Each business day HedgeCo.Net keeps you informed with the top hedge fund industry news, opinion and insight from around the globe. From the latest hedge fund launches, to the impact of regulation, competition, and investor activism - we track the topics and people that make a difference to you.
New York (HedgeCo.net) – Credit Suisse’s Asset Management Division has announced the launch of the Credit Suisse Liquid Alternative Fund. The fund seeks to offer access to hedge fund-like returns, with the flexibility of daily liquidity, increased transparency and 1099 tax reporting. The fund is intended to complement the suite of alternatives-focused mutual fund offerings available through the Asset Management division of Credit Suisse.
Jordan Drachman, Head of Research for Credit Suisse Alternative Beta Strategies, said, “Hedge funds offer the potential to improve diversification and reduce correlation and portfolio volatility; however, investors needing access to capital are often constrained by hedge funds’ illiquid nature, and the process for investing in offshore vehicles can be tax restrictive, lengthy and expensive.” Drachman continued, “For investors seeking to enhance the efficiency of their portfolios, we believe the Credit Suisse Liquid Alternative Fund may provide a liquid alternative for accessing the risk and return characteristics of hedge funds without the structural impediments of Limited Partnerships.”
Robert Alderman, Head of Retail Distribution for Credit Suisse Asset Management in the Americas, added, “We consider alternative investments to be a critical component of a well-diversified portfolio and we are proud to lead the market with investor-friendly products that fill a void for clients seeking more liquid, transparent and cost efficient access to the alternatives space.” Alderman went on to say, “Credit Suisse’s Asset Management division has a long history of expertise in alternatives and is one of the industry’s largest hedge fund allocators and most established alternative investment solution providers. The Credit Suisse Liquid Alternative Fund is an ideal addition to our product platform.”
You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
New York (HedgCo.net) – Neuberger Berman, one of the world’s leading employee-owned money managers, has introduced the Neuberger Berman Long Short Fund (“the Fund”) (tickers: NLSAX, NLSCX, NLSIX), providing investors with a long-short investment strategy that seeks long-term capital appreciation and principal preservation, and is available with daily liquidity at a minimum investment of $1,000.
The Fund employs a fundamentally driven investment approach with the flexibility to invest long and short. The Fund’s managers may invest in fixed income securities and in equities of both U.S. and non-U.S. companies. The Fund seeks both long-term capital appreciation and principal preservation, and may serve as a complement to traditional equity and fixed income strategies.
The Fund is managed by Charles Kantor, an 18-year investment industry veteran who is a managing director at Neuberger Berman and leads the firm’s Kantor Group, which invests approximately $850 million for individuals and institutions. The Fund’s portfolio management team includes William Muller, CFA, Charles Nguyen, CFA, and Marc Regenbaum, three Kantor Group research analysts with over thirty years of combined industry experience, and is further supported by Neuberger Berman’s global resources, including a global trading desk, a centralized global equity research department, and risk oversight specialists.
While this mutual fund opened to investors on December, 29, 2011, Mr. Kantor and his colleagues have been employing a similar investment strategy since March 2008. From the beginning of this year through April 30, 2012, the Neuberger Berman Long Short Fund A shares class has ranked within the top decile of its multi-alternative fund category, according to fund tracker Morningstar Inc.
You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
New York (HedgeCo.net) – FH International Asset Management LLC, the advisor to FH Emerging Markets Short Term Debt Master Fund, L.P. and its tax-exempt/offshore feeder, FH Emerging Markets Short Term Debt Fund, LTD, have today launched the FH Emerging Markets Short Term Debt Fund LP.
“Superior growth and solid fiscal performance in emerging market countries, as well as high demand for income generating products, have made emerging market debt an attractive asset class for investors,” Steven Landis, the hedge fund’s portfolio manager and a Managing Director at FH International Asset Management, said.
“We think this will be an exciting alternative for investors who are seeking yield from short duration investment funds and want to gain exposure to emerging market debt, recently one of the fastest growing and best performing asset classes.” Landis said.
