Amsterdam is unique in that its financial history dates back to early-17th century, when equity trading was invented. According the Holland Financial Centre, a public-private organization, the financial crisis has offered a chance for the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area to regain a lead that it had lost, especially by offering added value in the form of skills and expertise. One of which can be found in pension fund management
services, others come in the shape of financial logistics and sustainable financing.
And of course, there is the nascent hedge fund industry, which now claims more than 30 single hedge funds, and for which the country created
an accommodating vehicle, namely the FGR (fund for joint account). Dutch hedge funds, which manage approximately €20bn in mostly
long/short equity (HFN) and managed futures strategies, are subject to the ordinary rules relating to investment institutions. And Dutch taxes
are easy – also for expatriates.
The Roundtable, which gathered some of the industry’s most esteemed members of the local hedge fund industry, gives us a complete portrait
of it, including the popular strategies, fund structures that are in demand, initiatives done for emerging managers by seeding platform IMQubator,
investor-bases, the relationship between pension funds and hedge funds, and the regulatory environment.
For example, find out why:
The environment has become worse for Dutch pension funds to invest in hedge funds
The pension fund boards need to fully understand the strategies, regulators tend to classify hedge funds as riskier than equity, and pension funds
have become short-term investors.
The Netherlands is a very favourable fund domicile and few know about it
Fore example, the 2007 Financial Markets Supervision Act provides the regulatory environment in which the investment manager, not the
fund, needs a license – which means hedge fund managers can launch several funds without needing to license them. The country also has a
friendly tax regime for investment funds.
The participants:
Wouter Ten Brinke, Theta Capital Management
Ivo Jenniskens, Providence Capital
Mark Baak, Finles Capital Management
Willem de Vlugt, Evaluation Capital
Jeroen Tielman, IMQubator
Robert Vennegoor, Custom House Fund Services (sponsor)
Dr. Randolph Roth, Eurex (sponsor)
also discuss:
The demand for tailor-made products
The challenges encountered by funds of hedge funds
Hedge fund managers’ reaction to the current market uncertainties
What is being done to preserve and to raise capital
The Dutch fund structure known as the FGR
Amsterdam’s place within the changing regulatory environment
Who is affected by ongoing market regulation initiatives such as MiFID, MIFIR and EMIR
The misconceptions about what a financial transaction tax could do
Amsterdam as a happy place for foreign finance professionals
The 2011 Opalesque Netherlands Roundtable took place in October 2011 and was sponsored by Custom House and Eurex.
The Opalesque Roundtable Series offers unparalleled intelligence on the most important global hedge fund jurisdictions and their players. The Roundtable Series is a free publication from Opalesque and is continually updated. Please scroll down to view the full selection of our Roundtables - covering the globe!