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New York (HedgeCo.net) – Assets in global hedge funds edged up slightly during 2011, despite the strong headwinds in global markets and the negative performance delivered on average from funds in the industry last year, according to the latest research from HedgeFund Intelligence.
Highlights include:
• Assets continue rising slowly, but well below 2007 peak
• Net inflows continue despite negative returns in 2011
• New York still the leading centre, followed by London
Assets in hedge funds of traditional types, which are mostly domiciled offshore or structured as limited partnerships in the US, reached $2.059 trillion (including parallel onshore versions) at the end of 2011, according to the latest research. That was a slight increase from $2.022 trillion at the end of 2010, though down a little from $2.158 trillion at the mid-point of 2011.
If other hedge funds and absolute return funds in standalone European UCITS onshore structures (with no parallel offshore versions) are added, the latest total rises to $2.156 trillion – up from $2.099 trillion a year before, but also down from mid-2011 when assets including UCITS had reached $2.256 trillion.
These asset numbers indicate that the industry was continuing to receive positive net inflows from investors despite the negative impact on aggregate assets caused by performance losses.
The median performance of hedge funds globally was -2.01% in 2011, according the HedgeFund Intelligence Composite – but, as in the last negative year of 2008, the median again obscured a significant negative skew in the distribution of returns, with the mean average of the Composite weighing in quite a lot worse at -4.44%. For overall assets to be slightly up again after such a difficult year provides powerful testimony of the continuing faith of investors in hedge funds to deliver strong risk- adjusted returns over the cycle – at least thus far.
The latest figures are encouraging, but still leave the industry a long way from the peak level of assets which briefly spiked to $2.65 trillion in 2007 during the period just before the global financial crisis. After a dramatic fall during 2008 to just over $1.83 trillion, assets have been edging up slightly every year since.
Meanwhile, the biggest players in the global hedge fund industry are continuing to get bigger, accounting for a rising proportion of total assets, according to the latest statistics on the Global Billion Dollar Club – the elite group of firms that manage $1 billion or more in hedge fund assets.
Collectively, the 340 current members of the Global Billion Dollar Club now manage assets of just over $1.76 trillion, up again from around $1.7 trillion a year before, and now representing over 86% of the industry’s total assets – up from 84% last year and 82% the year before.
The lion’s share of this increase is also concentrated in the ‘super-league’ of biggest firms that manage $5 billion or more. The number of firms in that category has edged up from 93 to 99 in the past year, and collectively they account for nearly $1.23 trillion – up from $1.15 trillion a year before, now getting close to 60% of the industry’s total assets.
The US market remains very much the top location for the world’s biggest hedge fund firms. There are currently 230 firms that manage hedge fund assets of $1 billion or more from the US. And New York is still the biggest single centre of the industry, being home to no fewer than 139 of those firms, up from
128 a year before – though the proportion of assets they account for slipped from 44.96% to 42.61%.
London remains in second place overall, and though its number of Club members is down from 63 to 57, the share of assets of those firms is slightly up, at 14.55% from 14.49%.
While firms based in Asia remain a relatively small portion of assets in the industry overall, the number of local firms in the region reaching the Billion Dollar Club continue to rise steadily. The number in Hong Kong was up from 11 to 13 during the year and the number in Singapore was up from seven to eight.
The total number of firms on the list now comes to 340 – a figure that de-duplicates for a number of big groups such as BlackRock, Och-Ziff and Brevan Howard that run $1 billion-plus funds from related companies in more than one location. This is up a little from last year, when there were 330 firms on the list.
Press Release: Global hedge fund assets still over $2 trillion, up slightly in the past year
12 April 2012
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**ENDS**
Note:
The figures shown here are for single-manager hedge funds only. They do not include or double-count money allocated to hedge funds via funds of funds. Assets in funds of hedge funds are tracked separately by InvestHedge.
About HedgeFund Intelligence:
HedgeFund Intelligence is the leading provider of news, analysis and performance data on the global hedge fund industry. The company provides dedicated information on US, European, Asian and African single-manager hedge funds as well as on hedge fund investors worldwide.
For more information, please contact:
Del Jones / Toby Bates, Merlin PR
+44 (0) 20 7726 8400 / tbates@merlinpr.com or djones@merlinpr.com
Press Release: Global hedge fund assets still over $2 trillion, up slightly in the past year
12 April 2012
Page 4 of 4
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New York (HedgeCo.net) – EisnerAmper released the fourth edition of The Pulse of Private Equity, its biannual research report based on survey results from private equity fund executives. More than 110 fund managers in the United States responded to the survey which measured fund activity, debt availability, employment and portfolio fund activity, among other items.
