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SmartPool, the European dark liquidity pool created by NYSE Euronext in partnership with HSBC, J.P. Morgan and BNP Paribas, says it had record growth during Q2 2010 and its best monthly performance to date in Italy and Germany.
SmartPool’s matched volume of EUR5.7bn Q2 10 represents an increase of 473 per cent over Q1, making SmartPool the fastest-growing dark multilateral trading facility in Q2 2010.
The number of trades also increased by 379 per cent.
According to the Thomson Reuters Equity Market Share Service, SmartPool reported an average dark market share of 15.9 per cent of MSCI EMU Large Cap
Oakley Alternative Investment Management is expanding its London operations with the appointment of Fabio Cortes as head of macro at the company’s flagship fund of hedge funds, Oakley Absolute Return.
Cortes will work alongside Nick Hannan, chief investment officer, and Teun Johnston, head of investments, to further develop the scope of the Oakley investment function and business.
Prior to joining Oakley, Cortes was a managing director of Amundi AI SAS with a focus on analysing European and Asian macro, trading and fixed income strategies as well as advising a macro and systematic trading fund of hedge funds.
Cortes began his
Lloyds Banking Group is selling a portfolio of 40 private equity investments in its Bank of Scotland Integrated Finance business to a new joint venture called Cavendish Square Partners.
The new joint venture will be majority owned (approximately 70 per cent) by private equity firm Coller Capital, with Lloyds Banking Group owning a stake of approximately 30 per cent.
The total cash consideration for Coller Capital’s majority stake is GBP332m. This values the portfolio at approximately GBP480m, which is a small premium to current book value.
The group held a competitive tender process before selecting Coller as its preferred
KBC Group has reached an agreement with Daiwa Capital Markets for the sale of its global convertible bond and Asian equity derivatives businesses for a total consideration of approximately USD1bn.
The price consists of approximately USD0.2bn for staff, IT infrastructure and other assets (excluding the trading position) and approximately USD0.8bn for the trading position.
The firms say the acquisition forms a foundation for Daiwa’s growing derivatives business whilst freeing up capital resources for KBC in the amount of USD0.2bn.
In November 2009, Daiwa Capital Markets, the investment banking arm of Japanese brokerage and financial services company Daiwa Securities Group, announced
Returns for the Credit Suisse Liquid Alternative Beta Indices suggest that hedge fund performance varied across strategies in June with overall performance relatively flat year-to-date.
The Credit Suisse Liquid Alternative Beta Index generated slightly negative performance in June, falling 0.40 per cent for the month and 0.12 per cent year-to-date.
Despite overall negative performance, three out of four LAB sector indices posted gains as managers used a number of diverse strategies which generated positive returns across currency and credit markets.
The LAB Merger Arbitrage Liquid Index posted the highest returns in June (+2.15 per cent) and is up 4.04 per
At the derivatives markets of Eurex an average daily volume of 10.9 million contracts was traded in June 2010, up from 10.7 million in June 2009.
Of those, 8.3 million contracts (June 2009: 6.7 million) were traded at Eurex; another 2.6 million contracts (June 2009: 3.9 million) were traded at the International Securities Exchange.
The increase of Eurex turnover of 25 per cent year-on-year is due to the increasing use of exchange-traded and centrally cleared derivatives in the current market environment, which was driven by high volatility and the dividend season. In total, 241.1 million contracts were traded on both
Tracking the latest hedge fund developments across Asia Pacific
Japan Fund hires Chinese economist to widen client base
Funnex Asset Management Co., a Japanese fund manager, is planning to tap into Asia’s regional growth story by appointing Xiao Minjie, a Chinese native and former senior economist at Daiwa Institute of Research, as its President. The company’s $85 million KPI hedge fund uses a long/short strategy to invest in large and small cap listed Japanese equities. It is hoped that Xiao’s appointment will widen the fund’s exposure and client base. “With Xiao joining our firm we are seeking new opportunities to
Financial services firm Perella Weinberg Partners has named Jeffrey Silverman a partner of the firm, effective immediately.
Silverman will join the senior management team of the firm’s asset management business and will be based in New York.
Silverman has more than 20 years of experience in the financial services industry. He joins Perella Weinberg Partners from Tudor Investment, where he was most recently a partner and director of investments.
“We are pleased to welcome Jeff to Perella Weinberg Partners,” says Terry Meguid, founding partner and head of the firm’s asset management business. “Jeff is a well-respected industry veteran. His extensive
Advent Software has entered into an agreement with SuperDerivatives to offer its multi-asset web analytic system and revaluation services to clients of Geneva, Advent’s portfolio management and fund accounting solution.
SuperDerivatives is a derivatives solution provider which provides real-time pricing for simple and complex derivatives instruments through its unique pricing models.
SuperDerivatives’ products cover the spectrum of derivatives usage, including real-time pricing and analytics platforms, risk management systems, portfolio revaluation services, options market data portal and an online trading platform.
Advent will develop an integration accelerator based on the layouts, formats, and instrument constructs of the revaluation pricing services provided
Duet Group, the financial group specialising in alternative asset management, has launched the Duet Commodities Fund.
Tony Hall, chief investment officer of the fund, will be managing the fund with his team of product specialists who will be focusing on metals and agricultural trading while Hall will focus on energy.
Hall brings over ten years of experience. Prior to joining Duet Group, he was global head of distillates oil trading at Credit Suisse-Glencore from 2008 to 2010, looking at opportunities in the commodities derivatives market.
Arno Pilz, head of metals trading for the fund, will be in charge of metals
