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The Ucits HFS Index was positive in the third week of December, adding an additional 0.34 per cent to its monthly performance.
All of the 11 strategies were positive, although for four strategies the gains were not enough to turn their negative December performance around.
The strategies with the best weekly performance were fixed income (+0.61 per cent), currency (+0.59 per cent) and multi strategy (+0.46 per cent).
From a year to date perspective the broad Ucits HFS Index now stands at +4.89 per cent.
Prices on the hedge fund secondary market remain volatile, according to the latest data from Hedgebay.
A lack of price stability has been the recurring theme of 2010, evidenced once again when the average trade price dropped to 74 per cent in November after registering the highest average in six months during October.
October’s high of 81 per cent was the third time in a row the index had risen, suggesting that consistency might slowly be returning to the market after a turbulent year. However, the drop shown in November has cast doubts over that theory, with the volatility
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts has appointed Kaveh Samie as managing director and head of Middle East and North Africa.
Previously, Samie was a managing director and head of equities for HSBC Middle East & North Africa.
The appointment takes effect on 6 January 2011.
Samie will work closely with Ford M. Fraker, chairman of KKR Middle East and North Africa, to expand the firm’s presence in the region.
“Kaveh has spent 25 years developing global and local equity platforms and building a strong network of relationships in the Middle East and North Africa. His close ties to investors, as well as
The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged two San Francisco-based investment adviser firms along with their former chief executive, former general counsel, and former portfolio manager with defrauding investors in a USD100m hedge fund that invested in sub-prime automobile loans.
The SEC found that chief executive Benjamin P. Chui and portfolio manager Triffany Mok – who managed the American Pegasus Auto Loan Fund – together with general counsel Charles E. Hall, Jr., engaged in improper self-dealing, misused client assets, and failed to disclose conflicts of interest.
The firms – American Pegasus LDG and American Pegasus Investment Management –and Chui, Hall,
Turkey was the worst performing country in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia in November, dropping by 9.7 per cent, according to a report by Menasa Capital Management.
Turkey was followed by Dubai at -5.4 per cent.
Turkey’s underperformance versus emerging markets during November occurred as many investors booked their gains in the midst of de-risking in global capital markets.
Dubai lost all of its October gains as regional investors reduced risk in their portfolios. Recent trading activity in the UAE has been dominated by short-term horizons as macro challenges continue to weigh on the financial sector.
Pakistan
Citrin Cooperman, an accounting and business consulting firm, has been granted a license to transact business as an approved auditor in the Cayman Islands.
The company will be offering offshore-based funds auditing services under the Citrin Cooperman (Cayman) name.
“Our presence in the hedge fund area has grown substantially over the last several years, and this was a natural expansion of our services,” says Dave Grumer, co-partner in charge of the firm’s financial industry group. “With Citrin Cooperman (Cayman) we can now accommodate our current set of hedge fund clients who themselves have become more active offshore.”
With approval by
November marked the Dow Jones Credit Suisse Hedge Fund Index’s first negative month of performance since June.
Many managers focused on preserving capital in the increasingly volatile market environment by constraining their losses with hedges, curtailing exposures and lowering leverage levels.
Five out of ten strategies in the index posted positive performance for the month.
Fixed income arbitrage (+0.74 per cent) was the best performing sector in November, and has the best year-to-date performance in the index at 11.82 per cent as of 30 November. The strategy has had only one month of negative performance in 2010 in May, and
KBC has finalised the sale of the US life settlement portfolio held by KBC Financial Products to certain funds managed by affiliates of Fortress Investment Group, as announced on 10 November.
KBC’s exit from the life settlements market follows its decision to refocus its merchant banking business, of which the life settlements activities were not deemed core.
While reducing KBC’s risk profile and future volatility, the transaction has no impact on KBC’s Tier-1 ratio and is not material to KBC Group’s results.
In recent months, KBC Financial Products has divested its Japanese equities business, its US reverse mortgage business, its
By Ross Youngs – In the current global environment, managers and regulators are focusing determinedly on the substance of activities in offshore financial jurisdictions, the quality of service providers and the ability to deliver increasingly complex business with the requisite regard to risk. Jersey and Guernsey are well placed to thrive, thanks to genuine intellectual capital, effective and flexible regulation, good technological infrastructure, robust operating models and experience built up over decades.
The islands’ global reputation as international financial centres has been bolstered by the influx of global brand names alongside specialist industry providers. Both have demonstrated their commitment through
By Simon Gray – In a global environment where managers of classic alternative investment strategies are having to work harder than ever to attract capital from wary investors, members of the industry in the Channel Islands say the jurisdictions are benefiting from a burgeoning international reputation for broad-ranging expertise that is particularly attractive to promoters of innovative strategies and exotic asset classes.
Alongside the islands’ established range of specialist fund experience, covering funds of hedge funds and hedge fund managed account platforms, private equity vehicles, property funds and certain types of retail product including exchange-traded funds, Jersey and Guernsey are
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