In a turnaround from the last report of November 2011, private equity firm managers project greater activity for new acquisitions (up from 76 to 82 percent), and report they are spending more time on fundraising (up from 44 to 53 percent). They also predict sales or dispositions will be higher for the first half of 2012. Commenting about the uptick in activity, EisnerAmper Partner Chris Loiacono said that “Deal flow reflects the uncertainty of global upheavals and market volatility, but we feel that 2012 will show a rebound as investors come to grips with international debt issues, as well as with the new regulatory environment.”
The report shows a marked increase, since November 2011, in the activity of fund teams with regard to financial management at portfolio companies, which increased from 18 to 39 percent in terms of active involvement; and in regard to operational management which increased in activity from 10 to 38 percent. As EisnerAmper Chairman Howard Cohen points out in the report, “Whether it is an M&A strategy or increased attention to the composition of their boards, PE executives are immersed in the day-to-day.”
The Pulse of Private Equity confirms a trend seen in previous editions where managers view limited partners as having an ever-increasing concern about due diligence, fund terms, management fees and fair value. For the first time the Survey asked about LP’s interest in both Transparency and Fund Management’s Ability to Execute, with more than 90 percent of GPs saying that their LPs were highly interested in these two topics.
In terms of employment, 56 percent of respondents project hiring will remain the same while 37 percent project it to increase. Fully half will be hiring financial professionals and 55 percent said they would be hiring to improve operations. The survey also inquired about the level of dry powder which remains vast and aging, but declining in amounts to be called. While 28 percent of fund capital remains to be called, fully 60 percent of the capital is more than three years old.
If the industry finds itself on the cusp of a recovery, all fund strategies will be affected.
Peter Cogan, Partner and Co-lead of EisnerAmper’s Financial Services practice, concludes that fund performance benchmarking might be critical now and that “remaining competitive in a marketplace influenced by savvy limited partners and vigilant regulators will be the challenge of 2012.”
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New York (HedgeCo.net) – Due to the new shift in regulatory oversight, Northern Trust’s hedge fund administration unit, Northern Trust Hedge Fund Services LLC, has started actively working with its private fund clients to provide the data necessary for Form PF reporting.
“While Form PF presents a new requirement to our private fund clients, the data aggregation and regulatory expertise necessary to file Form PF are core strengths of Northern Trust,” said Peter Sanchez, Chief Executive Officer of Northern Trust Hedge Fund Services. “Our hedge fund administration platform has a unique ability to capture trade level detail for equity, fixed income and derivative transactions in a single system that makes it easier for our clients to complete the requirements of Form PF. Moreover, our flexible solution gives clients the ability to choose their risk data provider.”
Form PF is a new rule adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) requiring private fund advisors to file disclosure data on holdings and risk exposures within their funds. The effective date for the new rules is March 31, 2012. The SEC requires private funds with more than $5 billion in regulatory assets under management on this date to submit their initial filings after the second quarter of 2012. Firms with regulatory assets under management greater than $150 million will be required to file in early 2013.
“We are working closely with a number of clients who must file Form PF this year,” says Jeff Boyd, Chief Operating Officer of Northern Trust Hedge Fund Services. “The reporting process is made easier because our trade data capture capabilities let us source the majority of the required detail from within our core books and records – avoiding manual reconciliation between systems.”
Private fund clients also must synthesize the holdings data required for Form PF with risk calculations, which are often generated by third parties other than the fund administrator. The SEC will evaluate how risk data provided in Form PF matches risk data supplied to investors, to make sure that risk reporting is consistent across functions.
“For us, it was important that we give our clients flexibility and choice around the sourcing of risk data,” said Sanchez. “In many cases our clients are already deeply engaged with a risk data provider. Our approach will help clients complete Form PF with better accuracy and a minimum amount of disruption. Data aggregation and management is one of our great strengths, and our clients appreciate our flexibility in working with them and their other third party providers to develop a solution that works best for them.”
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New York (HedgeCo.net) – Only around one-third* of outperformance from skill** should go to hedge fund managers in the form of fees, with the rest going to the investor according to new research from Towers Watson, the global professional services company.
In the research, entitled Hedge fund investing – opportunities and challenges, the company argues that this is wholly appropriate given investors place 100% of their capital at risk. It says that a more equitable split of the skilled outperformance is a good basis for better-aligned fee structures, which for years have worked in favour of hedge fund managers, in many instances giving them the majority share.
