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Bruno Prigent, currently Deputy Head of Societe Generale Securities Services (SGSS), is to become Head of the organisation from 30 September 2011.
He will join the Executive Committee of the Private Banking, Global Investment Management and Services division as well as the General Management Committee of Societe Generale Group. Prigent will report to Jacques Ripoll, Head of this division.
Prigent replaces Alain Closier who, after 34 years at Societe Generale Group, including 12 years as a member of the Group’s General Management Committee, has decided to give a new direction to his career and will leave the Group next October.
James Kelly has joined Citi’s Prime Finance Group, enhancing Prime Finance’s capital introductions capabilities for its hedge fund client base. Kelly joins Citi as Director and Pensions Specialist within Prime Finance’s Capital Introductions Group.
Kelly was previously at Morgan Stanley where he initiated and developed their Pension Solutions Group and most recently served as Head of Transition Management in the Americas, covering pension funds. At Citi, Kelly will be based in New York and will report to Elizabeth Neely, US Head of Capital Introductions.
"As more pension funds move directly into alternative investments, most specifically hedge funds, it is critical
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has issued an order filing and simultaneously settling charges that Christopher Louis Pia of North Castle, NY, while employed as portfolio manager for Moore Capital Management, LLC (Moore Capital), attempted to manipulate the settlement prices of palladium and platinum futures contracts on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). Moore Capital is a predecessor of Moore Capital Management, LP.
The CFTC order requires Pia to pay USD1 million civil monetary penalty. It also permanently bans Pia from trading CFTC-regulated products during the closing period of the markets and from trading CFTC-regulated products in platinum
AQR Capital Management has formed a reinsurance group that will develop investment strategies that have low correlation with traditional markets and hedge funds.
David G Kabiller (pictured), founding partner of AQR and Head of Client Strategies, is organising this business and has recruited Andrew J Sterge, PhD to lead the reinsurance effort. Dr Sterge, who studied game theory at Cornell, is a top reinsurance specialist and former head of both Pulsar Re Holdings, the reinsurance affiliate of Magnetar, and the Cooper Neff Group.
"AQR now has an experienced reinsurance group," says Kabiller. "It is led by widely recognized industry experts
NYSE Liffe, the Europe-based derivatives business of NYSE Euronext (NYX), has received regulatory approval from Brazil’s Securities and Exchange Commission, the Comissão de Valores Mobiliários (CVM), to offer direct electronic access to its London market with immediate effect.
The CVM’s decision to grant approval enables enables customers in Brazil to benefit from direct access to NYSE Liffe’s Short Term Interest Rate, Bond, Swapnote, Equity and Commodities Futures and Options. Alternatively, Brazilian firms can continue to make use of non-direct (intermediated) access for the execution of their NYSE Liffe business.
Garry Jones (pictured), Group Executive Vice President and Head of Global
Athena Capital Advisors, a Registered Investment Advisor providing investment advisory and management services to both private and institutional clients, has acquired Stonehorse Capital Management, a fund of funds manager focused on emerging hedge funds (generally those funds smaller than USD500 million or younger than 36 months). The acquisition became effective June 28th, 2011, and the acquired entity will be named Athena Stonehorse.
Athena Capital Advisors serves as their clients’ chief investment officer and investment staff, providing a comprehensive investment solution for their clients. For the past two years, Forbes has named Athena one of the top 50 fee-only Registered Investment
Retailers in Abu Dhabi are claiming that gold remains an attractive prospect for investors as they continue to strive for a safe haven for their cash.
Alternative Asset Analysis (AAA), an organization that advocates alternative investments, supports the claim that despite further price rises, gold is still a good alternative investment bet.
The price of gold has soared once more in the past few weeks, by a further USD160 per ounce to USD1,660. As a result, some buyers have been hesitant recently, according to the retailers who claim that for some, gold is simply getting too expensive.
The rise in
JP Morgan has been selected by investment management firm AQR Capital Management, LLC (AQR), adviser to the AQR Funds, to provide prime custody and fund administration to its newly launched mutual fund – the AQR Multi-Strategy Alternative Fund. As described by AQR, the Fund seeks exposure to the following sub-strategies: Convertible Arbitrage, Event Driven (including Merger Arbitrage), Fixed Income Relative Value, Equity Market Neutral, Long/Short Equity, Dedicated Short Bias, Global Macro, Managed Futures and Emerging Markets.
AQR, which was founded in 1998, is based in Greenwich, Connecticut and indicates as of June 30, 2011 that it manages approximately USD40 billion in
Hedge funds, as measured by the Dow Jones Credit Suisse Hedge Fund Index, were up 1.7% in the first half of 2011, posting positive performance in four out of six months, according to the latest Dow Jones Credit Suisse industry review.
The industry saw an estimated USD33.8 billion in inflows in the first half of 2011. At this pace, the industry is on track to triple the asset inflows received in 2010
Fixed Income Arbitrage experienced the largest inflows in the first half of 2011, gaining USD18.4 billion followed by Global Macro (+USD14.4 billion) and Long/Short Equity (+USD9.0 billion)
Including
U.S. Bancorp Fund Services has launched its fourth Multiple Series Trust (MST) for investment management firms to support their mutual fund products. The fourth MST was effective as of 26 May, 2011. The newest trust, called Managed Portfolio Series (MPS), continues U.S. Bancorp Fund Services’ tradition and growth in the shared trust market.
“We are excited to be able to expand our MST offering and provide our clients with the highest level of products and services necessary for them to be successful in this competitive landscape. Our culture and work ethic drive us to deliver what it takes to support
