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Vistra Fund Services (VFS) this week announced further expansion in Asia with the opening of its Singapore office. VFS is a global independent fund administrator and part of the Vistra Group, a global provider of corporate, trust and fiduciary services, as well as fund administration and outsourcing services.
The firm already has an established presence in Hong Kong, having opened its first office there in February this year to complement the group’s fund administration operations in Luxembourg and Jersey. Assets under administration for VFS Asia have, within 10 months, already grown to USD3billion, supporting a range of funds from private
Institutional stock brokers continued to be modestly bullish throughout the fourth quarter of 2012, continuing the trend from the end the third quarter which bodes well for the first quarter of 2013, according to a survey by TIM Group.
This is despite concerns over the US and European fiscal and economic situations and the US election which gyrated the market in 4Q12.
“It seems to be a clear case of stay calm and carry on,” says Colin Berthoud, TIM Group co-founder. “At this point, the general outlook is that brokers are sanguine if not slightly positive about the outcome of
LIG Assets has entered into an alliance with Texas Real Estate Hedge Fund to invest, acquire, manage and finance commercial real estate properties.
Geographically these assets will be well located properties in the Southwest, West and Midwest sectors of the US.
Texas Real Estate Hedge Fund will focus on commercial real estate opportunities with valuations ranging from USD5m to USD100m. The composition of these assets will cover multifamily, retail, destination hotel and office properties.
LIG Asset’s and Texas Real Estate Hedge Fund’s expertise, in association with a team from MMR Realty Advisors and Inter Continental Real Partners will selectively analyse
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
