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SmartPool, the European dark liquidity pool created by NYSE Euronext in partnership with HSBC, J.P. Morgan and BNP Paribas, has expanded its pan-European mid cap service.
From January 2010 the SmartPool product universe will be expanded to include the constituents of the following European indices: FTSE All Share Index (UK); CDAX Index (Germany); AEX All Share (Dutch); and CAC All Share (French).
As a result of this expansion, the total number of securities traded on SmartPool will increase by 110 per cent.
Launched in February 2009, SmartPool offers trading in the leading indices of the 15 European equity markets traded
Sprott Asset Management has appointed Peter Loach as executive vice president of product development.
Sprott Asset Management is a business unit of Sprott Inc and manager of the Sprott family of mutual funds, hedge funds and discretionary managed accounts.
"We are very excited to have Peter join our team. He brings with him a wealth of experience and a tremendous perspective on the investment industry," says James Fox, president of Sprott Asset Management. "We believe Peter’s addition will provide significant value to our firm as we continue to seek the best investment talent and expand and diversify our product line
Gartmore Group, a traditional equity and alternative asset management firm, has priced its initial public offering of ordinary shares at 220 pence per share.
Based upon the offer price, the market capitalisation of Gartmore at the commencement of conditional dealings will be approximately GBP676m.
The offer consists of 127.3 million new ordinary shares and 27.3 million existing ordinary shares (prior to the exercise of the over-allotment option), in total representing in aggregate 50.3 per cent of 307.3 million ordinary shares in issue.
As stabilising manager, UBS has been granted an over-allotment option by certain selling shareholders of up
BNY Mellon Alternative Investment Services has launched a service that independently validates a hedge fund’s position records to third parties and verifies the pricing of that fund’s securities.
The new service provides fund managers and their investors with greater transparency and additional assurance that fund assets are independently priced and validated.
The service, with pricing and validation coverage across 50 asset classes, is enabled by BNY Mellon’s relationships with more than 150 prime brokers and counterparties.
It can be used to supplement client interface with accountants and independent auditors and can also be customised to meet specific requirements, including
Hedge funds were not a major contributor to the stock market crash of 2008 and early 2009, but they are very likely to face increased regulation, according to the latest survey of the world’s media from Walek.
Released on the first anniversary of the disclosure of the world’s largest Ponzi scheme, the survey found that while the Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities scandal impacted the hedge fund industry, poor performance, liquidity issues, and gating of funds were far bigger negatives for hedge funds over the last 12 months.
The survey is the third in a series examining media attitudes toward
The Lyxor Global Hedge Fund index rose by 1.1 per cent in November, taking its year-to-date performance to 5.5 per cent.
Markets faltered at the beginning of November on poor housing data, rallied on better than expected news mid-month, and then lost momentum as month-end neared.
Lyxor says such back-and-forth news flow seems consistent with a bumpy recovery.
Trading volume was especially light, obscuring the messages from investors. Alternative managers had a number of interesting ingredients to mix into attractive portfolios this month.
Many long/short equity managers posted decent performance numbers on the back of the mixed data. Variable bias
Interdealer broker Icap has expanded its base metals broking business by opening a New York sales desk and hiring Marc Carozza.
Carozza previously worked for Bear Stearns and Calyon Financial.
Icap began broking London Metal Exchange base metals in January 2009 with a Category Two membership of the LME.
Robert Rees, managing director, global base metals, says: “We are focused on extending our global reach in base metals and building on the successes of our London based business.”
The improved economic outlook has encouraged managers to launch a raft of new funds.
Culross Global Management, a London-based fund of hedge funds manager, has launched the Culross Long Term Alpha Fund.
Over the past decade, credit has been an important profit generator for Culross, and the company believes that the less liquid opportunities now on offer merit their own vehicle.
The fund undertakes not to invest in funds offering less liquidity than the fund itself. It will invest across eight to 15 funds and has a target return of 15 to 20 per cent. Expected volatility is in the eight to ten per cent range.
Culross Global Management was founded by Nigel Blanshard
Thames River Longstone Fund says it has delivered positive performance in 20 out of 24 calendar months as it celebrates its second anniversary.
Since inception on 30 November 2007, the EUR79.2m Longstone Fund is up 18.1 per cent whilst its benchmark, the EPRA Index, is down 42.6 per cent.
The fund has made money both in a savage bear market and in its subsequent rally.
The fund also had low annualised volatility of 2.4 per cent compared to 29.5 per cent for its benchmark.
Managed by Christian Roos (pictured), the Thames River Longstone Fund aims to capitalise on
