Latest News
In February 2010 the international derivatives exchanges of Eurex Group recorded an average daily volume of 10.6 million contracts, compared with 10.7 million contracts in February 2009.
Of those, 7.45 million were Eurex contracts (+ eight per cent) and 3.15 million contracts were traded at the US-based International Securities Exchange.
In total, 149.0 million contracts were traded at Eurex and 59.8 million at the ISE.
In its largest product segment – equity index derivatives – Eurex recorded a small increase and achieved 67.1 million contracts (36.3 million index futures and 30.8 million index options), compared with 66.5 million contracts the
Harcourt Investment Consulting, the Switzerland-based alternative investment solutions provider, had assets under management of USD 4.5bn at 31 December 2009, corresponding to a growth of USD600m for the full year 2009.
The assets increase of 15 per cent derives from existing as well as from new clients.
The majority of these inflows were originated from institutional clients.
Harcourt’s outlook for 2010 is optimistic, with an expected positive continuation of its AUM development.
The firm’s further growth is expected to come from advisory and customized mandates, the focus on commodities, several new projects based on managed accounts, as well as a
Equity Trust, a provider of trust and fiduciary services, has appointed five people for its global sales team.
Dik-Jan Jetses assumes overall responsibility for sales and business development for the Dutch commercial team, working alongside Carsten Cramer and Peter Soesbeek.
The team is completed by Marcel Sikking, who will have primary responsibility for the development of the tax intermediary market in The Netherlands.
Julia Bron will be working out of Amsterdam in a role that will focus on Eastern Europe and the CIS States, while Natascha Scholten will be responsible for forging relationships in the London market, as part of
The Managed Funds Association has expressed concern regarding a proposal from the Committee of European Securities Regulators to require investors to publicly disclose short sale positions.
MFA has also expressed support for the proposal from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, under which investors would privately report short positions to regulators.
The CESR report recommends that its members adopt rules requiring investors to disclose publicly each short position in an equity security that exceeds a threshold level of 0.5 per cent of a company’s issued share capital. MFA recently released an independent study that indicates that public disclosure regimes
Derivatives exchange Eurex is expanding its offering of volatility index derivatives based on VStoxx.
The new options contract will be launched on 22 March 2010 and complement the existing VStoxx mini future.
This step aims to increase the offering of volatility derivatives that are centrally cleared via Eurex Clearing, thereby mitigating counterparty risks.
The VStoxx index calculates the implied volatility of the Euro Stoxx 50 options.
“Our new VStoxx options will not only complement our VStoxx mini futures but will also allow users to hedge their positions with greater precision,” says Peter Reitz (pictured), member of the Eurex executive board.
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