Damien Loveday, global head of hedge fund research at Towers Watson, said: “In the past limited capacity led to rising hedge fund fees and structures that skewed the alignment of interests between investors and managers. Fee and term negotiations were limited and many managers hid behind Most Favoured Nation clauses which were originally designed to protect investors, but which became an excuse not to offer concessions. We believe skilled managers should be rewarded and we do not believe that ‘cheaper is better’. However, hedge funds terms should be structured to allow for a more reasonable alpha split between the manager and end investor than has previously been the case.”
According to Towers Watson, the events of 2008 and the subsequent pressures faced by many hedge funds led to a re-evaluation of the value they added and the way that this was shared with investors. The company says investors providing sizeable allocations, with a long-term investment horizon, now find themselves in a position of considerable negotiating power, with the traditional 2+20 fee model coming under increasing pressure.
Damien Loveday said: “Hedge fund managers should be compensated for their skill and not for delivering market returns. The separation of these two elements is complex, but in our view worth analysing in detail. The structure of both hedge fund fees and terms has evolved since the financial crisis and we believe that both are equally important in achieving a structure that better aligns interests.
In addition to the usual annual management fee and a performance or ‘incentive’ fee, Towers Watson says that well-aligned structures will include (these are covered in more detail in the research):
· Management fees that properly reflect the position of the business
· Appropriate hurdle rates
· Non-resetting high watermarks (known as a ‘loss carry-forward provision’)
· Extension of the performance fee calculation period
· Clawback provisions
· Reasonable pass through expenses.
Damien Loveday said: “Regarding annual management fees – often set at 2% of assets – we would prefer to see these aligned with the operating costs of the firm, rather than in line with assets under management. Regarding performance fees, generally used to pay staff bonuses and equity holders and typically charged at 20% of returns, we believe historical performance fee structures do not sufficiently align manager and investor interests. Managers share profits, but there is often no mechanism for them to share losses so there is an incentive to take excessive risk rather than targeting high long-term returns. Structures that contain hurdles, high watermarks and those that defer fees with the ability to claw back in the event of subsequent drawdowns are therefore preferable.”
In the research Towers Watson says that while it has some sympathy with hedge funds’ desire to retain any perceived informational and analytical advantage through reduced transparency, it believes the dynamic of the industry has changed and managers must increasingly respect the fiduciary reporting requirements of institutional investors and their advisors.
Damien Loveday said: “The majority of hedge funds will now enter detailed discussions into the risks assumed and significant positions within a fund, however, some continue to offer limited transparency. We insist on an appropriate level of transparency in researching and monitoring managers and to encourage this, our entire list of favoured managers has been migrated onto a third-party risk management platform, which allows an independent verification of holdings and analysis of the portfolio risk.”
In the research Towers Watson recommends that, in addition to increased levels of transparency, significant contract negotiation between the investor and the hedge fund manager should include (these are covered in more detail in the research):
· Liquidity
· Gates
· Side pockets
· Key man clauses
· Initial lock periods.
The company suggests that investors should remain mindful that the fee concessions offered by managers will often come at the cost of reduced liquidity, generally in the form of an initial lock-up period.
Damien Loveday said: “Skill is a scarce commodity and investors should expect to reward managers that are able to produce it consistently. Those rewards had become skewed but, since the events of 2008, managers are more responsive to engaging in discussions with investors on fees and terms. Many have moved towards structures that better align the interests of investors and managers, and this has been crucial to the revival and growth of the industry.”
The research publication covers other aspects of hedge funds and investment opportunities including:
Industry trends in managed accounts and UCITS hedge funds
Investment strategies: Event-driven funds; managed futures/systematic strategies; and active currency
Alternative beta: opportunities in reinsurance, emerging market currency and volatility.
Craig Baker, global head of investment research at Towers Watson, said: “Despite the economic and financial crises and the resultant extreme volatility and liquidity challenges, we have continued to make significant allocations to a wide range of hedge fund strategies on a fiduciary basis on behalf of our clients. These strategies have proven to be a value-adding component of the overall portfolio, providing diversity as well as an attractive risk-return proposition, particularly more recently as fee structures have improved.”
* Total fees payable are assessed as a proportion of total gross alpha. Estimates are based on assumptions of expected alpha generation per 100% of gross exposure. This is married with the forward-looking estimate of gross and net exposures of the fund to calculate a gross alpha expectation.
**Alpha
Towers Watson Investment
Towers Watson Investment is focused on creating financial value for the world’s leading institutional investors through its expertise in risk assessment, strategic asset allocation and investment manager selection. It is a division of Towers Watson’s Risk and Financial Services business, has over 700 associates worldwide and assets under advisory of over US$2 trillion.
