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Standard & Poor’s has launched the S&P World Commodity Index, the first index to consist solely of listed commodity futures contracts that trade outside of the US.
“The launch of the S&P WCI is the result of Standard & Poor’s meeting the market’s needs for an international commodity index that would complement the US focused S&P GSCI, providing all-world commodity exposure,” says Michael McGlone, director of commodity indexing at S&P Indices.
“The S&P WCI is a natural extension of the S&P GSCI, and reflects S&P Indices’ commitment to extending its reach beyond US equity indices and into alternative areas of
The Credit Suisse Liquid Alternative Beta Index suggests that hedge fund performance was positive across various strategies in April, according to Jordan Drachman, head of research for alternative beta strategies at Credit Suisse.
The index continued to generate positive performance into the second quarter of 2010, returning 1.14 per cent in April and 2.99 per cent year-to-date.
“All four sector indices also posted positive performance in April, suggesting that hedge fund managers across different strategies have been able to find profitable positions in current markets,” says Drachman.
The long/short and global macro liquid indices had the highest April returns, finishing
A compliance and corporate governance service called Dextra has been launched to support company secretaries and their boards.
Dextra is a trading division of Dexion Capital (Guernsey) and will provide independent reviews of corporate governance, compliance and regulatory matters, company secretarial and company administration services for clients.
The new venture is headed up by Anne Ewing and Carol Kilby (pictured) and supported by a eam with over 50 years’ combined technical industry experience.
Ewing has extensive knowledge of the financial services industry across the banking, insurance, asset, and fund management and regulatory advisory sectors. She joined Dexion Capital (Guernsey) as
Triton Capital Advisors, a provider of managed futures investments, has appointed Stephen Klawitter as senior vice president.
Klawitter will partner with Jay Ramey and Richard Singer to service and meet the alternative investment needs of sophisticated investors and wealth advisers.
“To achieve their investment goals in today’s uncertain marketplace, investors are looking more and more at alternatives to enhance diversification and provide non-correlation to their traditional long-only portfolios,” says Singer. “Stephen’s extensive background in the managed futures industry will reinforce our commitment of a high quality investor experience at Triton.”
Prior to joining Triton, Klawitter served as vice president in
NYSE Euronext’s European liquidity data centre is now open, with the first phase of customers installing equipment in readiness for the anticipated migration of all NYSE European matching engines in the fourth quarter of this year.
The facility will house all of NYSE Euronext’s European markets and also includes a next generation co-location service for trading firms.
The company’s European liquidity data centre will leverage the latest advancements in design and efficiency to create a resilient, high-capacity and low-latency facility.
“We are very excited to welcome the first wave of customers into our new data centre. The facility has been
Guernsey is becoming home to an increasing number of green funds, according to Andrew Boyce, partner at law firm Carey Olsen.
He believes that Guernsey has adapted to the global economic crisis by finding new markets, such as funds with a green or cleantech focus.
“This ability to seek out new markets means Guernsey is one of the first offshore jurisdictions to see a real evolution in the concept of ethical investing,” says Boyce.
“The idea of investing ethically is nothing new but now a growing number of investors are seeking more from their investments, making the impact on the
Earth Capital Partners has launched the ECP Forestry Fund One, targeting up to USD300m of investment.
The fund will invest in timber plantations and certain related assets in Brazil and other Latin American countries.
The fund will have a ten year maturity and intends to invest in six to eight projects.
It seeks to generate solid non-correlated returns through ownership of productive land and fast growing sustainable timber capitalising on the region’s unmatched biological conditions, human capital and other cost advantages.
Stanley Fink, chairman at Earth Capital Partners, says: “The fund provides a vehicle for institutional investors to engage in
Advent Software, a provider of software and services for the investment management industry, has opened its Singapore office.
The office is Advent’s third in Asia, which includes offices in Hong Kong and Beijing.
It will cater to clients across the region and strengthens Advent’s presence in the fast-growing Asia market.
“We have experienced tremendous momentum in Asia, having doubled our client base in the region in the past 12 months. The Singapore office will help accommodate this increased momentum and further enhance Advent’s ability to deliver innovative, reliable solutions to the investment management community,” says Peter Hess (pictured), president
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has obtained more than USD3.8m in civil money penalties and equitable relief in court orders against Tyrone “Cauzae” McCall and entities he controlled, McCall Business Group and MBG Global, both of Charlotte, North Carolina.
The sanctions resolve a CFTC enforcement action that charged them with solicitation fraud and misappropriation of investor funds in a commodity pool scheme.
The consent order of permanent injunction, entered on 23 April 2010 by US District Court Judge Frank D. Whitney of the Western District of North Carolina, requires McCall to pay USD782,625 in restitution and a USD1,027,000 civil
BNP Paribas has successfully completed a SAS 70 Type 2 examination of its US alternative fund administration, fund of hedge fund custody operations, and general computer controls.
The examination was conducted by an independent accounting firm.
The Type 2 report includes tests of operating effectiveness on a broad range of controls that cover from the setup of funds and investors through financial reporting.
Andrew Dougherty, head of US alternative and institutional solutions, says: “This report recognises the long-standing efforts to build the systems, processes and controls which we deliver to our clients every day.”
SAS 70 is the recognised auditing
