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The Lyxor Global Hedge Fund index was up 0.7 per cent in July, lifting year-to-date gains to 0.8 per cent.
Equity markets delivered solid gains in July, as major Western indexes posted gains in the six to seven per cent range.
Investors appeared pleased with the European stress test results and strong US corporate earnings. This provided a tailwind for L/S equity managers, especially if they were exposed to high-performing sectors such as technology and industrials.
Japanese exporters and markets were, however, weighed down by the strong yen.
Many equity managers have retained a relatively low net exposure to markets,
Morten Spenner, chief executive at International Asset Management, believes credit and equity market conditions bode well for security selection and should in particular benefit long/short equity and credit managers.
With regards to long/short equity, Spenner says strong earnings growth should help to drive equities higher but macroeconomic concerns are likely to put pressure on markets again in the future.
IAM believes equity markets have over discounted the risks of a double-dip in economic growth and therefore currently offer reasonable value.
Equity correlations are much higher than usual and IAM expects them to come down again over time as equity markets
Standard & Poor’s has launched the S&P Factor Indices, which seek to measure the risk premium inherent between asset classes and financial markets, creating a means for investors to track the spread between a long and short sub-index.
Each index in the series is comprised of an equal-weighted long and short sub-index calculated to reflect the corresponding spread.
The Long Sub-Index is comprised of long front futures contracts; the Short-Sub-Index is comprised of short front futures contracts.
The objective of each index in the series is to provide investors with exposure to the price difference between sub-indices, and in turn,
Derivatives exchange Eurex will launch futures and options on Xetra-Gold, an exchange-traded commodity in Germany.
The new gold contracts are set tolaunch on 28 September 2010.
Xetra-Gold is a zero-coupon bond denominated in euro and issued by Deutsche Börse Commodities.
Launched in December 2007, Xetra-Gold is traded on Xetra, Deutsche Börse’s pan-European electronic trading platform for the cash market.
“Commodities are a widely used asset class for its diversification benefits and low correlation to other markets. In particular, gold tends to be a popular investment as it’s considered a safe haven during uncertain economic times.
”Combining two benchmark currencies, euro
Hedge funds gained 2.15 per cent in July, according to the Barclay Hedge Fund Index compiled by BarclayHedge.
The index is up 2.2 per cent year-to-date.
All but one of Barclay’s 18 hedge fund indexes had a positive return in July.
The Barclay Emerging Markets Index surged 3.54 per cent, equity long bias jumped 3.03 per cent, the technology index gained 2.61 per cent, multi-strategy was up 2.26 per cent, and fixed income arbitrage rose 2.03 per cent.
“All of the winds were blowing in the right direction in July,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge. “Equity markets
A new income producing asset class based on securitising loans underpinned by US life insurance policies presents investors with considerably reduced risk when compared to securitised life settlement funds, says Andrew Walters, finance director for the Secured Life Fund.
His comments follow recent industry reports highlighting the risks associated with bonds based on securitised traded life policies.
“Securitising consumer loans underpinned by US life insurance policies – the model for SLF – differs enormously from securitising life settlements,” says Walters.
“Securitised life settlement policies have taken something of a bashing of late – but the SLF model is considerably different,
Hedge funds are quickly regaining some of the clout they lost in US fixed income markets during the market meltdown, a study by Greenwich Associates suggests.
The study shows that while overall US fixed income trading volume declined from 2009 to 2010, hedge fund trading volumes jumped some 36 per cent among a matched sample of institutions.
Such growth demonstrates that although hedge funds are far from the dominant force they were in 2006 to 2007, they remain key players in US fixed income markets.
At their pre-crisis peak, hedge funds were generating 29 per cent of all US fixed
Research and consulting firm Carbon360 has launched the Fund Administration Market, a service designed to aid fund managers with the selection of fund administrators.
The free service matches fund managers with the best-qualified administrators for their needs.
It also aims to reduce the cost of search and implementation, and minimise the noise made during a typical selection process.
Upon registration, managers are requested to complete one service worksheet listing their requirements and preferences regarding administration services. The Carbon360 team then identifies the most compatible administrators using their knowledge of the fund administration industry.
All participating administrators, currently numbering over 30,
Odeon Capital Group is expanding into the international broker-dealer marketplace by partnering with Hobart Capital Markets to form a new joint venture division in London, Odeon Hobart Partners.
The partnership establishes Odeon’s footprint in the UK allowing the company to expand its trading, research and sales capabilities, which span traditional and esoteric debt classes.
The goal of Odeon Hobart Partners is to offer institutional clients in the UK and throughout Europe the ability to execute high yield transactions with a transparent focus.
The firm will execute trades based upon Odeon’s independent research, which provides analysis across a variety of interest-based
In line with global equity and bond markets, hedge funds delivered a solid return of 1.83 per cent for July, according to the Lipper Hedge Fund Composite Index.
July’s gain contributed to a partial recovery of the negative months’ readings, bringing year-to-date performance to minus 1.76 per cent.
Fixed income arbitrage (+3.23 per cent) was the best performing strategy for the month.
Other hedge (+3.19 per cent) was the runner-up, while dedicated short-bias (-0.75 per cent) was the worst performing strategy for the month.
Long/short equity (+2.50 per cent) and long bias (+3.12 per cent), focusing on US companies, registered