About Towers Watson
Towers Watson (NYSE, NASDAQ: TW) is a leading global professional services company that helps organizations improve performance through effective people, risk and financial management. The company offers solutions in the areas of employee benefits, talent management, rewards, and risk and capital management. Towers Watson has 14,000 associates around the world and is located on the web at www.towerswatson.com.
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New York (HedgeCo.net) – - The attorneys and securities compliance consultants with hedge fund law firm of Warner Norcross & Judd LLP have launched a blog for broker-dealers, investment advisers and private investment funds.
The new blog, Compliance Corner, alerts clients and friends to current developments in federal, state and Financial Industry Regulation Authority, or FINRA, securities regulation, litigation and enforcement developments. Compliance Corner also provides compliance tips, legal summaries and information about best practices.
“Compliance Corner provides important updates from the Securities and Exchange Commission, FINRA, state securities regulators and other government agencies affecting our clients, often warranting prompt action,” said Shane B. Hansen, co-chair of the practice group. “Our goal is to anticipate our clients’ compliance questions and help ease the headaches that regulatory changes can cause. Our experienced attorneys and senior securities compliance consultants provide services to a wide range of clients subject to broker-dealer, investment adviser and private fund regulations. The blog serves as an additional resource to communicate important changes.”
Warner’s Broker-Dealer and Investment Adviser Practice Group is the largest in the state and among the largest in the Midwest. Warner’s securities attorneys have extensive experience representing broker-dealers, investment advisers and private investment fund advisers of all sizes through the complete spectrum of securities regulation, litigation and enforcement issues. The group’s experience includes formations, policies and procedures, contracts, compliance testing, mock audits, employment-related issues, acquisitions, sales and wind-ups. The law firm provides legal and compliance services to clients throughout the United States.
New York (HedgeCo.net) – Dallas-based KeyPoint Capital LLC., announced that Ben Liss has joined the $39 million hedge fund as an Analyst, effective May 1, 2012.
“We are confident that Ben’s extensive, ground-level diligence in the real estate sector – combined with his financial acumen – will contribute to Keypoint’s success going forward, and is a reflection of our growth and potential in the years ahead.” Rod Hinze, Keypoint’s Portfolio Manager, said.
Liss joins KeyPoint from Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. in New York, where he was instrumental in building out a lodging investment banking practice. Prior to Cantor, Liss was an Associate at JF Capital Advisors, a lodging focused advisory and investment firm, where he built portfolio projections and performed asset level due diligence for hotel acquisitions. Ben is a graduate of Yale University.
Through the end of March, 2012, KeyPoint Capital was up approximately 4.5%, after fees.
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) – Massachusetts based Brighton House Associates (BHA) today announced that Daniel McDermott, the Founder of BHA, will assume the role of Chief Executive Officer. McDermott, a hedge fund industry veteran, launched BHA in 2007 and pioneered the concept of capturing investors’ allocation plans and manager search efforts so marketers could increase the success rate of their capital-raising efforts.
“I’m excited to be involved in a dynamic company that is changing the way fund managers and investors source each other,” McDermott said of the move. “The new initiatives BHA will introduce in 2012 will further our position as a leader in the alternative investment industry.”
The appointment of McDermott to CEO is in preparation for the launch of several new initiatives. In June, BHA will release version 3.0 of its web-based investor mandate software. In addition to several new features, version 3.0 will be released with more than 1,000 new investor interviews.
In September, BHA will host its first capital introduction conference. Entitled BHA Select Hedge Funds 2012, this event will be held at Fenway Park in Boston and bring together 100 premier hedge funds and 300 investors.
New York (HedgeCo.net) – Hedge fund advisory, tax and consulting company Deloitte LLP., has acquired all of the assets of financial restructuring company CRG Partners.
“Despite an improving economy, there are still companies facing significant operational and financial challenges,” said David Williams, chief executive officer, Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP. “Expanding our platform in the turnaround space means we can deliver even more services to our clients while growing our business at the same time.”
Effective immediately, Deloitte’s Reorganization Services Group and the transferring CRG professionals will operate under the name Deloitte Corporate Restructuring Group (Deloitte CRG). William Snyder will co-lead the Deloitte CRG practice with incumbent practice leader, Sheila Smith. Eighteen professionals from CRG Partners have been admitted to Deloitte as principals or directors.
“This transaction provides us with a significant growth opportunity and we welcome our new team members as we work together to drive Deloitte’s expansion in the restructuring marketplace,” said Sheila Smith, national co-leader of Deloitte CRG.
