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The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has approved final rules that create a sixth and separate account class, applicable in the event of futures commission merchant bankruptcy, for cleared OTC derivatives.
The rules aim to enhance certainty regarding protections under the Bankruptcy Code and CFTC regulation Part 190 with respect to over-the-counter derivatives that customers clear through a futures commission merchant on or subject to the rules of a derivatives clearing organisation registered with the CFTC.
The rules enhance certainty regarding such protections by creating a sixth and separate account class, applicable in the event of FCM bankruptcy, for cleared OTC
The Securities and Exchange Commission has sued a California man for posing as a fund manager in a bogus hedge fund scheme.
The SEC alleges that Stephen C. Bond of Walnut Creek, California, aided the scheme of Silicon Valley hedge fund manager Albert K. Hu from 2001 through 2008 while helping himself to nearly a million dollars.
The SEC sued Hu in March 2009 and the case remains pending.
The SEC’s complaint alleges that Bond attended investor meetings along with Hu to solicit investments in the Asenqua and Fireside hedge funds. According to the SEC, Bond was portrayed at these
I2BF, an asset management group focused on renewable energy and clean technology, has appointed Denis Chigirev as head of quantitative research.
Chigirev has a Princeton PhD in theoretical physics, is an International Physics Olympiad Silver Medal winner, and an alumni of McKinsey.
He will be managing a three-person team, focused on systematic testing of current models and developing new strategies.
Ilya Golubovich, managing partner of I2BF, says: "We are refining our statistical arbitrage strategy for the renewable energy universe, as well as adapting it to alternative universes. Because our investments are based on mathematical models, we need deeper quantitative
The number of hedge funds and funds of funds fell by approximately 8.6 per cent in 2009 but total industry assets rose by 5.5 per cent, according to PerTrac Financial Solutions’ hedge fund database study.
The study, which is based on a survey of ten of the world’s leading databases, shows that in contrast to the modest asset increase, the number of actively reporting single managers dropped by 9.4 per cent and the number of reporting funds of funds by 7.1 per cent.
PerTrac says it is important to note that non-reporting funds did not necessarily close their doors. Funds
Managed futures ended February in positive territory as managers were able to capitalise on long exposures to the short-end of the US yield curve, long positions in equities and commodities, and short currency positions.
The Lipper Managed Futures/CTA index registered a slightly positive return of 0.40 per cent for February and is down 3.79 per cent year on year.
The strategy was the runner-up of the month on the hedge fund performance league table.
The degree of dispersion among individual fund returns increased further from the previous month’s reading. A 33.48-percentage-point monthly performance difference in February divided the top and
BNY Mellon Asset Servicing and Investor Analytics have been selected by Reich & Tang Asset Management to provide money market stress tests that will model the impact of interest rate shocks, credit risk shocks and liquidity risk shocks on its funds.
The new service, available through BNY Mellon’s alliance with Investor Analytics, will help money market funds comply with Rule 2a-7 issued by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
The rule, which becomes effective on 5 May, requires money market funds to examine combinations of potential stresses.
"Our selection of BNY Mellon Asset Servicing was based on its ability to
Financial services company Fund.com has acquired Weston Capital Management, an originator and distributor of hedge funds.
Founded in 1993 and headquartered in West Palm Beach, Florida, Weston Capital earns fees on assets exceeding USD1.0bn under management.
It has three lines of business: it originates and markets fund of funds; it originates and markets single-manager hedge funds; and it raises capital to seed new hedge funds.
In 2010, Weston Capital and Harcourt formed an alliance for investment manager identification and fund seeding. Harcourt, a USD4.5bn alternative investments manager that is majority owned by Vontobel Group, is an adviser of alternative investments
Alternative asset managers AM Investment Partners and Bam Capital have agreed to combine in a merger of equals, with each firm contributing its respective portfolios, management teams and infrastructure.
The newly combined entity will be called AM Investment Partners.
The firm will be run by Bam Capital co-founders Ross Berman and Hal Mintz and AM Investment Partners co-founders Mark Friedman and Adam Stern. It will continue to focus primarily on relative value strategies within the volatility asset class.
The newly combined entity, whose flagship strategy will be a long volatility product, is anticipated to manage approximately USD600m.
“We have known
Short selling of global equities has fallen 38 per cent over the last year while investors have recently moved heavily into bank stocks, according to a new fund flow analytics tool launched by Data Explorers, a provider of short selling and securities lending data.
Data Explorers’ Portfolio Analytics dashboard is a tool for fund managers to navigate long and short fund flow in the otherwise opaque securities lending market.
“With so few shorts to cover, markets could drop if worldwide economic conditions deteriorate,” says Will Duff Gordon, senior analyst at Data Explorers. “Short selling can act as a brake on
Gain Capital, a provider of online trading services, has been selected as a primary clearing partner for Korea Investment & Securities, a subsidiary of Korea’s largest non-bank financial holding company Korea Investment Holdings.
Gain is now providing KIS with real-time pricing, execution, settlement and custody services in support of its recently launched margin FX business.
"KIS selected Gain because of their robust technology infrastructure, their ability to meet our aggressive time to market goals and, most importantly, their professional reputation," says Jin Tae Kim, managing director of KIS. "We are confident that our clients will be extremely pleased with the
