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November presented a mixed trading environment for the Newedge indices, with commodity strategies fairing poorly, extending a recent downturn in performance.
The Volatility Trading Index meanwhile, continued a good run and has now been positive in eight of the 11 months in 2012.
The best performer was the Newedge Macro Trading Index (Quantitative), which rose 0.86 per cent.
The worst performer was the Newedge Commodity Trading Index (Trading), which fell 1.16 per cent.
The Newedge Trend Indicator was down 0.33 per cent in November taking it to -16.69 per cent year-to-date, while the Newedge Volatility Trading Index is now up
The Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) has responded to the publication of the final text of the implementing measures of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers’ Directive (AIFMD) by the European Commission.
The publication of the final text marks the conclusion of the current EU-wide legislative process and will shift the focus to a national level, with EU member states required to transpose the Directive into their national laws.
Depending on the nature of their operations hedge fund firms may have to comply as early as July 2013 while many existing EU managers may have until July 2014 to apply for
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has notified ICE Futures US of the results of a rule enforcement review completed by the commission’s division of market oversight.
The review covered the target period from 1 November 2010 to 1 November 2011.
The division assessed the exchange’s compliance with new Core Principle 13, relating to the exchange’s disciplinary programme.
The division found that the exchange maintains an adequate disciplinary programme. The exchange has the authority to investigate potential rule violations, prosecute cases, and discipline members who are found to have violated exchange rules. The division found that the exchange maintains a small
Fortress Investment Group has closed the Fortress Japan Opportunity Fund II (FJOF II) at its cap of JPY130bn, or approximately USD1.65bn.
FJOF II is a successor fund to the Fortress Japan Opportunity Domestic Fund (FJOF), which closed in June 2010 at its cap of approximately USD800m.
Fortress’s Japan opportunity funds are focused on investments in real estate-related debt and other assets in Japan. The funds seek to capitalise on dynamics related to significant deleveraging by financial institutions and near-term debt maturities: supply demand gaps, limited credit availability, price distortions, volatility and sales of non-core or distressed real estate-related assets.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged a Connecticut-based investment adviser with falsely stating to clients that it was co-investing alongside them in two collateralised debt obligations (CDO).
The SEC’s investigation found that Aladdin Capital Management’s co-investment representation was a key feature and selling point for its Multiple Asset Securitised Tranche (MAST) advisory programme involving CDOs and collateralised loan obligations (CLOs).
For example, Aladdin Capital Management asked in one marketing piece: “Why is an investor better off just investing in Aladdin sponsored CLOs and CDOs?” It then emphasised that the “most powerful response I can give to your question
Managed futures lost 0.39 per cent in November, according to the Barclay CTA Index compiled by BarclayHedge.
The index has lost 1.45 per cent year to date, compared to a gain of 0.73 per cent in the S&P GSCI Index.
“Profitable positions in the continuing uptrend in bond markets and the downtrend in the Japanese yen were insufficient to overcome losses in other sectors,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge.
Five of Barclay’s eight CTA indices had losses in November. The Agricultural Traders Index dropped 1.23 per cent, diversified traders gave up 0.50 per cent, and systematic traders
CAIS Exchange (CAIS-X), the first online alternative investment marketplace for the wealth management industry, has expanded its suite of adviser tools to include MSCI’s RiskMetrics HedgePlatform, an investment decision support tool providing hedge fund transparency and risk analysis.
The addition of RiskMetrics HedgePlatform will allow CAIS-X member firms to better analyse, monitor and manage their alternative investments through access to in-depth reports based directly on the individual positions at the underlying funds.
The addition of RiskMetrics HedgePlatform coupled with CAIS’s longstanding due diligence partnership with Mercer, provides an institutional solution previously not available to the broader wealth management industry. Through
Hedge Funds Care, an international non-profit organisation that raises funds and awareness for programmes to prevent and treat child abuse, has appointed Dean C Backer as president.
Backer takes over from John M Budzyna, who has just completed the second of his two-year terms in the post.
“John has been an incredibly effective and inspirational President since he assumed the responsibility in November 2008 from the founder, Rob Davis,” says Dr Kathryn Conroy, executive director and chief executive of Hedge Funds Care. “In that time, his leadership, creativity and commitment to the cause have helped Hedge Funds Care navigate
Citi has been awarded a mandate from Brummer & Partners, Sweden’s largest hedge fund manager, to provide depositary, custody and prime brokerage services for its recently-launched Carve fund.
“We are delighted to appoint Citi for our new Carve funds,” says Peter Thelin, chief executive and portfolio manager at Carve Capital. “Citi’s local presence, proprietary global sub-custody network and its ability to offer a multi prime brokerage model for Swedish investment funds, putting Sweden in line with the rest of Europe, have been important factors in our decision.”
Building on this mandate, Citi is now able to provide local depositary,
Wells Fargo Asset Management (WFAM) has acquired a minority ownership stake in privately held The Rock Creek Group (Rock Creek), a Washington, DC-based fund of hedge funds firm with approximately USD7 billion in assets under management. The financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.
Rock Creek provides commingled and customised multi-manager alternatives and long-only investment solutions to institutional clients. The firm designs and implements customised fund of hedge funds and emerging market portfolios through top-down asset allocation and manager selection, leveraging Rock Creek’s sophisticated, proprietary analytics platform Rock Creek Solutions.
Rock Creek was established in 2002 by Afsaneh
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