Steven Landis has over 25 years of experience in fixed income markets and has been at FH International since 2000. He is currently part of the team that manages the FH Emerging Market Debt Fund and the Nordic Fund for Emerging Market Debt.
Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas.is the custodian for FH Emerging Markets Short Term Debt Master Fund L.P.
New York (HedgeCo.net) – Hedge fund risk and portfolio management service, TFG Systems, is extending its market leading, hosted platform to provide an outsourced operations service to UK hedge funds.
TFG will offer hedge funds an outsourced operations service, leveraging their industry expertise to manage fund operations, covering: trade confirmation, trade related settlements, trade feeds to relevant counterparties, reconciliation, and reporting.
Marc Sharman has been appointed to implement this new venture. Marc joins TFG Systems from Stoneworks Asset Management LLP where he was a partner and Head of Operations. Prior to co-founding Stoneworks in May 2006, Marc was head of credit operations at Caxton Europe Asset Management Ltd. He was responsible for all aspects of the middle and back office, prime broker, and liaison with broker and fund administrators.
“I found TFG Complete to be a powerful tool; at Stoneworks we used it for all aspects of fund operations.” Marc said of his new role, “It is the only system I have experienced which, for trade capture, reconciliation and position accounting right through to real time risk reporting has exceeded my expectations. I am excited to join the TFG team and build their outsourced operations business.”
Martin Toyer, CEO, TFG Systems said, “I am very pleased to welcome Marc to TFG. Combining his experiences of building an efficient operations teams with TFG’s highly regarded focus on our clients allows us to extend our service beyond software. We now provide a fully managed offering which reaches beyond the standard middle office functions enabling hedge funds to fully outsource their operations.”
You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
New York (HedgeCo.net) – Gemini Fund Services, LLC (Gemini), an engaged partner to independent advisers as a provider of comprehensive, pooled investment solutions, and Cole-Frieman Mallon & Hunt LLP (Cole-Frieman), a premier boutique investment management law firm, providing top-tier, responsive and cost-effective legal solutions for financial services matters, have partnered to launch Two Roads Shared Trust (Two Roads), a shared mutual fund trust, which will be overseen by an independent board of trustees.
Two Roads is tailored to advisers, such as hedge fund managers, who wish to start alternative mutual funds. Funds will be able to join Two Roads in the third quarter of 2012.
“The mutual fund industry continues to embrace alternative investment strategies during this volatile market, and we look forward to working with Cole-Frieman to help emerging advisers reap the benefits of implementing their own alternative strategies,” said Andrew Rogers, President of Gemini. “We are confident that we have found the right partner for executing this venture because Cole-Frieman has not only established an impressive footprint in the hedge fund sector, but its presence on the West Coast will help Gemini expand the geographic scope of our pooled investment services.”
Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken” inspired the new trust’s name. “While the alternative mutual fund path may be ‘the one less traveled by,’ as Robert Frost wrote, it may reap rewards for those advisers who take it,” said Mr. Rogers.
Two Roads, like Gemini’s three Northern Lights Fund Trust pooled investment vehicles, will be composed of separately managed, independent funds. By joining Two Roads, funds receive fund sales, board and regulatory compliance oversight, operational efficiency and economies of scale that they would not otherwise be able to obtain by themselves. Two Roads membership also entitles funds to introductions to broker/dealers and assistance with their marketing and distribution plans.
“We are very excited to work with Gemini Fund Services to launch Two Roads Shared Trust,” said Aisha Hunt, a Partner who heads the Alternative Mutual Fund Practice at Cole-Frieman. “Very few mutual fund service providers are experienced in servicing hedge fund managers. Two Roads will leverage this combined expertise to provide hedge fund managers with a cost-effective solution for launching mutual funds that employ hedge fund strategies.”
“Most hedge fund managers do not realize that mutual fund shared trusts have significantly lowered the costs and barriers of entry to launch a mutual fund,” added Karl Cole-Frieman, a Partner at Cole-Frieman. “The convergence of lower barriers of entry and historical demand for alternative mutual funds has created an unprecedented opportunity for hedge fund managers to raise assets through a shared trust.”
