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The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Goldman, Sachs & Co and one of its vice-presidents with defrauding investors by misstating and omitting key facts about a financial product tied to sub-prime mortgages launched as the US housing market was beginning to falter.
The SEC alleges that Goldman Sachs structured and marketed a synthetic collateralised debt obligation that hinged on the performance of sub-prime residential mortgage-backed securities. When many of the securities defaulted, the regulator claims, investors in the CDO lost more than USD1bn.
The US regulator says Goldman failed to disclose to investors vital information about the CDO, in
Sucden Financial is launching direct market access to a wide range of cash equity and derivatives exchanges and platforms to bring multi-asset trading facilities to its clients.
The new system, branded Storm, uses Sungard’s GL technology and enables Sucden Financial’s clients to directly trade equities, options, commodity and financial futures on global markets.
Sucden Financial, a subsidiary of Sucres et Denrées, has in recent years expanded as a broker to institutions, trading groups, hedge funds and high net worth retail clients.
Sungard’s GL technology provides access to cash and futures markets as well as sophisticated functionality and low latency quote
Final performance for the Credit Suisse/Tremont Hedge Fund Index has been confirmed up 2.22 per cent in March, finishing the first quarter of 2010 up 3.09 per cent.
Nine out of ten sectors posted positive performance for the month and top performing sectors included managed futures (+4.25 per cent), emerging markets (+3.89 per cent) and long/short equity (+2.99 per cent).
Gains in the managed futures space were largely due to positive performance among trend followers who generated profits across equity, commodity and currency markets.
Emerging markets and long/short equity managers capitalized on both global equity market rallies and an increase
Daiwa Securities’ global asset services unit has launched Daiwa Fund Asset Services to offer authorised corporate director services to UK domiciled collective investment schemes.
Daiwa Securities’ global asset services unit has launched Daiwa Fund Asset Services to offer authorised corporate director services to UK domiciled collective investment schemes.
The service offered by DFAS, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority, will compliment the existing fund services provided by Daiwa’s UK and Irish operations to the hedge fund and asset management industry.
Brian Guyett, chief executive of DFAS, says: “We believe the shift toward regulated products, driven
Transaction volume in the global asset management industry in the first quarter of 2010 declined significantly from 2009, but according to Jefferies’ financial institutions group M&A involving managers of alternative strategies and independent firms is on the rise.
A record level of over 50 per cent of Q1 2010 global asset management transactions involved acquisitions of alternative managers.
In Q1 2009, transactions involving alternative managers represented approximately 25 per cent of the total deal volume, owing to concerns stemming from the turbulent capital markets at the end of 2008 and early part of 2009.
Prominent examples of alternative transactions in
Managed futures gained 1.17 per cent in March, according to the Barclay CTA Index compiled by BarclayHedge.
“Managers were able to build on February’s gains as previously established positions in commodities, currencies and equities continued to generate profits,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge.
All of Barclay’s eight managed futures indices gained ground in March. The Barclay Diversified Traders Index was up 2.03 per cent, systematic traders gained 1.56 per cent, and agricultural traders rose 1.04 per cent.
“Sentiment in the global equity markets remained positive as investors focused on signs of recovery and chose to ignore disappointing
Altin, the Swiss alternative investment company listed on the London and Swiss stock exchanges, increased its macro exposure to 20.59 per cent as of 1 April, as the investment manager added three macro funds that then subsequently closed to new investors.
Similarly, the event-driven strategies segment grew to 12.14 per cent, as two new funds were added to this strategy allocation, reflecting the growing opportunity set available to managers active in this strategy.
The portfolio’s largest strategy allocation, equity long/short, remained relatively stable over the period and accounts for 33.58 per cent of the portfolio. On 1 April 2010, the
Octopus Investments has hired Thierry Serero to spearhead its fund management of European assets.
The firm plans to launch a European absolute return fund in late spring, adding to its suite of absolute return solutions which includes the CF UK Equity Absolute Return Fund and the IM Octopus Alternative Strategies Fund.
Serero (pictured) joins Octopus with over 20 years’ experience in fund management having worked at companies such as Fidelity Investments and New Star Investments.
Serero has been working with Lothar Mentel, chief investment officer at Octopus, over the last couple of months, on planning and structuring the new fund.
Funds incorporated in the British Virgin Islands will now have further legal and regulatory support following the enactment of the Securities & Investment Business Act.
The Act, which became law yesterday, codifies some of the practices already undertaken by funds domiciled in the BVI and introduces laws to regulate investment business, public issues of securities and market abuse.
SIBA introduces four new regulatory areas:
• It updates and modernises the regulation of the BVI investment funds industry, by repealing the current Mutual Funds Act, 1996 and replaces it with SIBA and the Mutual Funds Regulations, 2010;
• It introduces an investment business
The Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed rules that would impose reporting requirements on traders whose trading activities exceed certain thresholds.
The SEC says there is increasing prominence of large traders in securities markets and it needs to effectively identify, monitor and analyse the activities of such traders.
The proposed rules require:
• Filing a form: large traders would be required to identify themselves by filing a form with the SEC. A large trader would generally be defined as a person, including a firm or individual, whose transactions in exchange-listed securities equal or exceed (i) two million shares or USD20m during
