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SPECIAL REPORT
By A Paris – This year will be forever remembered as the one which saw a global pandemic taking over the world, widespread travel restrictions and significant market volatility. But in Singapore, 2020 can be considered in a more favourable light. Despite the less than auspicious environment, the jurisdiction reaped success in launching a new fund structure, generating manager interest in an otherwise turbulent period.
SINGAPORE
By Mark Voumard, Gordian Capital – Readers will be familiar with onshore domiciles such as Dublin or Luxembourg. How does Singapore differ?
SINGAPORE
“The introduction of the Variable Capital Company (VCC) structure earlier this year has been the latest in a number of initiatives undertaken by the Singapore government to grow the city state’s fund management industry and achieve its ambition of being the gateway to asset management opportunities in Asia”, says Allard de Jong, Head of the Fund Administration, Corporate Trust and Custody team of the Portcullis Group.
WEALTH
As the mass affluent investor segment is tipped for growth, wealth managers should ensure they have scalable solutions to manage the potential increase in client numbers which could come with capturing the progress in this area.
SINGAPORE
The outlook for the penetration of the Variable Capital Company legislation as a fund structure is upbeat as it soldiers on against the unfortunate timing of its launch, amid a global pandemic. More importantly, in practice the legislation works well and the fund launches have been successful.
SINGAPORE
The ASEAN region has demonstrated itself as a major area for investment and potential growth. However, much of this growth is still on the horizon and yet to be materialised. For the prospects of the ASEAN region to reach their true potential, the current environment requires cost efficiency, scalability and talent. These are critical factors to creating a supportive ecosystem.
SINGAPORE
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has been proactive and transparent with licensing requirements, compared to other jurisdictions. The Digital Acceleration Grant (DAG) programme incentivises firms to modernise operations, equipping smaller managers with the necessary technology and helping new funds get off the ground. This programme, coupled with geopolitical influences, contributes to Singapore accelerating as a safe-haven for money and financial institutions.
LITIGATION FINANCE
TFG Asset Management, the alternative investment management unit of Tetragon led by Reade Griffith, is taking a minority stake in Contingency Capital, a new litigation finance-focused fund manager founded by ex-Fortress Investment Group partner and managing director Brandon Baer.
Contingency Capital, a multi-product global asset manager which will sponsor and manage litigation finance-focused investment strategies, will formally launch on 1 November.
As part of the deal, Tetragon will place an initial USD50 million commitment with Contingency’s first commingled investment fund, as well working capital and an option to invest further amounts. TFG Asset Management will also offer operational support, including
NEWS
Zurich-based Vestun, a start-up boutique manager focused on AI-based investment programmes, has opened its market agnostic systematic US equity hedge fund programme to new outside investors.
The flagship strategy, which is managed on the firm’s Hawkrel AI platform and trades liquid US stocks, is designed to autonomously adapt its portfolio and risk exposure according to prevailing market conditions. It eschews traditional systematic hedge fund approaches which employ signals derived from statistical rules and historical events, instead building a less rigid investment process around uncorrelated, domain-specific intelligence gleaned from certain datasets.
Chayan Asli, Vestun’s founder and CEO, believes that relying on
NEWS
The Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA), the hedge fund industry trade body, has paired up with ITN Productions to produce a news-style programme which aims to push the case for hedge funds’ role in the economic recovery following the coronavirus crisis.
Due to launch in summer 2021, ‘Holding Strong: Alternative Investments in a Volatile Market’ will explore the role played by alternative assets and hedge fund managers in the global economy and their value to investors and markets, and how they offer allocators a differentiated risk/return profile and provide alternative funding avenues for borrowers.
The programme will also examine how
