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AUSTRALIA

Opalesque reported that the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) released "Regulatory Guide 240 - Hedge funds: Improving disclosure" in September. This guide offers benchmarks and disclosure principles related to the issue of Product Disclosure Statements (PDS).

CHINA

China Investment Corp., the nation's sovereign wealth fund, favors larger hedge funds when selecting external managers for investing its capital, said Hua Fan, head of fixed-income investment at CIC according to a news report.

Meanwhile a report from Reuters found that SAIF Partners plans to launch a Greater China hedge fund.

HONG KONG

Ardon Capital, the Hong Kong-based hedge fund, has Launched a new Asia-focused fund with the help of a European family office. The Ardon Asia Fund, seeded by European family office Maroon, will invest mainly in Hong Kong, China, Korea, Australia, Singapore and Japan. It will also dabble in the Philippines, India, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia.

KOREA

Opalesque reported that Korea's National Pension Service with $340bn in assets, is set to start an internal deliberation and decide whether to seek legal changes to its charter and allow it to invest in hedge funds.

Cerulli Associates reports Korea's ETFs are overtaking mutual funds' growth pace.

SINGAPORE

Planned regulatory changes in Singapore of its rules on providing financial advice will have the biggest impact on life insurance companies, argue market participants. Under the Financial Advisory Industry Review (Fair), the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is reviewing whether to limit or ban commissions and trailer fees.

Opalesque reported that Juerg Kiener, MD and CIO of Swiss Asia Capital (Singapore) Pte Ltd. announced today that his firm had been granted its Singapore Capital Markets Services (CMS) licence.

ACQUISITIONS

Opalesque reported that Double Haven Capital Management (Hong Kong) Limited has announced their acquisition of the hedge fund platform, DragonBack Capital Limited.

ALTERNATIVES

Asian investors should prioritise using alternatives, according to investment services provider PDL International's chief representative in Asia, Keith Campbell Golding.

ASSET RAISING

Opalesque reported that money is drying up for private equity and hedge funds in Asia as fundraising in Asia is getting tougher, and investors are getting pickier.

EXCHANGES

Bloomberg reported that CBOE may consider an Asian hub if their London centre succeeds, to tap growing demand in the region.

FUND ADMINISTRATION

There was news that HSBC Holdings Plc, the administrator of $150 billion in assets for hedge funds, is terminating agreements with some smaller Asian clients to focus on more profitable ones.

INDICES

Opalesque reported the Eurekahedge Hedge Fund Index revealed that September was another winning month for hedge funds as the sector posted its third consecutive month of positive returns. The Eurekahedge Hedge Fund Index was up 1.02% in September.

In other news, FTSE, the global index provider, and Curex Group, a developer of intellectual property and technologies that link institutional foreign exchange liquidity with global exchange traded products, announced the expansion of the FTSE Curex FX Index Series with the addition of seven new streaming benchmark currency pairs, enabling investors to trade Offshore Renminbi (CNH) against seven major currencies at an independently calculated benchmark rate. The new indices increase the number of executable currency pair benchmarks included in the index series from 192 pairs to 199 pairs.

Macro and hedge fund views on Asia Pacific investing

James Gruber's Asia Confidential reported that after a long break, the phrase "risk on" reappeared this week as stock markets worldwide surged higher. "It's amazingly what a big splash of liquidity can do. But some of the economic data, both in the U.S. and Asia, have also been greeted more positively. Our call to buy China has gathered momentum with some reputable fund managers supporting the view."

GFIA's September round-up found that multi-strategies proved to be the star performer's in Asia over September. "Asian markets returned to their lethargic mode in August amidst weak macro-economic data
and evidence of China's downturn. MSCI AC Asia Pacifi c ex Japan was down 0.8% while
Asian managers outperformed the index, reporting a positive 0.8% return."

PERFORMANCE

Opalesque reported that Charlie Chan's Splendid Asia macro hedge fund is living up to its name, with the former Credit Suisse trader putting his returns at 60 percent this year as bets on real estate investment trusts (REIT), bonds and currencies pay off.

PRIME BROKERS

A survey from Hedge Fund Intelligence revealed that Goldman Sachs is the biggest prime broker in the global hedge funds business, both by mandates and by client assets.

Also that, according to Wells Fargo, hedge fund managers are increasingly relying on administrators rather than prime brokers for financing through repurchase agreements (repos) amid recent growth in credit strategies in Asia.

In Korea, the CFA reported that Korean-style hedge funds are flourishing,supported by prime brokers, news also reflected in Asia Pacific Intelligence's feature on Asian prime broking.

REGULATORY NEWS

Dechert's Financial Services and Corporate Groups has published an extremely detailed special alert on an update from China of the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) rules and new steps to encourage additional foreign investment in China.

Clifford Chance says it's time for international fund firms to build a presence in China in their overview of the law and regulations regarding hedge funds in China. The firm writes that there is no comprehensive legal or universally accepted definition of 'hedge funds' in China. "In China, strictly speaking, hedge funds as usually described are not recognised by law".

SEEDING

Opalesque Man Investments is seeding subsidiary GLG Partners' new Asia long/short equity strategy with $150 million in proprietary capital as it aims to build track record to target institutional investors.

SEMINARS

The Commonfund Institute announced endowment institute investment seminars in China and Japan.