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With a turnover of EUR48.3 billion on its Zurich and Frankfurt trading platforms in 2010, Scoach remains the highest-volume exchange for structured products in Europe.
The number of trades executed last year at Scoach in Frankfurt rose to 2.5 million – an increase of over 7 percent compared to 2009. The volume of trades for international investors grew by 50 per cent and accounts for more than 12 per cent of total transactions. According to the exchange statistics published by the German Derivatives Association, Scoach has developed above-average in the German market over the past three years.
In 2010, the
In the wake of another strong year of performance, International Standard Asset Management (ISAM), the hedge fund manager led by Stanley Fink and Larry Hite, is bolstering its team with the addition of two high-profile, experienced industry leaders.
Alexander Lowe joins this month as Business Development Director of ISAM, and Riva Waller has been brought in as Chief Operating Officer based in New York. Both formerly worked at Man Group.
Lowe, who was previously CEO of Man Global Strategies (MGS) and Director of Man Investments Ltd from 2006-2009, where he managed a team of 60 people, running over 100 products
The March Vini Catena Fund, managed by March Gestión, the boutique asset manager of Banca March, has achieved a 22.6% return during its first 12 months of trading, beating its reference index MSCI World LC, which returned 7.8% over the same period. In terms of volatility the fund shows 8.5%, well below the index’s 15%.
March Vini Catena is the first global equity fund to invest in a selection of notable companies linked to the production and sales of quality wine with the aim of capitalising on the opportunities they offer. The product seeks to benefit from what the
Dublin-based alternative investment manager, Abbey Capital, has had an interesting year, thanks to investor interest returning to the managed futures space. Hedgeweek took the opportunity last month to speak with Abbey Capital’s Director of Research, Mick Swift (pictured), and Marketing Manager, Katherine Lucey, to gauge their assessment of 2010.
With its range of multi-manager funds covering both the CTA/managed futures and global macro space, the USD2.9billion firm has grown, since it was established in 2000, to become one of the world’s largest independent allocators. “We continue to specialise in managed futures, FX and global macro allocations” explains Swift, who goes
Returns for Credit Suisse’s LAB Liquid Indices suggest that hedge funds experienced positive performance in December according to Jordan Drachman, Head of Research for Alternative Beta Strategies at Credit Suisse.
"The Credit Suisse Liquid Alternative Beta Index posted positive performance in December, finishing up 2.77%," says Drachman. "Overall, all five indices posted positive performance for the month, and each liquid index will finish in positive territory for the year. The Event Driven Liquid Index posted the strongest returns, finishing up 13.66% year-to-date."
While the economy remains a concern, hedge fund CFOs say addressing new regulatory requirements and meeting evolving investor expectations are the biggest challenges for 2011, according to a poll by SEI.
The poll, conducted recently at the company’s annual Hedge Fund CFO Forum, revealed that half of the CFOs attending the forum felt that addressing new regulatory requirements is the most significant challenge facing their industry over the next 12-18 months, while more than a third (39 per cent) see economic uncertainty as their biggest challenge.
The poll also revealed an ongoing shift in investor expectations, as 40 percent
The turn of the year saw the CHF hit record highs. The trade-weighted exchange rate was up 15% in 2010, and is 30% higher from the start of the financial crisis in October 2007. Paul Marson (pictured), chief investment officer at Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch, examines the factors driving this upwards run.
The most obvious explanation lies in the safe haven features of the CHF, brought to the fore again by the financial crisis, and by European debt issues in particular. This haven status is not a given, but the result of a long history of geopolitical stability and financial
Alternative fund administrator HedgeServ has partnered with Hedge Fund Research (HFR) to provide clients access to the HFR Database within the HedgeServ platform.
HFR specialises in the areas of indexation and analysis of hedge funds. Its flagship product, HFR Database, comprises over 6,600 funds and funds of hedge funds and contains over 70 fields of information on the funds, including historical monthly performance, historical fund assets under management, enhanced fund leverage reporting, firm contact details and fund fee structure.
HedgeServ’s fund of hedge fund clients will be able to seamlessly combine their fund’s portfolio performance data with HFR’s data, giving
New York-based commodities trading advisor Quest Partners has appointed Nigel Ekern as its President.
Ekern joins Quest with over 13 years experience managing alternative investment firms and will oversee operations and business development.
“This is an exciting time for Quest given the addition of Nigel to the senior management team," says Quest’s CIO and founder Nigol Koulajian. "Nigel brings to Quest his broad experience and technical skills that deepen the senior management pool and we are very optimistic about the growth of Quest in the coming years.”
Prior to joining Quest, Ekern was the COO and co‐founder of Noroton Capital Management LLC, a Connecticut‐based hedge fund. Previously, he practiced law with Debevoise & Plimpton before becoming an investment banker and then a partner with an alternative investment advisor.
Ekern holds a JD‐MBA degree from New York University and an AB from Dartmouth College.
Pacific Investments, the private investment vehicle of Sir John Beckwith, is establishing a new absolute return fund management business. Rod Barker, formerly a partner at International Standard Asset Management with Stanley Fink, is joining the new venture as partner and CEO.
The new business, set to launch at the beginning of Q2 2011, will focus on absolute return strategies which will offer returns uncorrelated with traditional asset classes.
“Rod brings with him considerable experience, intellectual capital and a proven track record in the hedge fund industry," says Mark Johnson (pictured), CEO of Pacific Investments. "Having developed successful fund management businesses
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