Solutions
A reception at the UK Parliament hosted by the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA), the global hedge fund association, has heard how hedge funds can help pension funds to close the “pensions gap”.
Speaking at the reception were the Labour MP Dame Anne Begg, Chair of the Commons Work and Pensions Select Committee; the Labour MP Chris Evans, Parliamentary Private Secretary to Chris Leslie MP, Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury; Kathryn Graham, Head of Strategy Co-ordination for the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), one of the UK’s biggest pension funds; and Jack Inglis, CEO, AIMA. The event drew more than
According to the Q3 statistical bulletin published by the BVI Financial Services Commission (FSC), the islands’ financial regulator, a total of 27 limited partnerships were recorded in Q2 2014 compared to 16 in Q2 2013. That figure rose in Q3 to 36.
This is good news for the jurisdiction as it suggests that demand for GP/LP structures among private equity managers remains strong. Indeed, the BVI remains highly favoured among asset managers in emerging markets, not least Chinese asset managers looking to incorporate special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) in the BVI.
Drake Fund Advisors is a specialist emerging markets fund administrator.
By James Williams – There’s a general air of optimism among the BVI’s fund practitioners. Although the average hedge fund recorded sub-four per cent, the lowest average return since 2011, there was nevertheless a clear uptick in trading activity, principally among some of the islands’ larger managers.
“Those with established funds attracted a lot more attention and interest and launched various offshoots of their flagship funds, which was a welcome development,” notes Grant Green (pictured), Managing Director, KPMG (BVI) Limited.
Howard Eisen is managing director and head of sales for Conifer Fund Services, one of the BVI’s leading fund
BlueMountain Capital Management has held the first closing of the BlueMountain Summit Opportunities Fund II with approximately USD1 billion in capital commitments.
The Summit Opportunities Fund II will concentrate on high conviction investments across asset classes including corporate credit and equity, mortgage and asset-backed securities, real estate and private capital. It will focus on positions with excess risk premium associated with lower liquidity and heightened complexity. The fund's broad and flexible investment mandate will allow BlueMountain to pursue opportunities across its global platform and position for continuously evolving markets in both short-term trading and longer-term compounding investments.
This fund closing
The Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) and the CAIA Association have jointly published the first of a series of hedge fund educational papers aimed at pension fund trustees.
The paper – “The Way Ahead: Helping trustees navigate the hedge fund sector” – sets out to give practical guidance about how existing investors have managed issues and challenges associated with their hedge fund investments as well as detailing the advantages of allocating to hedge funds.
The other papers in the series, to be released between now and Q1 2016, will cover such topics as hedge fund strategies, transparency and governance.
ICSA, the Institute for professionals working in governance and compliance, is holding an introduction to their new Level 4 International Finance and Administration (IFA) qualifications on 29 January n Jersey.
The event, at the Royal Yacht Hotel, Weighbridge, St Helier, Jersey, is open to all and will include presentations by Kelly Padwick, Qualification Development Manager and Theresa Minnie, Head of Client Relations and Members.
The event will:
• introduce the new International Finance and Administration qualifications
• discuss how the qualifications can support individuals and businesses
• explain the changes from the outgoing Certificate in Offshore Finance and Administration
With a heavy dose of irony, Robert O’Boyle, Executive Vice President and Director of Sales & Marketing at Liquid Holdings, recalls how last year he commented that all the coverage of the ‘cloud’ was overblown.
“What I mean here is that the topic has reached a saturation point. There are very few people who don’t know that the cloud exists or what the benefits are. There’s nothing more to reveal about the cloud – now it’s a case of leveraging what’s actually in the cloud,” says O’Boyle.
A survey conducted a few years ago entitled “Cloud Adoption Trends in the
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (Commission) has issued an Order of Registration to the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM), a Foreign Board of Trade located in Tokyo, Japan.
Under the Order, TOCOM is permitted to provide its identified members or other participants located in the US with direct access to its electronic order entry and trade matching system to trade futures contracts on metals, fuels, rubber and agricultural commodities and futures and option contracts on gold.
The Commission issued the Order in accordance with Part 48 of the Commission’s regulations, which provides that such an Order may be issued
FxPro Financial Services Limited (‘FxPro’) has launched a Prime-of-Prime service in a bid to attract institutional investors and enable them to benefit from greater transparency and trading cost efficiencies. With FxPro Prime, hedge funds, in particular start-ups (as well as other asset managers), will be able to trade against the high quality liquidity pool that FxPro has across 11 liquidity providers and avoid having to establish prime brokerage relationships.
“Those initial set-up costs can be high, the manager has to put up a lot of collateral, making it quite inaccessible for start-up funds or small operators. The way a prime-of-prime
“Basel III and other regulatory issues and restrictions have a number of driving factors and downstream effects on tier one primes, which drives our whole investment thesis here at PrimeOne Solutions,” states Chris Chanod pictured), Global Head of Business Development, PrimeOne Solutions, part of CoreOne Technologies.
PrimeOne Solutions provides a gateway for new entrants to the prime finance space as well as an avenue for Tier 1 and Tier 2 prime brokers to reduce infrastructure and technology costs.
One of the key driving factors Chanod refers to is a reduction in profitability for primes. Margins have shrunk. This is pushing
