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A leading organisation has warned that China could soon face the same problems that Japan had at the end of the 20th century, hedge fund managers may be concerned to discover.
January was not a strong month for hedge funds, with the Morningstar 1000 Hedge Fund Index dropping 1.2 per cent and the currency-hedged Morningstar MSCI Hedge Fund Index falling a slight 0.3 per cent.
The US dollar appreciated against several currencies, particularly the Euro, in reaction to fiscal difficulties in countries such as Greece, which hurt the Euro-denominated hedge funds in Morningstar’s indexes.
Equity markets tumbled in January, particularly in Europe but also in the US as the federal government threatened to regulate banks more strictly. Emerging markets also fell as China tightened monetary policy.
Overall, hedge funds were able
Andrew Baker (pictured), CEO, AIMA gives a cautious welcome to CESR’s proposals for a pan-European short-selling disclosure regime.
“The Alternative Investment Management Association, the global hedge fund industry association, believes that short-selling is a wholly legitimate market practice, is not abusive and helps capital markets function more effectively. We welcome the recognition by the Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR) that ‘legitimate short selling plays an important role in financial markets. It contributes to efficient price discovery, increases market liquidity, facilitates hedging and other risk management activities and can possibly help mitigate market bubbles’. We also agree with CESR that
Northlight European Credit Fund, the credit hedge fund launched in December last year, has appointed Andrew Pucher as a director of its active and independent board.
Pucher is the former chief executive officer of HSBC’s private bank operations in the Channel Islands and currently also serves as non executive director on the boards of several select investment funds.
He previously held the position of executive vice president at the Republic National Bank of New York and has been general manager of its London branch. He has also been president of Republic National Bank of New York’s bank in Moscow.
Prior
State Street has opened its new Irish headquarters in Dublin.
By the end of this year, the new 165,000 square foot building, located at 78 Sir John Rogerson’s Quay, will house more than 1,100 State Street employees across its global services and alternative investment solutions businesses.
Jay Hooley (pictured), chief executive officer of State Street who assumed leadership for the company this week, presided over the opening events in Dublin.
“The opening of this new building is an example of our expanding footprint in Europe and our strong commitment to Ireland,” says Hooley. “We are continually broadening our service offerings
The Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR) has recommended the introduction of a pan-European disclosure regime for net short positions in shares.
The recommendation was made by CESR in a report submitted to the European Institutions (Ref CESR.10/088) on Tuesday.
In the meantime, those CESR members who already have powers to introduce a permanent disclosure regime, as detailed in the report, will begin the process of implementing the recommendations, while those members who do not have the necessary legal powers will be aiming to do so on a best efforts basis, until an EU regime is adopted.
CESR
Asia-based quantitative FX trading firm Amasis Capital and its marketing partner Signal Capital Management are intensifying their marketing efforts through new hires and institutional presentations in China, the US and the Middle East.
Amasis, which presently manages around USD220m, aims to at least double that by the end of 2010.
It says several new investors are now considering commitments in the USD10m to USD25m range, and one Middle East investor is considering a +USD100m commitment.
Amasis, which trades unleveraged spot FX on a proprietary algorithmic platform, returned 1.35 per cent before fees in February and 6.37 per cent YTD.
There is huge performance dispersion between strategies in Asia hedge funds, according to research by GFIA, the Singapore based specialist in skill-based managers in Asian and emerging markets.
GFIA reviewed the performance of emerging markets hedge funds in 2008 and 2009, and found that Asia hedge funds not only outperformed benchmark indices, but with a much lower volatility.
It also found that there is huge performance dispersion between strategies within the Asiahedge Composite index.
However, the big differentiator was the underlying asset class: equities or other assets.
Peter Douglas, principal of GFIA, says: “The Asian hedge fund industry is
Maples Finance, a fund services provider, has expanded its European service offering in Luxembourg following the recent grant of its Registrar Agent licence by Luxembourg’s financial supervisory authority.
Tom Davies, senior vice president and head of the Luxembourg office, says that following the launch of the Luxembourg office in 2007 Maples Finance now offers a full range of fund administration, registrar and transfer agency services.
“Luxembourg’s position as Europe’s largest fund domicile makes this an important market for Maples Finance and we are pleased to offer locally listed or domiciled funds a comprehensive fund services solution,” he says.
Maples Finance
Brown Brothers Harriman has assigned Robert Lees and Richard Meek to its Hong Kong office, assuming the respective roles of head of securities lending trading and head of securities lending relationship management for the Asia Pacific region.
Lees reports to Jeff O’Neill, global head of securities lending trading, and Meek to Elizabeth Seidel, global head of securities lending relationship management, business development strategy and marketing.
Both work closely with Andrew Tucker, partner, who is responsible for the Asia Pacific region and BBH’s markets business, which includes global securities lending.
Chris Donovan, global head of BBH securities lending, says: “We