About Gemini Fund Services, LLC
Gemini Fund Services, LLC ( www.geminifund.com ) provides comprehensive, pooled investment solutions as an engaged partner to independent advisers. Gemini serves as a strategic partner and resource to advisers that want to bring their own, unique investment vehicles to market, including mutual funds, hedge funds, and alternative investments such as collective investment trusts. As a full-service firm, Gemini provides the administration, accounting, and technology that advisers need in order to launch and market successful products. With over 25 years of experience creating and servicing funds, Gemini brings years of industry knowledge and insight to help advisers achieve the vision of their product and deliver the most extensive range of turnkey solutions to clients.
About Cole-Frieman Mallon & Hunt LLP
Cole-Frieman Mallon & Hunt LLP is a premier boutique investment management law firm, providing top-tier, responsive, and cost-effective legal solutions for financial services matters. Headquartered in San Francisco, the firm has an international practice that services emerging investment managers, as well as established investment management firms. The firm provides a full suite of legal services to the investment management community, including: investment adviser registration, hedge fund and private equity fund formation, ’40 Act fund registration (traditional and alternative mutual funds, closed-end funds and ETFs), counterparty documentation, SEC, CFTC, NFA and FINRA matters, and routine business matters.
You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
New York (HedgeCo.net) – FH International Asset Management LLC, the advisor to FH Emerging Markets Short Term Debt Master Fund, L.P. and its tax-exempt/offshore feeder, FH Emerging Markets Short Term Debt Fund, LTD, since their launch in November 2010, is pleased to announce the launchofFH Emerging Markets Short Term Debt Fund LP, the Delaware domiciled feeder to the Master Fund for qualified domestic/taxable investors, effective April 1, 2012.
“Superior growth and solid fiscal performance in emerging market countries, as well as high demand for income generating products, have made emerging market debt an attractive asset class for investors,” Steven Landis, the hedge fund’s portfolio manager and a Managing Director at FH International Asset Management, said.
“We think this will be an exciting alternative for investors who are seeking yield from short duration investment funds and want to gain exposure to emerging market debt, recently one of the fastest growing and best performing asset classes.” Landis said.
Steven Landis has over 25 years of experience in fixed income markets and has been at FH International since 2000. He is currently part of the team that manages the FH Emerging Market Debt Fund and the Nordic Fund for Emerging Market Debt.
Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas.is the custodian for FH Emerging Markets Short Term Debt Master Fund L.P.
You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
New York (HedgeCo.Net) Adam Gold, a former portfolio manager at Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co (GGHC), has launched Espial Capital Management, a Long/Shorty Equity Hedge Fund focused on identifying innovation and disruption in the global technology, media and telecommunication universe.
The strategy recognizes powerful tailwinds and headwinds that capitalize on tectonic shifts in consumption, distribution, retailing, and computing, across dozens of electronics, services, and digital and physical product categories. The new hedge fund was launched on on March 15 of this year.
Gold is Espial’s Portfolio Manager. While at GGHC, he managed a portfolio of separately managed accounts. Prior to that, he was a research analyst at Coatue Management, which he joined in December 2007, and at EnTrust Capital, where, from 2005 onwards, Adam covered EnTrust’s technology, media and telecommunication investments.
Joining Gold is Alex Schecter, Espial’s COO. Prior to Espial, he was COO at Roaring Brook Capital where he was responsible for the fund’s core operational infrastructure and processes. Prior to Roaring Brook, he worked for ten years at Merrill Lynch’s equity research department.
New York (HedgeCo.net) – Wilmington Trust has launched a new mutual fund, Wilmington Rock Maple Alternatives Fund, which provides exposure to a diverse set of alternative strategies. The new fund is managed by Wilmington Funds Management Corporation (WFMC), a Wilmington Trust company, in partnership with Wilmington Trust Investment Advisors, Inc. (WTIA), and Rock Maple Services, LLC (Rock Maple), an investment advisor specializing in alternative investments (AUA$800 million).
