Latest News
The hedge fund industry posted an estimated outflow of USD3.5bn, or 0.2 per cent of assets, in April 2010, the third outflow in five months, according to TrimTabs Investment Research and BarclayHedge.
Strong performance has added USD338bn to hedge fund coffers in the past year, lifting industry assets to USD1.65trn, the highest level since November 2008.
“Recent flow weakness is surprising,” says Sol Waksman, chief executive of BarclayHedge. “Industry performance has been stellar, and April is historically a strong month for subscriptions.”
The TrimTabs/BarclayHedge survey of hedge fund managers for May reveals that 52 per cent of 143 respondents are
Equinoxe Alternative Investment Services has launched the Mid Ocean Emerging Manager Offshore Platform to provide emerging managers with a transparent, cost-effective and time-sensitive solution for an offshore hedge fund.
The platform provides a Bermuda segregated accounts company coupled with quality services providers to enable the manager to pass the institutional due diligence requirements for a verifiable offshore product.
The total start up cost for the set up of a Bermuda segregated accounts company on this platform will be under USD30,000, inclusive of service providers, legal fees, government fees and legal documentation. In comparison, the cost of setting up an offshore
After falling steadily for four quarters, hedge fund liquidations rose again in the first quarter of 2010 with 240 funds closing during the period, according to the HFR Market Microstructure Industry Report by Hedge Fund Research.
Liquidations were disproportionately skewed towards fund of funds, with 102 fund of funds closing in the quarter.
This marks the seventh consecutive quarter in which fund of funds liquidations have exceeded new launches.
Leverage employed by hedge funds has continued to moderate relative to five years ago, with nearly 70 per cent of all funds, which manage 83 per cent of industry capital, using
PMA Capital Management, an Asian hedge fund manager, says three of its funds delivered positive returns in May.
Within the equity strategy, the PMA Pathfinder Asia Equity Fund delivered positive returns of 1.6 per cent for May, bringing YTD returns to 3.9 per cent.
The fund was able to achieve these returns while maintaining a volatility that was less than one third that of the market.
The PMA India Fund also performed well, returning 1.8 per cent in May.
Representing its ninth consecutive month of positive returns, PMA’s flagship FX and rates fund, PMA Harvester Fund, posted results of
CME Group and Dow Jones Indexes have launched the Dow Jones CME FX$Index.
The index will serve as the basis of a new futures contract, which is expected to launch in the third quarter 2010.
The contracts will be listed with, and subject to, the rules and regulations of CME.
The new index combines six currency futures and represents the relative value of the US dollar versus six major currencies. The currencies included are the Australian dollar, British pound, Canadian dollar, Euro, Japanese yen, and Swiss franc.
The Dow Jones CME FX$Index futures contract will provide a more efficient way
JonesTrading Institutional Services, an agency brokerage which provides institutions with block trading in securities, has appointed Andrew Tuthill as managing director and head of its capital markets group and a member of the executive committee.
JonesTrading Capital Markets provides liquidity to the corporate and private equity communities and is in part a response to the increased demand by institutions for an unconflicted agency model in secondary offerings.
Tuthill brings 17 years of experience in investment banking, trading and equity capital markets to the position.
Most recently he was managing director – head of special situations for the equity capital markets
Singapore Exchange has established a London office to better serve its growing number of European-based customers.
The London expansion follows Singapore Exchange’s 3 June commitment to invest USD250m in its Reach initiative.
Reach will create the world’s fastest trading engine, establish a data centre and seamlessly connect trading communities in Chicago, New York, Tokyo and London to Singapore. These four hubs will lower cross-border connectivity costs.
“SGX’s presence in London marks a strong commitment to our customers in meeting and responding to their needs. Building connectivity and enhancing market accessibility will strengthen our position as the market of choice for
Quantifi, a provider of analytics, trading and risk management solutions, has been chosen by Oracle Capital for the pricing and analysis of its structured credit portfolio.
Founded in 2009, Oracle Capital is based in Hong Kong and focuses on fixed income products, particularly in the areas of credit, fixed income derivatives and securitisation.
The initial fund invests in products that reference corporate credit risk, including cash and synthetic CDOs.
Leon Hindle, chief investment officer at Oracle Capital, says: “Valuation and risk management are key components in everything we do, and it became clear that Quantifi was the best fit for
Healthcare company Grifols has entered into an agreement to acquire Cerberus Capital Management’s portfolio company Talecris Biotherapeutics for a combination of cash and newly issued Grifols non-voting shares.
Cerberus controls an affiliate that owns approximately 49 per cent of the outstanding common stock of Talecris, a biotherapeutic and biotechnology company.
"We are excited about the prospect of becoming shareholders of Grifols. Led by Victor Grifols, Grifols has long been known as a leading innovator in the plasma-derived protein therapeutics field," says W. Brett Ingersoll, co-head of private equity at Cerberus. "Victor Grifols and his management team have over 30 years
Nottingham Investment Administration, a provider of accounting and portfolio record keeping services for hedge funds, mutual funds, governments, foundations and other investment pools, has named Lori Kahramanidis director of hedge fund services.
Kahramanidis will be responsible for streamlining operations for the company’s growing hedge fund business.
Nottingham has added close to USD1bn in hedge fund client assets to its administrative platform so far in 2010.
“We continue to see tremendous growth in demand for our hedge fund services as new funds are launched and assets flow back into the industry,” says Kip Meadows, chief executive officer at Nottingham. “Lori brings
