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The RBC Hedge 250 Index had a net return of 0.25 per cent in November, bringing the year-to-date return of the index to 4.05 per cent.
These returns are estimated and will be finalised by the middle of next month. The return for October 2010 has been finalised at 1.22 per cent.
The top performing strategy in November was fixed income arbitrage, which rose by 1.87 per cent.
The worst performing strategy was managed futures, down 0.72 per cent.
The RBC Hedge 250 Index is a non-investable benchmark of the performance of the hedge fund industry.
State Street has been selected by LibreMax Capital to provide fund administration services for its newly launched hedge fund.
LibreMax Capital was founded by former Deutsche Bank executives Fred Brettschneider and Greg Lippmann.
International Fund Services, State Street’s hedge fund administration company which is part of its alternative investment solutions group, provides administration services to the fund which was launched in October.
“Appointing State Street to provide our new fund with administration services enables us to focus entirely on achieving investment results,” says Lippmann. “State Street’s proven track record of servicing some of the most complex hedge funds in the
Richard Hughes has been appointed senior manager, business development, within the funds and corporate services division of the Vistra Group, based in the Jersey office.
Hughes will be responsible for advising new and existing clients from across the Vistra Group on alternative investment funds, particularly assisting in the creation and ongoing management of those funds.
Chris Burton, chief executive officer of Vistra Jersey, says: “We are delighted to have someone of Richard’s calibre joining us. It enables us to deliver the high quality service and expertise that our clients expect, and helps us to continue towards our objective of being
Auriel Capital Management, a London-based investment management firm, has launched a dynamic currency hedging programme for institutional investors with the backing of a USD1.1bn mandate from a US corporate pension plan.
The strategy is designed to reduce the volatility of institutional investors’ foreign currency exposures while profiting from medium and long-term movements across foreign exchange markets.
Implemented as a customised overlay, the programme aims to outperform a passively hedged benchmark of overseas currency exposures.
It employs Auriel’s quantitative and qualitative risk controls in addition to a systematic portfolio construction process to reduce currency risk relative to static hedging.
Auriel’s
Final performance for the Dow Jones Credit Suisse Hedge Fund Index is confirmed down 0.18 per cent in November and up 7.82 per cent year-to-date.
Six out of ten sectors posted negative performance for the month.
Fixed income arbitrage was the best performing sector in November, finishing up 0.74 per cent. This was followed by long/short equity, which rose 0.46 per cent.
Managed futures reversed from its index-leading performance in October, finishing down 4.11 per cent.
Equity market neutral fell 2.51 per cent and is down 2.54 per cent year-to-date.
Investcorp, the alternative asset manager, and Ballast Capital Management, a hedge fund manager based in New York, have formed a partnership.
Ballast, which specialises in long-short equity, is the latest addition to Investcorp’s single manager platform.
Ballast is led by Robert M. Kaynor, chief investment officer, and Ryan M. O’Sullivan, president. Kaynor and O’Sullivan are joined initially by two other partners in the investment team. At launch, Ballast will be composed of an eight person team.
Kaynor and two of the investment team members, Mason Stark and Joanna Wald, previously worked together at Ramius, a multi-billion dollar hedge fund.
Ballast
A Preqin survey of over 100 alternative assets fund managers and investors found that just under a third support the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive to some extent, with firms in certain countries where the new legislation will replace more restrictive existing rules believing that it will serve to improve conditions.
However, for the majority there exists significant resentment towards the Directive.
Eighty nine per cent believe the Directive should be amended to further take into account the differences between the various asset classes, while 59 per cent foresee the AIFM Directive creating a European lock-in/lock-out.
Just under half (45
Following two years of crisis, hedge funds’ European fixed income trading volume jumped 47 per cent from 2009 to 2010, according to Greenwich Associates’ 2010 European Fixed Income Study.
As the need for investor liquidity abated and concerns about hedge funds as trading counterparties waned, hedge fund activity picked up.
The jump in hedge fund trading volumes helped hedge funds increase their presence in European markets.
In 2009, hedge funds generated nine per cent of total European fixed income trading volume. In 2010 that share surged to 14 per cent.
Hedge funds are generating an even larger share of
Strong capital inflows and a return of investor risk tolerance contributed to an increase in new hedge fund launches in the third quarter of 2010, while investors continued to exhibit a clear preference for transparency, liquidity and Ucits III compliance in their allocations.
This is according to data released by Hedge Fund Research, a provider of hedge fund industry data.
New hedge funds launches increased to 260 in 3Q 2010, up from 201 launches in the prior quarter. For the trailing 12 month period, 945 funds have launched, the highest 12 month total since the period ending 2Q 08.
Hedge
Robeco-Sage is offering investors simplified tax reporting by eliminating K-1 reporting in favour of Form 1099 reporting.
It has converted its SEC registered Multi-Strategy Fund tax reporting to a Form 1099 effective 1 December 2010.
With this change, Robeco-Sage becomes one of only a few fund of hedge funds managers to make 1099 reporting available to its investors.
“The K-1 tax reporting process can be a deterrent to some investors, not only because it is perceived by some as complex, but also because K-1’s are often not made available until much later in the year than Form 1099’s, often
