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BNY Mellon Alternative Investment Services has named Marina Lewin head of global sales and Steve Farlese head of global service delivery.
Both are new positions within the business. Lewin and Farlese will continue to be based in New York City and report to Brian Ruane, BNY Mellon AIS chief executive officer.
“The alternative asset management business is undergoing enormous change, and Marina and Steve have the knowledge and skills to help us both navigate these waters and maintain our strong growth around the world,” says Ruane. “Each has long been a key contributor to our success serving clients’ varied and
Following a slowdown in trading activity from mid-year 2009 to mid-year 2010, US institutions are hopeful about a recovery in equity derivatives trading volumes in 2011, but hardly bullish.
Based on an analysis of the amount of commissions paid by US institutions to brokers on trades of options, Greenwich Associates estimates average trading volume in options products declined some 20 per cent from June 2009 to June 2010.
The 187 institutions included in the research universe for the 2010 Greenwich Associates US Equity Derivatives Study paid brokers a projected USD715m in execution and clearing commission on options trades over that
Diva Synergy, the event driven investment fund managed by Bernheim Dreyfus, has topped the rankings of hedge fund data providers BarclayHedge and Morningstar for performance to end-September 2010.
Exploiting investment opportunities in the fast growing M&A sector, the Diva Synergy Enhanced Fund led the M&A category for year-to-date performance (Morningstar) and 12 month rolling performance (BarclayHedge).
Specifically, Diva Synergy Enhanced (euro class) and Diva Synergy Enhanced (dollar class) posted year-to-date gains of 27.11 per cent and 26.80 per cent respectively (Morningstar).
According to BarclayHedge, Diva Synergy recorded annualised 12 month rolling compound returns of 16.51 per cent, placing it nearly
Susanne Sorge will be joining RWC Partners at the end of October.
Sorge joins from GLG Partners where she was responsible for business development in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
RWC Partners has developed a presence in the region over the last four years.
Sorge, who has been with GLG Partners for four years, has experience in the development of both absolute return and Ucits III funds. At RWC Partners, Sorge will report to head of business development Dan Mannix.
Sorge’s appointment follows the recent announcement that Peter Allwright and Stuart Frost will join from Threadneedle in October to
Total assets under administration in Ireland have hit an all time high of EUR1.8trn – up from EUR1.2trn at the same period last year and EUR1.4trn at the end of 2009.
Recently published figures from the Central Bank reported that the value of Irish domiciled investment funds had reached EUR899bn as at the end of August.
Representing a 20 per cent increase in the value of Irish domiciled investment funds since the beginning of 2010 and an increase of 27 per cent from the same time last year, EUR899bn sets a new high for the total value of Irish domiciled
The hedge fund industry posted an estimated inflow of USD11.3bn or 0.7 per cent of assets in August 2010, the largest inflow since February after redeeming a total USD3.1bn in June and July, according to TrimTabs Investment Research and BarclayHedge.
“Hedge fund managers exhibited caution in August and it served them well,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge. “The industry outperformed the market by a large margin. While the S&P 500 sank 4.7 per cent, hedge funds posted a negative return of less than one per cent.”
Hedge fund investors have grown hungrier for risk. Emerging markets funds
Guernsey has signed a tax information exchange agreement with Greece.
It was signed by Guernsey’s chief minister Lyndon Trott (pictured) and Ilias Plaskovitis, secretary general of the Ministry of Finance in Greece.
Plaskovitis signed the agreement during the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes, which took place in Singapore on 29 September. The document was then transported back to Guernsey by Rob Gray, Guernsey’s director of income tax, for counter-signature by the chief minister on 8 October.
Trott says: “I am delighted that Guernsey has signed another international tax agreement with an EU member state.
The Hennessee Hedge Fund Index advanced 3.50 per cent in September and is now up 4.60 per cent year-to-date.
The S&P 500 advanced 8.76 per cent (2.34 per cent YTD), the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 7.72 per cent (3.45 per cent YTD), and the Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 12.04 per cent (4.38 per cent YTD).
Bonds also advanced, as the Barclays Aggregate Bond Index increased 0.11 per cent (7.94 per cent YTD).
“Hedge funds had their best month since May of 2009 and continue to outperform the broad market year to date,” says Charles Gradante, co-founder of Hennessee Group.
With the potential prospect of a further narrowing of spreads, US fixed income fund managers are maintaining their key positions in corporate bonds, including investment grade and high yield, says Standard & Poor’s Fund Services in its latest sector update.
“Low cash and government bond yields continue to attract investments into corporate bonds and other higher yielding asset classes,” says S&P fund analyst, Markus Graf.
“Default rates are expected to decline in the foreseeable future and some managers anticipate the high yield corporate default rate falling to three per cent, well below the current 12-month trailing and long-term average rate
BTIG, a broker dealer specialising in institutional trading and related brokerage services, has expanded its London-based team with the addition of four new sales and trading professionals.
The four are David Abraham, Andrew Rosen, Julie Beecher and Adam Bergenfield.
They join a team of more than 30 professionals led by Gary Hayes, chief executive of BTIG.
“We continue to invest in building out our team in London and are dedicated to providing our clients with access to talented and experienced sales and trading professionals,” says Hayes. “Our latest hires underscore our commitment to the European market and demonstrate the level
