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.
Reuters – GLG Partners, among the world’s largest hedge-fund managers, is launching an oil production company that will be listed on the London Stock Exchange this fall, people familiar with the plans said on Monday.
GLG, based in London but listing its own stock in New York, intends to seed a venture called Lothian, that will be floated on the London Stock Exchange in September and then acquire oil production assets worldwide. Lothian would begin with a market value of about $500 million, said the sources, who were not authorized to speak for attribution because the venture is still in the planning phases.
HedgeCo.net (West Palm Beach) – ALTIN, the London and Swiss-listed fund of hedge funds, has released a full disclosure of its underlying investments and weightings. ALTIN has adopted a position of total transparency, and holds one of the world’s longest track records as an exchange-listed fund of hedge funds.
ALTIN has reduced its cash allocation from 14% on 1 March 2009 to 6.3% on 1 July 2009, as part of an active investment programme into hedge funds to benefit from the current investment opportunities. The portfolio, featuring more than 30 underlying funds representing 10 different strategies, is particularly well diversified and boasts a positive performance of +5.18%[1] to date in 2009.
Only approximately 20% of funds held by ALTIN have restricted redemptions of one form or another. This relatively low proportion does not affect ALTIN as, being a fixed-capital investment company, it is not faced with redemption requests.
The portfolio’s great liquidity allows the investment manager to perform a dynamic management and benefit from the current investment opportunities. The manager has thus launched a significant investment programme in the past months.
ALTIN AG was launched in December 1996 and has been listed on the Swiss Stock Exchange since its inception as well as on the London Stock Exchange since 2001. ALTIN is a multi-strategy fund of hedge funds investing in more than 30 hedge funds representing various investment styles. The Company holds one of the world’s longest track records as an exchange-listed fund of hedge funds. Its objective is to generate an absolute annual return in US dollars terms with lower volatility than equity markets.
ALTIN is managed by 3A SA (Alternative Asset Advisors), a management firm specialised in alternative investments and member of the SYZ & CO Group.
3A currently manages more than USD 2.1 billion in hedge fund assets. 3A also provides alternative research and due-diligence services on an additional USD 4 billion in alternative investments.
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West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) – European hedge fund manager, NB Private Equity Partners (NBPE), and a new fund launched by Altus, ‘Altus Resource Capital,’ have been accepted by The London Stock Exchange into the The Specialist Fund Market (SFM).
As an EU Regulated Market, SFM is designed to offer access for specialist investment vehicles targeting institutional, professional and highly knowledgeable investors. It’s admission standards offer sufficient flexibility for single strategy hedge funds, private equity funds and other alternative strategies and structures. The market is open to both UK and international issuers.
"We are delighted to welcome two new funds to the Specialist Fund Market today. Altus Resource Capital demonstrates that despite the wider economic climate, London’s investors continue to be responsive to new investment opportunities, (Altus recently raised GBP26 million ($43 million) for the launch)." Tracey Pierce, Head of Equity Primary Markets at London Stock Exchange Group, said, "NB Private Equity Partners’ decision to join highlights some of the London markets’ other key strengths: the enhanced liquidity and increased investor profile that they offer to issuers on an ongoing basis."
"We are very pleased to launch Altus Resource Capital (ARC) on the Specialist Fund Market today." Marc Gordon, partner at Nimrod Capital LLP, placing agents for Altus Resource Capital, commented, "This is our second successful fundraising within 12 months on the London market. The Specialist Fund Market has provided the flexibility to bring the new fund to the attention of leading asset managers and to attract interest even in these difficult times."
Since the start of 2008, a number of specialist funds have taken advantage of new opportunities to access London-based investors through the London Stock Exchange’s Main Market and Specialist Fund Market, including: Boussard and Gauvaudan Holdings, BH Global, Castle Alternative Invest, FRM Diversified Alpha, Marwyn Value, and MW Tops. They benefit from the deepest liquidity available to publicly quoted alternative investment vehicles.
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AltAssets – NB Private Equity Partners, the private equity fund of funds that emerged from failed US investment bank Lehman Brothers, is looking to list its shares on the Specialist Fund Market of the London Stock Exchange.
The company will retain its current listing on Euronext Amsterdam and so, if successful, will trade in both London and Amsterdam.
NBPE is not offering any new Shares or other securities in connection with the listing.
London Stock Exchange – Hedge funds that short stocks as part of their investment strategy should be forced to pay a levy to support research into the impact of the tactic on the markets, according to a new manifesto for the "fundamental reform" of corporate governance.
The document, published by corporate oversight and social responsibility consultancy PIRC, calls for the charge to be introduced alongside enhanced disclosure of listed companies’ pay and benefits, as well as binding shareholder votes on audit committee reports and remuneration policies.
Times Online – Shares in the London Stock Exchange dropped nearly 10 per cent or 50½p to a four-year low of 463½p amid fears that its trading update tomorrow will show another dramatic slump in the value of equities traded as struggling hedge funds withdraw cash.
Dame Clara Furse, the outgoing chief executive, has seen a 77 per cent fall in the share price of Europe’s biggest stock market from its £19.77 peak a year ago as it has been bedevilled by falling equity volumes and mounting competition from electronic platforms such as Chi-X and Bats. Direct Edge in the US, which has a deal with London’s Plus Markets, yesterday announced that it would convert to an exchange in the last quarter of this year.
Credit Suisse cut its target price to 495p and slashed earnings forecasts, saying the value of equities traded in London had fallen by about 30 per cent in the last three months of 2008 against a year ago and it expected these falls to continue.
West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) – Hedge fund technology and administration provider GlobeOp Financial Services has been ranked in both the FinTech 100 and the RiskTech 100.
"Technology is central to GlobeOp’s hedge fund services and this dual recognition is timely as current market uncertainty underlines the value of a robust, risk-driven technology infrastructure to fund managers and their investors," said Bob Schwartz, GlobeOp chief technology officer. "Our platform represents more than 500 man-years of development. Just as client services benefit from the Wall Street experience of GlobeOp’s senior management, we also apply front office technology techniques to operations processing to achieve risk reduction benefits for our clients."
Addressing current market challenges for hedge funds, Vernon Barback, GlobeOp chief operating officer added, "New market fundamentals – such as risk diversification and cost-efficiency – are accelerating the outsourcing trend as a means of mitigating operational risk. The FinTech 100 and RiskTech 100 rankings are useful benchmarks as funds seek independent, un-conflicted service providers, which can combine technology management and innovation, deep domain knowledge in operations and risk measurement, scalable infrastructure and a healthy balance sheet."
The FinTech 100, published by American Banker and research firm Financial Insights, ranked GlobeOp in 51st position after analyzing more than 400 companies who derive more than a third of revenues from financial services.
The RiskTech 100, published by Chartis Research, recognizes leading global technology firms active in risk management services. Ranking 52nd, GlobeOp earned one of the highest scores for innovation in the RiskTech 100, and strong scores for core technology, customer satisfaction and organizational strength. The 2008 report identified 100 leading companies from 3,200 initial candidates, more than 800 risk technology buyer surveys, and interviews with vendors and buyers across 15 countries.
GlobeOp today serves over 180 clients worldwide, representing $108 billion in assets under administration (AuA). With headquarters in London and New York, GlobeOp employs 1,800 people on three continents, offices are also located in Dublin, Ireland, George Town, Cayman Islands, Harrison, NY, Hartford, CT, and Mumbai (Bombay), India.
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