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Vastardis Capital Services has adopted Geneva, Advent Software’s portfolio management and fund accounting solution, to support its fund of funds business.
Vastardis was one of the earliest adopters of Geneva 8.0, the latest version of the product which includes portfolio management capabilities, integration to counterparties and data providers, and access to real-time data.
Vastardis is a fund administrator headquartered in New York with offices in Toronto and Singapore. The firm has approximately USD20bn in assets under administration. More than 75 per cent of assets administered by Vastardis are from fund of funds managers.
John Stefankiewicz, partner and chief operating officer
Susan Clark has joined Heritage International Fund Managers as head of fund administration, responsible for the delivery of the company’s fund administration services as well as coordinating growth overseas.
Clark has nearly 30 years’ experience working in the funds industry, most recently as head of funds services and executive director for fund administration at BNP Paribas Securities Services in Jersey where she worked for 16 years throughout various acquisitions.
Clark has held a number of positions on various trade bodies including a period as vice-chairman of the Jersey Funds Association. A Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Securities &
Abraham Merchant and Kenneth Kuhn, managing directors of Global Capital Investments, have launched the Iraq Fund.
The fund will invest primarily in listed equities of the Iraq Stock Exchange and up to 20 per cent of its assets in private, less liquid, early-stage investment opportunities that focus on Iraq’s infrastructure and natural resources.
Merchant and Kuhn say recent trends in Iraq make the petroleum-rich country a compelling investment opportunity.
“As Iraq’s economy transitions, it is in the process of adopting legal and regulatory reforms that will make its financial markets more attractive to outside investors,” says Merchant. “Interest rates have
TradeStation Prime Services, a division of Tradestation Securities, has added John Kenealy to its prime services team.
Kenealy will serve as vice president of TradeStation Prime Services and he will be head of the Chicago office.
He has more than 15 years of sales and brokerage experience. He joined TradeStation Securities in October 2001 as a sales representative and has held several supervisory and management positions. Kenealy most recently served as director of active trader sales for TradeStation.
“John’s unique background in brokerage sales, as well as his thorough understanding of the TradeStation platform and related trading technology, will complement
The UK asset management industry needs to considerably ramp up its plans for responding to the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive as only two per cent of the industry currently has a plan in place that is being implemented.
According to a recent poll by PricewaterhouseCoopers of 186 senior industry figures from the hedge fund, private equity and real estate sectors, only 16 per cent have set up a dedicated working group to consider the implications and formulate how they should respond.
The poll also revealed that 41 per cent of respondents expect the AIFMD to result in increased management
NYSE Euronext has reported net income of USD128m, or USD0.49 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2010, compared to net income of USD125m, or USD0.48 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2009.
Results for the third quarter of 2010 include USD25m of pre-tax merger expenses and exit costs and a USD21m deferred tax benefit related to the reduction of the UK corporate tax rate.
Third quarter 2009 results include USD8m of pre-tax merger expenses and exit costs and a USD4m net gain from disposal activities.
Excluding the impact of these items, net income in the third
International Asset Management, a fund of hedge fund investment manager, has appointed Jon Pollowitz as investment analyst and Stephen Bienashski as junior investment analyst, both based in IAM’s New York office.
Pollowitz (pictured) joins from Cadogan Management where he spent three years as a senior research analyst. Prior to this he was an equity research associate at Bear Stearns.
Previously, Bienashski held roles at Regions Financial and Merrill Lynch.
These appointments follow the recent addition of Nan Mead as vice president of client development to the New York team.
Morten Spenner, chief executive at IAM, says: "We are delighted that
J.P. Morgan has appointed Hans Janssens as the head of treasury and securities services in Japan.
Janssens, who most recently spent four years as chief financial officer for J.P. Morgan in Japan, will be responsible for the financial performance of TSS Japan, running the day-to-day operations of the treasury services franchise while overseeing the worldwide securities services business, which will continue to be headed by Fumihiko Yonezawa.
Prior to his role as chief financial officer, Janssens worked as an interest rates derivatives trader, and later took on risk control positions in the investment bank followed by the role of deputy
Credit Suisse has appointed Andy Stewart to the asset management division as managing director and head of the liquid alternatives business, effective 1 December 2010.
Stewart joins Credit Suisse Asset Management from Man Investments, where he was president and chief operating officer in the US, responsible for business management and overall supervision of the firm’s activities in the US market.
He was also global head of managed accounts, charged with oversight of Man’s managed account initiatives globally.
In his new role at Credit Suisse, Stewart will be responsible for further developing and expanding the liquid alternatives business – which includes
Instinet, a provider of electronic trading and agency-only brokerage services, has launched its Execution Experts suite of algorithms in Asia.
The event driven trading strategies are currently used by Instinet’s clients in North America and Europe, and have been specifically tailored for the Asia Pacific markets.
Glenn Lesko, chief executive for Instinet in Asia, says: “Asia Pacific markets have developed to a point that the simple algorithmic strategies historically employed here are no longer adequate. Exchange speeds and liquidity access have improved dramatically, and new venues are competing with primary exchanges across the region. This brings both challenges and opportunities,
