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Apex Fund Services (UK) Limited has received authorisation by the UK’s Financial Services Authority (FSA) as a Fund Operator.
As a Fund Operator, Apex’s UK office is now one of a small number of administrators in the country that is authorised to provide independent administration services to regulated collective investment schemes domiciled in the UK. Importantly all UK based investment managers will be serviced locally from London.
Leading the growth of the London office is Colin Targett who joins the Company from Standard Bank in Jersey where he was head of valuations. Colin is a highly experienced fund administrator
As 2011 draws to an end, it is interesting to note that eight of the Top 10 performers on the Lyxor Managed Account Platform (Lyxor MAP) belong to the systematic and model-based kind of managers. Machine 8 – Men 2, says Stefan Keller (pictured), Head of Managed Account Platform Research & External Relations, Lyxor Asset Management…
The fourth quarter bears testimony to an investment environment where emotions have indeed not been easy to control: market stress has forced EU policymakers to take more positive steps than usual at their summits; one US broker dealer filed for bankruptcy; the Greek Prime
The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a civil injunctive action against Stephen M Folan, a former registered representative in the Chicago office of FTN Financial Securities Corp (FTN), for assisting Sentinel Management Group, Inc (Sentinel), a bankrupt former investment adviser, in its fraud against its advisory clients.
The SEC’s complaint alleges that over year-end 2006 and the first few days of 2007, Sentinel and FTN engaged in a five-day reverse repurchase transaction (Repo Transaction) involving approximately USD35 million of collateralised debt obligations ("CDOs). Folan acted as the primary advocate for the Repo Transaction within FTN and served as the
Enzo Puntillo (pictured) , Head/CIO Fixed Income at Swiss & Global Asset Management, assesses the prospects for fixed income investments…
Inflation linked bonds have continued to post strong absolute returns. The strongest returns came from USD and GBP (4.8% and 6.3% respectively measured by Barclays index data) while returns from Europe lagged.
Over the cyclical horizon, inflation pressure remains subdued in nearly all developed economies. We think that inflation pressure could mount in the next recovery cycle, as huge monetary and fiscal stimulus is at work.
Real yields are low and offer only modest value from an absolute point of
Europe’s intermediary distributors of investment funds — as well as their clients — can expect to see the roll out of new products and potentially lower fees as investment managers fight to attract and retain assets in a challenging global investment market.
The results of the Greenwich Associates 2011 European Intermediary Distribution study reveal that investment managers are feeling the need to revise their product offerings and, in some cases, their fee structures, in an effort to remain competitive and relevant to customers at a time when market volatility is driving fund outflows and prompting many retail investors to hold
Following a 1.50% drop in October, managed futures gained 0.11% in November according to the Barclay CTA Index compiled by BarclayHedge. Year-to-date, the Index remains down 3.09%.
“In spite of a gut-wrenching reversal from risk-off to risk-on in the last three days of the month, CTAs were mostly in the black at month-end,” says Sol Waksman (pictured), founder and president of BarclayHedge.
Six of Barclay’s eight CTA indices were profitable in November. The Currency Traders Index gained 1.09%, Discretionary Traders were up 0.28%, Financial & Metal Traders gained 0.23%, and Systematic Traders added 0.09%.
“For much of November the US
Systematic Alpha Management (SAM), a New York based CTA, will launch the Systematic Alpha Multi-Strategy Futures Fund (SAMSFF) in January 2012, a new fund that aims to achieve consistent positive returns with low volatility and low correlation to all other asset classes, including CTAs or managed futures strategies.
SAMSFF will exploit two main themes: mean-reversion and directional trading.
The short-term mean-reversion market neutral component of the fund is implemented using proprietary spreads composed from the most liquid global equity index, currency and commodity futures markets. This component will be traded via two approaches – the original approach, which has been
The Dow Jones Credit Suisse Hedge Fund Index (the Broad Index) finished November down 0.79%.
Of the ten sub-strategies that make up the broad index, only three saw positive returns during the month – Equity Market Neutral (0.09%); Fixed Income Arbitrage (0.50%); and Managed Futures (0.18%). All other sub strategies were negative with Emerging Markets the biggest loser down 2.69%.
Morgan Stanley this week announced the launch of its latest UCITS fund on the bank’s FundLogic Alternatives Plc platform in tandem with Claritas Ad
According to the European Fund and Asset Management Association’s (EFAMA) latest fact sheet on the UCITS fund industry, net sales for UCITS were a distinctly mixed bag for October.
