Solutions
Trading volume during at the CBOE Futures Exchange (CFE) during January 2012 totalled 811,283 contracts, an increase of four per cent from the 778,157 contracts traded in January 2011. This was the busiest January in CFE history and it ranks as the tenth most-active trading month ever at the exchange.
Average daily volume (ADV) at CFE during January 2012 was 40,564 contracts, also up four percent from the 38,908 contracts traded per day a year ago. January 2012 marked the twenty-eighth consecutive month that CFE monthly volume posted a year-over-year gain.
When comparing trading activity in January to the previous month, CFE
Silk Road Management has launched the Silk Road Iraq Index (SILKIQ) and Silk Road Iraq Oil Index (SILKIO), two debut equity indices that include largest Iraq-focused companies, listed on the Iraq Stock Exchange (ISX) as well as international bourses in London, Toronto and Oslo.
The Silk Road Iraq Index currently covers 26 companies with total market capitalisation of USD12.8 billion (January 1, 2012). The Silk Road Iraq Oil index contains seven internationally listed oil & gas companies with assets and operations in Iraq with total market capitalisation of US$9.6 billion (January 1, 2012). In the first month of this year alone,
The international derivatives market Eurex Exchange has exceeded five million contracts traded in the BTP derivatives segment since trading began in September 2009. The segment comprises three futures based on notional short-, medium- and long-term bonds issued by the Republic of Italy (Buoni del Tesoro Poliennali – BTP).
“The extensive use of BTP futures is primarily due to the hedging motives of participants. Uncertainty regarding the development of the euro zone in light of the debt incurred by certain member countries caused a significant increase in volatility on the bond markets in 2011. The yield spread also widened between German
eVestment Alliance is to act as Callan Associate’s data collection platform for hedge fund of funds and other alternatives strategies.
eVestment’s database serves as a central clearing house for institutional subscribers, while providing for a more efficient distribution platform for hedge funds that market to institutional investors and consultants.
Jim McKee, Senior Vice President of Hedge Fund Research at Callan, says: "We believe eVestment is the most capable and flexible survey data gatherer and provider in the hedge fund community. Consequently, we are excited to work with eVestment specifically for our hedge fund data needs, as it will enable our
Sentry Investments, a Toronto-based investment management firm, has deployed Eagle Investment System’s hosted suite of solutions for data management, investment accounting, performance measurement and attribution, as well as the Eagle Analytics platform incorporating FINCAD Analytics.
One of the fastest-growing asset managers in Canada, Sentry chose the full Eagle suite to replace its existing investment accounting and portfolio management systems.
"Eagle’s proven integrated suite of portfolio management and accounting solutions will improve our workflow and advance our operations. By working with Eagle, Sentry gains an end-to-end solution that enables significant efficiencies," says Sandy McIntyre, president and chief executive officer, Sentry Investments.
The London Metal Exchange (LME) has launched LMEswaps for all of its non-ferrous metals. The financially settled contracts based on the average monthly price are the first of their type to be traded on-exchange in the world. They are designed for participants of the physical industry who need to hedge the monthly average price.
“LMEswaps introduce a new kind of contract to the market, which responds to the needs of the physical industry”, says Chris Evans, Head of Business Development at the LME. “For the first time, LMEswap users will benefit from a regulated market with the same counterparty default
The National Futures Association (NFA) has begun accepting applications from swap dealers (SDs) and major swap participants (MSPs) pursuant to the recent final registration rules and delegation of authority order that were approved by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on 11 January.
The CFTC’s final rules require all SDs and MSPs to be registered with the Commission and become members of a registered futures association. NFA is currently the only such organisation. Applying for registration will not be mandatory until the CFTC finalises its rules defining SDs, MSPs and swaps and they become effective. However, persons who believe that
MarketAxess Holdings Inc, the operator of an electronic trading platform for US and European high‐grade corporate bonds, emerging markets bonds and other types of fixed‐income securities, has received authorisation from the Comissão de Valores Mobiliários – CVM (Securities and Exchange Commission of Brazil) and the Central Bank of Brazil to offer e‐trading of local currency debt.
Brazilian local currency government and corporate bonds are available on the MarketAxess trading platform. Global institutional investor clients can benefit from MarketAxess’ patented RFQ technology to request competitive, executable bids or offers to multiple broker‐dealers, and execute with the dealer of choice.
“We are
The proposed European Union financial transaction tax (FTT) could lead to a significant decrease in cross-border trading of financial instruments in the EU, undermining the single market, according to the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA), the global hedge fund association.
AIMA, which has carried out a comprehensive analysis of the proposed FTT, said there would be a significant slowdown in trading of financial instruments like shares, bonds and derivatives in the EU.
The AIMA analysis concluded that the FTT would have widespread, unintended damaging consequences. As well as undermining the EU’s single market, the FTT would be likely to
Agio Technology, a provider of managed IT services for hedge funds, continued to demonstrate significant growth in 2011 as a result of a growing trend of hedge funds and other investment advisory firms outsourcing non-differentiating IT functions to third-party providers.
Marking its second full year of operation, Agio has rapidly established a strong presence in the hedge fund industry, opening and expanding new offices in the US, UK and Asia.
The firm’s growth was noted in February when it received the distinction of being one of MSPmentor’s top Managed Service Providers in the world. Agio ranked 43rd of 100 MSPs
