Latest News
IndexIQ, a developer of index-based alternative investment solutions, has named Julie S. Abbett senior vice president and portfolio manager.
In her new role, Abbett will be responsible for helping to oversee portfolio management of IndexIQ’s growing line of alternative investment products, including the firm’s separately managed accounts business.
Prior to joining IndexIQ, Abbett was a portfolio manager at Deutsche Asset Management. During her nine years at the company, she served as a director and portfolio manager for various US and global strategies, where she oversaw approximately USD10bn in assets under management, including in the DWS Disciplined Market Neutral Fund, the
Oak Hill Advisors has appointed Alexandra Jung as co-head of the firm’s European business.
Jung is based in London and, along with Richard Munn, will direct investments in European companies and manage the firm’s European operations.
Munn, the former head of European loan syndications at Deutsche Bank, joined Oak Hill Advisors in May 2005 with the opening of its London office.
Jung joins Oak Hill Advisors with more than 15 years of leveraged finance, distressed debt and special situations experience, particularly in Europe. She her career at Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin in the financial restructuring group. In 1999, she
The Credit Suisse/Tremont Hedge Fund Index finished up 1.53 per cent in August as wider dispersion in the markets provided opportunities for hedge funds.
This marks the sixth straight month of positive performance for the index, bringing year-to-date returns to 11.57 per cent.
A report by Credit Suisse Tremont says divergent market views remain among managers as some re-position their portfolios to prepare for volatility while more bullish investors continue to drive markets higher.
Convertible arbitrage continued to lead the index with a monthly return of 3.39 per cent. This was the eighth consecutive month of positive returns for the
Lighthouse Financial, a New York-based boutique institutional broker-dealer, has formed a partnership with InfoHedge Technologies, a provider of IT services and solutions to the alternative investment industry.
InfoHedge Hosted Platform was selected by Lighthouse Financial as its centralized IT infrastructure platform for the New York, Chicago, Atlanta, San Francisco, Boca Raton, and Huntington offices.
Lighthouse Financial will also offer this fully hosted infrastructure solution to Lighthouse Prime Services’ hedge fund clients. Lighthouse Prime clients will benefit from an enterprise IT solution that eliminates all costs associated with running IT systems in-house. The solution offers embedded SEC compliance, disaster recovery, market
Securities lending participants are staying in the market or adjusting their risk parameters rather than suspending their programmes, following the market volatility of the past 12 months, according to a survey by RBC Dexia.
Despite purported large-scale programme suspensions, only 17 per cent of all survey respondents suspended participation while the majority, 60 per cent, made no changes at all to their programmes.
RBC Dexia surveyed beneficial owners and market intermediaries around the world to better understand how the global financial crisis was impacting securities lending and received feedback from 86 respondents worldwide, including investment managers and financial institutions.
Absolute Return Partners is launching the NEAS Power Fund on 1 October in response to rising investor demand for uncorrelated and liquid alternative investment vehicles.
The fund will trade futures, forwards and options on electricity, carbon emission certificates and the commodities which are the components of the power complex (coal, gas and oil) and will be applying a relative value approach.
More than 95 per cent of the securities traded will be listed on either Nordpool or the EEX, the two main European power exchanges.
Absolute Return has appointed NE Capital Management to be the sub-investment manager with responsibility
The main client base of hedge funds is now institutional rather than private, according to Morten Spenner, chief executive at International Asset Management.
As a result, Spenner says there will be less appetite for leverage, structured products and Madoff club-type deals. There will be a continued ongoing industry institutionalisation with increased professionalism and greater use of standards/systems.
In addition, hedge funds and fund of hedge funds are becoming more process driven.
Spenner says "There has been less crowding of hedge funds as many market participants have exited/scaled down. Prop desks exits and hedge fund closures have increased opportunities for remaining
York Capital Management and Bank of America Merrill Lynch have launched the York Event Driven Ucits Fund.
York has been appointed as the investment manager to the fund with Merrill Lynch International acting as sponsor.
The fund was launched on 29 July 2009 and has already raised approximately USD100m assets under management. It is the third fund to be established on Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Ucits compliant Luxembourg Sicav – Merrill Lynch Investment Solutions – and the first event driven strategy therein.
“Our investment approach couples fundamental, research-driven financial and business analysis with an experienced view of global markets
Securis Investment Partners has appointed Al Selius as head of a newly-opened New York office.
Selius’s role will be centred on accelerating the development of Securis’s activities in the US with particular focus on product development and complementing the existing asset management and fundraising operations of Securis.
Selius has been involved in nearly every development in insurance linked securities trading in the past decade.
He was previously managing director at Swiss Re Capital Markets and head of all its traded products. He is a highly experienced trader in multiple fixed income products, and under his watch trading volumes
Sophis, a provider of portfolio and risk management solutions, and J.P. Morgan’s prime brokerage business have introduced iSophis, a new technology that will allow hedge funds to manage their portfolios across multiple prime brokers.
iSophis provides integrated portfolio and risk management services through a simple application service provider model. It can provide hedge funds with in-depth reports on P&L analysis, performance attribution, and risk exposure.
iSophis can also help hedge funds calculate risk measurements including stress testing as they scale up their trading volumes or broaden existing strategies to include additional asset classes, all of which are covered by iSophis.
