NYSE Liffe, the Europe-based derivatives business of NYSE Euronext, is expanding its long gilt futures contract by launching two and five year gilt futures on 23 November. NYSE Liffe’s long gilt futures contract already trades over two million lots each month on average. The record levels of debt issuance by the UK government, combined with the unprecedented quantitative easing programme being carried out by the Bank of England, has led to considerable uncertainty about the nearer-term outlook for UK interest rates, stimulating demand for shorter-dated derivatives instruments to manage risk. Paul MacGregor, director of NYSE Liffe fixed income, says: “Given

GlobeOp has launched hosted services for Advent’s portfolio management and fund accounting solution Geneva, offering hedge funds an outsourcing solution that aims to reduce fund time to market and execution risks. Customised hosted and full platform conversion services are available on a standalone basis or integrated within GlobeOp’s middle- and back-office, fund administration and managed services packages. "GlobeOp is uniquely positioned to support hedge fund managers seeking a hosted Geneva solution as an alternative to building and maintaining their own IT infrastructure," says Ron Tannenbaum, GlobeOp co-founder. "As one of Advent’s largest single customers, GlobeOp deploys significant in-house technical expertise

Alternative Investment Group, an independent investment management firm with USD1.6bn assets under management, has appointed SS&C Fund Services to handle the fund administration and accounting for its funds of hedge funds. SS&C will provide Alternative Investment Group with independent fund accounting and net asset value calculation as well as financial reporting services, leveraging their proprietary software suite. “After an extensive search, we chose SS&C Fund Services because we believe that SS&C’s proven technology and expertise could best meet our need for a trusted independent partner,” says Marita Wein, partner, Alternative Investment Group. “In addition, we were already using SS&C’s FundRunner

A team of global commercial fraud lawyers and investment professionals is launching a USD150m investment fund, named Echemus, to underwrite the investigation, seizure and recovery of worldwide assets for victims of fraud. The team is led by Martin Kenney, a renowned commercial fraud lawyer and asset recovery specialist currently engaged in unwinding billions of dollars connected to the Bernard Madoff investment scheme. Kenney will serve as managing director of the fund and will oversee all of its investigation, collection and litigation activities. The International Monetary Fund estimates that purportedly fraudulent, "black transactions" account for five to ten per cent of

Weston Capital Management, an independent alternative investment group, has formed a joint venture with Zurich-based Harcourt Investment Consulting, a global provider of alternative investment solutions for institutional investors. The alliance will seed and develop new hedge fund businesses via Weston Capital’s incubation platform. The alliance will combine Weston’s experience in early stage hedge fund investing and marketing with Harcourt’s investment expertise in global manager selection, due diligence and risk management. "Through our collaboration with Harcourt, we will further expand our seeding platform with a valuable institutional long-term partner that brings enormous alternative investment expertise to the table. The partnership brings

Long/short equity fund managers avoided equity market volatility in October, finishing the month in neutral territory, according to Jordan Drachman, head of research for alternative beta strategies at Credit Suisse. After record third quarter performance, long/short equity hedge funds posted more muted returns in October. Nevertheless, the sector outperformed most global equity markets, avoiding the drawdowns experienced across many equity market indices. Global macro hedge funds appear to have posted gains last month, as models picked up on macro-economic trends despite market uncertainty. The Credit Suisse Long/Short Equity Replication Index was down -0.01 per cent (net) for the month, while

Man Group’s newly created multi-manager business grew assets held in managed accounts from USD4bn to USD6bn in the six months to 30 September 2009.  Man’s multi-manager business, which has been operational since June, ended the period with USD17.8bn in funds under management.   Over the past ten years, Man has built a significant managed accounts platform as an investor, in contrast to the flow driven business model of other providers which tend to focus less on the underlying investment management application. This means that in addition to the security, transparency and liquidity that managed accounts provide, Man can also offer

Assets in the hedge fund industry invested through managed accounts will reach USD790bn by 2011, up from USD468bn in 2009, according to research by Tabb Group. The survey of 62 US hedge funds also found that 77 per cent cited operations, safety of strategy and liquidity risk as their three top concerns. Matt Simon, Tabb research analyst and author of the study, “US Hedge Funds 2009: Fees, Redemptions and Managed Accounts,” says investors are now asking more questions on topics previously seen as a minor part of the due diligence process, from safety and soundness of assets, to greater insight