“We firmly believe investors wanting hedge fund strategies can benefit most from exposure to these strategies through an independent multi manager vehicle.” Doug Fincher, president and CEO of Rock Maple, said, ”Our partnership with Wilmington Trust allows us to provide this expertise in a mutual fund structure.”
The fund’s portfolio managers selected eight independent sub-advisors, which will oversee separate sub-portfolios of the fund in accordance with specific parameters, constraints, and risk-return objectives. The fund also has assets invested in two independently managed mutual funds. It commenced investment operations on Jan. 12, 2012.
“We are excited to offer clients a new vehicle to diversify their investment exposures and dampen the overall volatility of their portfolios,” said Sam Fraundorf, CFA, president of WTIA. “We are pleased to partner with Rock Maple Funds to launch this product and deliver a truly unique fund for our clients.”
“Diversification among managers and strategies is a key element in pursuing our investment objective,” said Greg Silberman, CA (SA), CFA, vice president and director of hedge funds for Wilmington Trust. “We believe the fund can generate consistent, risk-adjusted returns by adhering to the strict, clearly defined processes in place for manager selection, portfolio construction, and risk management.”
According to a recent report by Morningstar®, assets in alternative mutual funds totaled nearly $80 billion as of Dec. 31, 2011. Such funds accounted for less than one percent of all mutual fund assets.
You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
New York (HedgeCo.net) – Steffen Gruschka’s Emerging Europe investment boutique has launched the Ukraine-dedicated L/S equity fund with seed capital from European Institutional Investors. The Euro 2012 gives Ukraine an immense opportunity to boost its international profile and raise investors’ awareness of the country that Mr. Gruschka has been investing in for more than a decade already and that trades at a low single digit p/e.
Ukraine is the largest country in Europe and has a unique geopolitical advantage serving a bridge between Europe and Asia. The potential EU-Ukraine association and free trade area agreement will enhance political and economic integration of Ukraine with the EU, its largest trade partner, and will create a strong momentum for economic and political reforms improving the country’s business and investment climate.
Known as a breadbasket of Europe, Ukraine accounts for a quarter of Europe’s arable land and is endowed with a third of the world’s reserves of the most fertile black earth. It is also strategically important for the whole world as a source for future agricultural production growth as Ukraine is one of the few countries that still has potential to significantly increase its agricultural production, up to four-fold in the longer term. As global food shortages become an increasing concern, food, rather than energy resources, becomes of paramount importance which makes Ukrainian agricultural sector an extremely attractive investment opportunity.
Together with the country’s strategic location, high-growth agriculture and heavy industry sectors, Ukraine’s bright future stems from its highly educated population. Ukraine has a 100% literacy rate and is renowned for its academic and scientific excellence, particularly in math and engineering, which is nourishing the country’s fast growing technology and innovation sector that is set to become an important part of the domestic economy.
SG Alpha has already generated impressive alpha in its Ukrainian investments within the SG Alpha Emerging Europe Fund and deems that now, when the Ukrainian equity market is trading at one of its highest historical discounts, is the best entry point to create a Ukraine-dedicated fund to fully participate in the country’s unrivalled growth opportunity and further leverage on the investment team’s unique expertise in this market.
SG Alpha will market the SG Alpha Ukraine Fund to Institutional Investors in Europe and worldwide.
About SG Alpha:
SG Alpha was established in the autumn of 2009 and launched its first fund, the SG Alpha Emerging Europe Fund, in December 2009. Steffen Gruschka, founder and manager of the Fund, is one of the most experienced Eastern European managers with a track record of 14 years. Mr. Gruschka was previously responsible for several of Deutsche Bank’s Long-only Eastern European funds which grew to over USD 5 billion in AuM during his management. SG Alpha’s investment process is based on fundamental equity research and active investing.
You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
New York (HedgeCo.net) -Orwell Capital, a UK based hedge fund manager, is launching two absolute return funds in Q2 2012.
