Latest News
Eurex will launch a new options contract based on the EURO STOXX 50® Dividend Points (DVP) future as of 25 May 2010.
This latest options product joins Eurex’s family of listed dividend derivatives and is designed to complement the underlying Eurex future contract. Eurex worked closely with market participants to ensure that the options are suitable to both sell-side market makers and as well as buy-side participants.
“Options on our EURO STOXX 50 dividend futures will allow investors to hedge the income streams from the dividends of the euro zone’s leading equity index”, says Peter Reitz (pictured), member of the
Early estimates, based on 74 per cent of assets reporting, indicate that the Credit Suisse/Tremont Hedge Fund Index will finish up +1.49% in April.
Estimates indicate hedge funds continued to post positive returns into the second quarter with eight out of ten sectors finishing April in positive territory. Event Driven appears to be the best performing sector for the month, returning an estimated 2.28% as managers benefited from idiosyncratic events and general upward movements in high yield and leveraged loan markets.
Relative Value strategies, such as Fixed Income and Convertible Arbitrage, continued to post positive returns to finish April up
Alternative investment solutions provider Investcorp has made two new hires to its hedge funds team , with Nick Vamvakas joining as a Managing Director and head of the Single Manager Platform, and Brian Rice joining as a Managing Director and head of Fund of Funds Marketing, a role in which he will assist in raising assets from non-institutional investors, in addition to generating new clients.
"To maintain our edge, Investcorp continues to invest in our people and processes to build on the success we achieved in 2009," says Deepak Gurnani (pictured), chief investment officer and head of hedge funds. "Nick
LCH.Clearnet has extended its SwapClear offering by clearing the world’s first 50-year interest swap trades.
Market participants can now clear IRS trades denominated in USD, EUR and GBP with maturities of up to 50 years. The move brings greater efficiency and security to the OTC derivatives market, a key area of focus for regulators and legislators worldwide.
In addition, LCH.Clearnet has extended maturities for IRS trades in AUD, CAD, CHF and SEK to 30 years. The company has also extended global operating hours from 02:30 to 17:00 EST (07:30 to 22:00 GMT), giving global market participants the capability to register
Fortress International has launched a Luxembourg Life Fund, Fortress International Capital & Partners SCS, which allows qualified investors residing in tax treaty countries to take advantage of this transparent and efficient investment vehicle.
The fund, which has started to receive subscriptions, is to issue its first share price on 1 June, 2010 and is targeting annual returns of 8 to 10%.
The fund is based upon Senior Life Settlements and is managed by portfolio managers Peter Dodd and advised by investment advisor Jose Garcia of Carlisle Management Company. It seeks long-term capital appreciation by investing in a diversified portfolio of
The forthcoming CS Brazil harvest is set to reach a new record with an expected 590 million tonnes of cane set to be crushed, according to Czarnikow, one of the UK’s oldest sugar traders.
The record crush is expected to raise production to 33.5 million tonnes, an increase of 17 per cent on last year, when the crop was hit by poor weather conditions. However, a collapse in expected earnings driven by the sharp recent falls in the price of sugar and ethanol is set to have far reaching consequences, as the sector had been hoping for better returns to
Traditional and alternative asset manager EquityStar Capital Management is planning a 1 June, 2010 launch for its new hedge fund, EquityStar Global Partners. The fund is unique in that it will invest some of the firm’s profits into the economies of African Nations, wherever needed most.
EquityStar’s equity long/short strategy will aim for returns of 25-35% while attempting to keep volatility between 7-10%. The market neutral strategy will attempt to hedge most of the general market risk and volatility (including ones similar to the wild swings as of late) out of the portfolio. The new fund expects to raise USD50
Global foreign exchange markets continued their migration to electronic execution last year as e-trading volumes increased amid a decline in overall FX trading activity, according to Greenwich Associates.
The company’s latest research suggests that customer electronic foreign exchange trading volumes increased 7% from 2008 to 2009. While this growth pales in comparison to the 25% expansion in 2007-2008, the fact that electronic trading systems were attracting business while the overall market was contracting suggests that market participants continue to actively shift trading volumes to the platforms from other channels.
Worldwide foreign exchange trading activity spiked during the crisis-plagued years of
The hedge fund industry posted estimated inflows of USD7.6 billion, or 0.5% of assets, in March 2010 and assets now stand at a 16-month high of USD1.64 trillion, according to the latest figures released by TrimTabs Investment Research and BarclayHedge.
“The Barclay Hedge Fund index is up 29.9% in the past 13 months,” says Sol Waksman (pictured), CEO of BarclayHedge. “Hedge funds returned an average 2.9% in March, the best performance since September 2009.”
Multi Strategy funds posted the largest outflow (1.3% of assets) in March, while Event Driven funds posted the biggest inflow (1.5% of assets). Event Driven funds show
The Matrix Group is expanding its asset management sales and marketing functions with the appointments of Chris Beament as Business Development Manager and Chris Elliott as Marketing Executive.
Chris Beament joins Matrix from Legal & General Investment Management where he spent four years distributing their unit trust range. Chris graduated from Kingston Business School having completed a four year degree which included a placement year within the financial services industry.
Chris will report to Luke Reeves, Director, Head of Retail and Institutional Business Development and will be responsible for the distribution of Matrix’ funds including single strategy hedge funds,
