Solutions
The Dow Jones Credit Suisse Core Hedge Fund Index finished down 1.71% in May as alpha remained elusive amidst a difficult trading environment.
Oliver Schupp, President of Credit Suisse Index Co, LLC, says: "May was a challenging month for hedge fund managers across strategies as relatively low volatility levels, higher intra-stock correlations and continued market sell-offs created a difficult trading environment. Overall, the Dow Jones Credit Suisse Core Hedge Fund Index was down 1.71% for the month. Managed Futures saw the most significant decline, falling 4.40% as positions in energy, currencies and equities detracted from performance."
The Dow Jones Credit
Global derivatives ADV down year-on-year following 2010 sovereign debt crisis, says NYSE Euronext
Global derivatives average daily volume (ADV) of 10.6 million contracts in May 2011 decreased 20.6% versus the prior year, which benefited from unseasonally strong trading volumes due to heightened market volatility driven by the sovereign debt crisis in Europe, according to the latest figures released by NYSE Euronext. May 2010 was the highest level of derivatives monthly trading volume in 2010.
When compared to the strong first quarter of 2011, global derivatives trading volumes quarter-to-date (ex. Bclear) are running approximately 13% below first quarter 2011 levels. Cash
Linedata (NYSE Euronext: LIN has released a new version of Linedata Beauchamp, its award-winning hedge fund portfolio management system. This new release – called Linedata Beauchamp Sigma – delivers a new and intuitive front-end for hedge funds to allow them to manage the increasing complexity of their business and to access and act on key data faster.
Mike de Verteuil (pictured), Linedata’s group business development director, says: “The hedge fund market continues to develop, and in this increasingly competitive space, firms are looking to stand out from their competitors. At the same time, hedge funds face pressure from regulators to
JP Morgan has been selected by investment management firm Palmer Square Capital Management, a manager of hedge fund-of-funds partnerships and customised alternative investments, to provide Prime Custody Solutions for the recently launched Palmer Square Absolute Return Fund, the firm’s first open-ended mutual fund.
According to Palmer Square, the fund seeks capital appreciation with an emphasis on absolute (positive) returns and low correlation to the broader equity and bond markets. It utilises a concentrated group of seven institutional managers who operate a broad range of hedge fund-type strategies, including global macro, long/short and event-driven credit, long/short international and domestic equity, and convertible
Agecroft Partners is seeing widespread demand from institutional investors for Commodity Trading Advisors (CTAs), which is a dramatic change from the historical reluctance of many institutional investors and their consultants to allocate to this strategy. Over the past 10 years, the number of pension funds allocating to hedge funds has steadily increased, along with the percent of their average portfolio allocation.
While many of the major hedge fund strategies, such as Equity Long/Short, have been widely accepted by institutional investors for many years, CTAs have only recently been accepted as a core hedge fund allocation as pension funds scramble to
The FG Solutions International, a provider of both traditional and electronic commodity futures and brokerage trading services, is expanding its alternative investment programs, particularly the firm’s managed futures account ,which will take effect immediately.
The managed futures program will focus on providing expertise in forex and risk management investment solutions. The new expansion program will match with the firm’s online-based forex trading service, taking advantage of its current round-the-clock trading operation and risk management expertise of its well-established professional trading specialists.
Jack Wallace, FG Solutions International’s Global Head for Marketing and Sales Division, has been given full responsibility for creating,
Order book turnover on Xetra and on the trading floor of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange stood at EUR136.5 billion in May – a decrease by 16 per cent year-on-year (May 2010: EUR163,5 billion).
Of the EUR136.5 billion, EUR130.8 billion was attributable to Xetra which registered a decline of 16 per cent y-o-y (May 2010: EUR155.5 billion). EUR5.7 billion was attributable to floor trading in Frankfurt, a decrease of 29 per cent y-o-y (May 2010: EUR8 billion). Order book turnover on Tradegate Exchange totaled EUR2.4 billion in May, making it 50 per cent higher y-o-y (May 2010: EUR1.6 billion).


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Instinet has launched a Instinet BLX Australia, a new dark liquidity pool for Australian equities, the company said on Wednesday.
BLX, which already operates in the US and Canada, aggregates multiple orders from both buy- and sell-side participants and consolidates them into block-sized trades. The BLX model was designed to increase trade size by appealing to an array of participants, including both passive block traders and those using algorithmic strategies.
"With the Australian equities market becoming more electronic and institutional trading needs becoming more complex, we believe this is an ideal time to introduce a pool like BLX that combines
Advent Software has unveiled a major new release of Geneva, its award-winning global portfolio management and fund accounting solution. With the 8.5 enhancements, Geneva is one of the only solutions available that provides portfolio through fund and investor-level accounting on a single platform and extends the product’s portfolio management functionality into the front- and middle-office, making it a compelling offer for alternative investment firms worldwide.
Geneva 8.5 includes integrated solutions that meet the needs of new market segments, including family offices, private equity firms and fund-of-funds, and are available on a single platform to help simplify operations and reduce total
In February this year, Deutsche Bank executed the first electronic CDS trades in full compliance with Dodd-Frank. In so doing, the USD582trillion (notional value) OTC market enjoyed its first taste of transparency. The trades were executed using Autobahn, an electronic liquidity and trade execution tool launched in 1996. Having evolved over the years, it offers clients a range of pre- and post-trade electronic services and has around 3,500 accounts actively trading on a daily basis. As well as banks and intermediaries, hedge funds and CTAs are a key user.
“We have hundreds of hedge funds using Autobahn and it’s a