The funds, Orwell Currency Alpha I and II, aim to generate consistent positive returns through a systematic investment strategy using a proprietary analytical model to select investment opportunities on G10 currency pairs through spot trades.
Investment decisions are made by the model, which identifies market trends early, these typically last from a few days to a few weeks. This is a key differentiator as investments are made on factual market behaviour, whereas most Forex managers use either fundamental analysis to predict the market or use high frequency algorithms. The Orwell Currency Alpha funds have a highly uncorrelated performance when measured against both the wider market and competing Forex funds.
Investor’s capital is systematically protected through a dual mechanism, firstly by placing stop losses on all trades. Secondly at portfolio level, the exposure and leverage of each trade is optimally adjusted to minimise mathematically the portfolio’s volatility. This is achieved through a non-parametric convergent algorithm that analyses the cross correlation on the resulting portfolio.
The result of both trade selection and this highly sophisticated risk management is a very low volatility, extremely liquid, uncorrelated Forex strategy delivering consistent results. This is suitable to investors seeking security and liquidity on a pure asset class without a predefined investment horizon.
Orwell Capital has an experienced team of two investment professionals with a combined 35
years of market experience in both cash/treasury management and Forex trading, so bringing in depth knowledge of how to meet the requirements of capital protection and currency market behaviour.
In current markets, given the increased demand from investors, Orwell Capital has decided to wrap the strategy in a Luxembourg SICAV devoted only to professional investors and eligible counterparts.”
You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
New York (HedgeCo.net) – The Ziegler Lotsoff Capital Management Long/Short Credit Fund (“the Fund”) seeks to provide current income and capital appreciation by investing primarily in investment grade and non-investment grade U.S. fixed income securities.
The Fund attempts to produce a level of income higher than the level of current income that can be achieved through
investments solely in investment grade credit quality instruments.
The Fund applies both a macro “top down” and “bottom up” fundamental investment process which is opportunistic and actively traded through a number of sub- strategies. The Fund takes both long and short positions and may invest in both fixed income and equity securities through arbitrage, directional or event driven exposures, derivatives, and foreign securities.
Launch Date:…………………November 14, 2011
Ticker Symbol: ………………………………….ZLSCX
CUSIP……………………………………..98953X108
Portfolio ManageMent
Paula Horn CIO – Fixed-Income
18 Years Experience
Stephen Bossu, CFA Senior Portfolio Manager
34 Years Experience
Jon Thomas Senior Portfolio Manager
13 Years Experience
ServiCe ProviderS
Audtiors: BBD, LLP
Administrator: UMB Fund Services
Prime Broker: Goldman Sachs
Custodian: UMB Bank
Distribution Agent: UMB Distribution
Services, LLC
Legal Counsel: Foley & Lardner, LLP
Minimum Investment: …………… $25,000
Liquidity: ………………………………….Daily
Assets: Debt instruments, preferred
securities, derivatives, equities
You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
New York (HedgeCo.net) – Hedge fund launches in 2011 increased to the highest level since 2007, as investors and managers positioned for 2012 amid intense volatility and macroeconomic uncertainty, HFR reported.
Hedge fund launches totaled 1,113 in 2011, including 270 in 4Q11, the highest calendar year total since 1,197 funds launched in 2007. Fund liquidations declined from the previous quarter but rose for the full year, with 190 liquidations in 4Q11 and 775 for the year; the 2011 total represents a narrow increase over the 743 liquidations in 2010.
The total number of funds rose to 9,523 in 2011, while total hedge fund industry capital rose by 3 percent to $2.02 Trillion HFR said.
New York (HedgeCo.net) – Credit Suisse’s Asset Management Division has announced the launch of the Credit Suisse Liquid Alternative Fund. The fund seeks to offer access to hedge fund-like returns, with the flexibility of daily liquidity, increased transparency and 1099 tax reporting. The fund is intended to complement the suite of alternatives-focused mutual fund offerings available through the Asset Management division of Credit Suisse.
