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Thames River Capital has launched a Ucits III absolute return fund of funds with GBP47m already raised.
The Thames River Absolute Return Fund will be managed by alternatives specialist Ken Kinsey-Quick and assistant fund manager James Rous.
The fund will invest on a global basis, across multiple asset classes with a bias towards more liquid asset classes and the developed world.
Initially the portfolio will be biased toward market neutral equity and macro funds reflecting the team’s outlook for equities which, they believe, will struggle to break their 2007 highs, and that volatile financial markets will suit macro managers.
The
3 Degrees Asset Management, an investment management firm based in Singapore, has launched the 3 Degrees Credit Opportunities Fund with assets of USD27.3m.
3DCO will invest in the performing debt obligations of Asian borrowers, focusing principally on senior secured bank loans, as well as receivables, private placements, high yield and convertible bonds.
3DCO does not intend to use leverage and aims to provide a high level of transparency to investors.
“3DCO will capitalise on the systemic inefficiencies endemic to Asian credit markets,” says Moe Ibrahim, founder of 3 Degrees and portfolio manager of 3DCO. “With over USD20trn of debt
Investment banking firm Duff & Phelps has appointed Alan Swersky as a director in the portfolio valuation service line and head of the firm’s operational and risk due diligence group, based in the New York office.
Duff & Phelps’ operational and risk due diligence practice provides investors with a third party assessment of their hedge fund managers’ operating policies and procedures.
Swersky has spent a majority of his career in the alternative asset management community.
Prior to joining Duff & Phelps, he was global head of operational due diligence at Olympia Capital Management, a Paris-based fund of funds with USD3bn
Edhec-Risk Institute is offering an Executive MSc in Risk and Investment Management for experienced practitioners.
Its curriculum builds on the results of a survey of 229 financial institutions, which identified major inefficiencies in the organisation of risk and investment management as well as at each step of the investment process.
It delves into advanced asset allocation and risk management techniques and develops a dynamic risk budgeting framework allowing for the respect of hard downside risk constraints.
While the programme is technically challenging, the goal is the application of the right technique to satisfy clients’ needs.
Practical examples include reconciling short-term
The Newedge Volatility Trading Index fell by an estimated 1.28 per cent in December, following an estimated drop of 0.47 per cent the previous month.
The index has returned 9.52 per cent since inception.
From 1 November 2009, the MM Capital Select Fund has been included in the Newedge VTI calculation, bringing the number of constituent funds to 11.
The other ten funds are: Acorn Derivatives – Absolute Return Offshore; AM Investment Partners V Fund; BAM Opportunity Fund; Bay Hill Capital Fund; CAAM Funds Volatility World Equities; JD Capital – Tempo Volatility Fund; Lyxor G-Multi USD; KBD Capital Partners LP,
Hedge funds rebounded from 2008 losses with a 24.14 per cent gain in 2009, according to the Barclay Hedge Fund Index compiled by BarclayHedge.
Close to 55 per cent of single manager hedge funds now have a profit for the period 1 June 2008 to 31 December 2009.
Of those funds that are still in negative territory, the average loss is currently at 17 per cent.
June 2008 marked the beginning of the financial meltdown triggered by the demise of several Bear Sterns mortgage backed hedge funds.
The Barclay Convertible Arbitrage Index led the way up in 2009 with a
Trading firm First New York Securities has launched EFX Prime Services to offer prime brokerage-related services to fund managers and active traders.
In conjunction with launch, EFX will increase its commitment to be an active allocator to emerging and established funds.
The service offering will include: multi-prime capability; trading infrastructure and related services via direct market access platforms, proprietary trading platforms and sales desks; capital introduction calendar and marketing support services; and direct allocations to fund managers via the EFX Managed Accounts Platform.
First New York managing partner Donald Motschwiller says: "First New York is excited to announce the launch
Deutsche Börse Systems is developing an ultra low latency infrastructure from Frankfurt to Paris, Amsterdam, New York and Chicago.
The new design will enable these markets to connect to Deutsche Börse, Eurex and Xetra trading systems as well as to external clients and partners with ultra low latency.
Latencies under 3.3 milliseconds will be achieved for the Frankfurt-Amsterdam connection, under 4.5 milliseconds for Paris, under 40 milliseconds for New York, and under 49 milliseconds for Chicago.
The connections combine the shortest geographic routing paths with different routing options and the latest optical transmission techniques.
“With the rapid expansion of its
NYSE Technologies, the commercial technology unit of NYSE Euronext, has launched a new class of indications of interest solution for traders seeking faster liquidity discovery.
Unlike traditional IOI services that limit how buy-side traders can view IOI and advertised trade data, ioinet v2 gives traders the flexibility to create personalised perspectives on this information.
The platform has been built to integrate additional trading analysis data and services from NYSE Technologies and third parties.
With the ability to sort and filter IOI and AT data across a wide range of custom charting techniques and “heat maps”, traders can build, save, and
Nexar Capital Group, an alternative investment manager, has appointed Russell O’Brien as a managing director – institutional sales and consultant relations, North America.
O’Brien was previously at Russell Investments, where he was a director of alternative investments.
Prior to Russell Investments, O’Brien was head of North American sales and marketing for Credit Suisse’s transition management business.
In his 23 year career, O’Brien has developed relationships with endowments and foundations, corporations, public funds and Taft Hartley organisations, as well as consulting firms.
“We are pleased to welcome Russell to Nexar,” says chief executive Arié Assayag. “The deep experience Russell has in
