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The international division of Close has appointed Mark Coxshall as director of risk.
Coxshall will be based in Jersey and will be responsible for risk management in Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man.
Andrew Henton, head of offshore businesses for the Close asset management division, says: "Close is delighted to have Mark on board. His valuable experience will help further develop Close’s stringent approach to risk management at all levels. The current financial climate has punished those who ignore risk, which is why we are keen to maintain our track record of prudent management, stability and sound investment practises."
MCAM Group, a provider of business solutions for the alternative investment industry, has entered into an agreement with London-based equity long/short hedge fund Silverstone Capital to manage its international marketing, sales and public relations.
Silverstone is an equity long/short hedge fund manager that specialises in investments in the automotive industry and related fields.
Silverstone was founded in May 2004 and today manages investments in equity and equity linked products.
The firm currently manages the Silverstone Fund and the Monza Fund.
The flagship Silverstone Fund opened to outside investors in July 2004 and has delivered a cumulative net performance of 48.50
Asset management firms believe exhibiting better discipline and having a greater focus on due diligence are major drivers in regaining investor confidence, according to a survey by Advent Software.
After the scandals and financial crisis on Wall Street in recent years, investors are refusing to be complacent.
The survey, which polled 360 investment professionals, found that 82 per cent of directors of research report an increase in investor inquiries over the last 12 months, 48 per cent of the respondents believe that demonstrating exhaustive due diligence is the best way to improve investor confidence, and only 33 per cent believe
Citigroup has launched the AutoFX Passive Hedge service to provide institutional asset owners with a passive, automated hedging capability to lower foreign exchange risk.
The service provides new levels of flexibility, transparency and efficiency to the FX marketplace.
By using set standing instructions to execute FX contracts based on the securities portfolio valuation, AutoFX Passive Hedge smoothes out the influence of currency fluctuations in the overall return to international investment portfolios.
"Our clients will further benefit from this seamlessly integrated custody and FX offering providing a complete STP solution from deal determination and execution through to payment processing and FX
The HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index gained 2.56 per cent in quarter one, bringing the industry within two per cent of its previous high watermark reached in October 2007, according to data by Hedge Fund Research.
During the quarter, investors allocated USD13.7bn of new capital to the global hedge fund industry; this combined with a performance-based asset increase of USD54bn bringing total industry capital to USD1.67trn.
All four main strategy areas experienced asset growth in the period, led by event driven strategies into which investors allocated USD5.6bn of new capital. Performance for the strategy was strong as well, with the
Guernsey-based financial services provider Bachmann Group has announced a partial management buyout, with 40 per cent of shares in the firm, one of the largest independent fiduciary services businesses in the Channel Islands, now owned by its 35-strong senior management team.
Founder Peter Bachmann will retain the remaining 60 per cent of the group, which was founded in 1974, includes operations in the UK, Switzerland and New Zealand and employs a total of 120 people.
According to chief executive Gerry Williams, the buyout aims to facilitate “positive growth” and new acquisitions for the fund administration arm of the group.
“Our
NYSE Arca Europe, NYSE Euronext’s European multilateral trading facility, will be giving customers access to the 100 most liquid US equities, featuring 86 NYSE listed companies and 14 other listings, from 21 April.
NYSE Arca Europe is inviting customers to set up their trading arrangements and will be offering a three-month fee holiday from 21 April.
The service will provide trading firms the first-ever opportunity to trade US securities on a European platform during European trading hours with settlement at DTC.
In addition to the initial US stocks, further stocks are likely to be introduced in the near future.
Virginie
SkyBridge Capital, an alternative investment firm that is acquiring the fund of hedge funds, hedge fund seeding and hedge fund advisory businesses from Citi Alternative Investments, has opened an office in Zürich.
SkyBridge Capital will base its European operations in Zürich, reinforcing the emerging trend of global financial institutions having a presence in Switzerland.
It build on SkyBridge Capital’s strong position in the US and existing partnership with Challenger, an Australian financial services organisation which supports SkyBridge Capital in penetrating new markets in Australasia, Europe and Japan.
SkyBridge Capital is launching a Luxembourg Sicav-SIF, SkyBridge Capital III, for European, Middle
Carne Global Financial Services, an independent adviser to the hedge fund and asset management industries, has appointed Justin Egan as managing director of the firm’s Luxembourg office.
Egan (pictured) joined Carne in 2005 and has played a key role in advising some of Carne’s most prominent clients on product structuring, compliance, regulation, risk management and operations.
He has moved from his current Dublin-based role to take up the new position.
Egan has particular expertise in establishing Ucits funds and has already assisted many traditional and alternative asset managers – including some of Europe’s largest hedge fund managers – in
Alpstar Capital, a European asset manager and investment adviser, has launched the Alper European Credit Fund.
The fund is a more mainstream and diversified version of the company’s original long only loan fund, first seeded in early 2008.
"We have decided to tightly focus our flagship product to better meet investor demand for a dedicated European credit fund," says Bertrand Pinel, partner and chief executive. “Diversification of assets, good liquidity and a European focus were at the top of their list. Our new fund not only answers that, but makes full use of our extensive credit knowledge in these markets.”