Prior to the acquisition, CRG Partners was a New York-based, leading provider of operational and financial restructuring services, specializing in creating value for the stakeholders of underperforming companies. In 2010, CRG Partners was the recipient of the Turnaround Management Association’s Mega Company Turnaround of the Year Award for its work with Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation. CRG Partners is also credited with successfully managing Major League Baseball’s Texas Rangers through its bankruptcy and sale.
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.”
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New York (HedgeCo.net) – Single-manager hedge funds with greater than $1 billion under management account for a mere 3.9% of reporting funds, but they control about 60% of the total single-manager hedge fund assets, according to a study conducted by PerTrac.
According to the study, 322 single-manager hedge funds reported having AUMs in excess of $1 billion in 2011, for a total of $1.08 trillion in AUM. Despite their dominance, there was only a 1.40% year-over-year increase in the assets of billion-dollar-plus funds in 2011 based on those that reported their results. (Some funds do not report to any database).
“The flight to size continues for hedge fund investors,” said Jed Alpert, Managing Director of Global Marketing at PerTrac. “Investors continue to view larger hedge funds as a better, safer bet even though industry data, including our own, indicates that smaller funds have generally outperformed larger ones.”
The institutional bias towards size also applied to funds of hedge funds (FoHFs). The number of reporting FoHFs managing greater than $1 billion in assets climbed by nearly 18% in 2011. Yet overall, the number of FoHFs declined 4.80% in 2011 to 3,388.
The study also found that single-manager hedge fund and FoHF managers located in the United States manage approximately $950 billion, or 42.3% of the total reported AUM. The United Kingdom has the second highest amount, with $574 billion in assets under management, or 25.6% of the total reported AUM.
The study also found among reporting funds that:
Overall, the number of single-manager hedge funds and FoHFs increased to 13,395, a growth of 3.73% from 2010 to 2011.
The AUM of single-manager hedge funds and FoHFs expanded by 3.37% to reach $2.245 trillion at the end of 2011.
More than half of all single-manager hedge funds and FoHFs are denominated in US Dollars and 77% are denominated in either US Dollars or Euros.
The number of single-manager hedge funds increased by 6.98% in 2011, reaching 10,007 funds.
The AUM of single-manager hedge funds was $1.798 trillion at the end of 2011, an increase of 4.2% from 2010.
PerTrac provides software solutions for investment professionals at the fund-level of investing, including pensions, family offices, hedge funds, long-only managers, endowments, sovereign wealth funds, funds of hedge funds and industry service providers. More than 1,400 organizations in 50 countries rely on PerTrac software solutions to help them maximize returns, reduce risk and operate more efficiently. Founded in 1996, PerTrac is headquartered in New York with offices in London, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Reno, and Memphis.
New York (HedgeCo.net) – The hedge fund division (Wells Fargo Securities) of $1.3 trillion financial services company Wells Fargo, has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Merlin Securities, a prime brokerage services and hedge fund tech provider.
“Merlin’s capabilities fill an important niche in Wells Fargo Securities’ product set and connect many activities where we already have expertise, including technology, custody, clearing, collateral management and execution,” said John Shrewsberry, head of Wells Fargo Securities. “This is a logical extension of our offering to the investment industry, which is increasingly focused on tools to enhance risk management and improve capital efficiency. In addition, it provides new cross-sell opportunities for existing customers of both Wells Fargo and Merlin. This transaction enhances our ability to meet customer needs and generate earnings for our shareholders, all while adhering to our disciplines of prudent risk management and controlled growth.”
Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
As part of the transaction, Merlin’s team members will join Wells Fargo Securities. Managing partners Stephan Vermut and Aaron Vermut will continue to lead the Prime Services Offering. Merlin and Wells Fargo Securities will work closely with existing clients to continue to provide uninterrupted service and focus on clients’ ongoing needs.
“Wells Fargo is the perfect partner for Merlin and its clients,” said Merlin’s Stephan Vermut. “Together, our clients will have access to a greater range of products and financial resources that will augment the open architecture solutions that Merlin currently provides. This combination will enable us to expand our client base to a broader set of asset managers looking for the safest custodians and the best products available.”
The transaction, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, is expected to close during the third quarter of 2012. Greenhill & Co. served as financial advisor and Arnold & Porter served as counsel to Merlin. Wells Fargo Securities served as its own financial advisor with Morgan Lewis as counsel.
Merlin is a technology solutions provider and prime brokerage services firm offering integrated solutions to the alternative investment industry. The firm serves more than 500 single- and multi-primed managers, providing them with a broad suite of solutions including dynamic performance attribution analytics and reporting, seamless multi-custody services, capital development, 24-hour international trading, securities lending experts and institutional brokerage. The firm has offices in New York, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, San Diego and Toronto. Merlin is a member of FINRA and SIPC.