders to further its dialogue with the industry on corporate governance practices, developments and standards as it relates to the private funds sector.
HighWater supports the initiative and has previously engaged with CIMA to promote stakeholder transparency, including information held by CIMA on its database.
Gary Linford (pictured), managing director of HighWater, believes that CIMA is conducting this exercise in an appropriate manner, and the inclusion of global stakeholders, particularly investors, is the best way to obtain a view of
Krusen Capital Management, the hedge fund and private equity advisory firm, has formed a strategic relationship with Wilshire Private Markets (WPM), a business unit of Wilshire Associates, in which WPM will provide private markets advisory services, including manager and market research, investment sourcing and investment due diligence.
Founded by Charles Krusen (pictured) in January 2009, Krusen Capital currently offers access to 24 hedge funds across the entire range of strategies, four concentrated baskets, five private equity funds, and 4 liquid alternative solutions.
“The partnership with Wilshire is ideal for our business model and for our clients. In addition to offering
Eurex Group has made management changes at both Eurex Repo and Eurex Bonds. Peter Reitz, who has served as managing director at both since 2006, has left both firms. However, he will continue to bear overall responsibility for the two subsidiaries on the Eurex executive board.
Frank Gast (43) and Rene Winkler (38) are the new appointees to the Eurex Repo management team. Marcel Naas remains responsible managing director at Eurex Repo.
Gast, who holds a university degree in business administration, had been head of sales in Zurich since 2010 and was previously responsible for developing the securities lending market. Prior
Bond behemoth PIMCO has launched the GIS Income Fund to be managed by Dan Ivascyn, managing director and head of the mortgage credit portfolio management team, and Alfred Murata, executive vice president and the mortgage credit team’s portfolio manager.
The Dublin-domiciled fund will invest in fixed income securities globally and follow the same strategy as the firm’s US-based fund, which has been running since 2007. The US fund’s biggest sector weighting is to non-agency mortgage-backed securities, at 24 per cent, reported FTAdviser, with agency MBS making up 15 per cent of the portfolio and asset-backed securities 8 per cent.
The
Institutional investors are entrusting a smaller portion of assets to leading broad managers, according to a report released by Cogent Research.
These and other findings are included in the third annual US Institutional Investor Brandscape report, which examines key trends in investment strategy as well as asset manager selection, usage, and loyalty.
The report is based on a representative survey of over 650 senior-level investment professionals representing pension and non-profit institutions with a minimum of USD20m in assets.
The leading asset managers serving the institutional market are battling for a smaller piece of a dwindling pie. Cogent found that pensions,
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