Benedicte Gravrand, Opalesque Geneva: There are more investigations coming from the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to Stephen Crimmins, Washington and New York-based partner at K&L Gates LLP, an international law firm. "The world of SEC regulations of the investment manag...

From Valuewalk.com: Hedge fund leverage has been on the rise over the past few months. We have already covered the topic several times in 2013. According to the latest data the trend has continued and is close to the peak reached in 2007. BAML is out with its latest weekly hedge fund monitor (although they skipped last week). In the report issued on Sunday the 5th of May, BAML notes that hedge fun...

This article was authored by Shahid Ikram, CIO at Aviva Investors, a global asset manager that is part of Aviva, one of the world’s largest insurance companies, and appeared first in Swiss daily newspaper Le Temps on Monday. Mounting pension deficits present a dilemma for trustees. New cash...

Benedicte Gravrand, Opalesque Geneva: - Stenham Asset Management, a fund manager headquarted in London, has just unveiled two new funds of hedge funds: Stenham Credit Opportunities and Stenham Healthcare, both launched on 1st January, 2013. The firm has invested in credit and healthcare strategies for more than...

Bailey McCann, Opalesque New York: In 2010, I.A. Englander launched its managed accounts and prime services along side its electronic trading platform. The electronic trading platform spun out of Englander last summer, as planned, leaving the firm with the plumbing of a prime services division. Now, that division is providing new and critical infrastructure to the emerging managers that...

Benedicte Gravrand, Opalesque Geneva: If one of the funds of hedge funds that invested in Madoff had decided to dig beneath the Madoff funds’ shiny coating and hired a white collar fraud specialist beforehand, things might have looked and felt different to the many investors who have lost out. Opalesque interviewed the heads of white collar investigative firm, who explained what they do,...

Benedicte Gravrand, Opalesque Geneva: - Switzerland is one of the most important commodity trading centres in the world, said the Swiss Federal Council in a release last week announcing the publication of a background report on commodities. This report responds to challenges within the commodities tra...

Benedicte Gravrand, Opalesque Exclusive: Stephen C. Tirrell, Partner at global law firm Bingham McCutchen, New York, talked to me about the existing legal landscape for new investment managers who want to raise private funds in the U.S., with...

An Opalesque column for global macro investors. Benedicte Gravrand, Opalesque Geneva: Financial markets have been on the road to recovery, but real economy has not, says Fitch Ratings, a global rating agency, in its latest Global Economic Outlook Special Report. In the fourth quarter of 2012 (Q412), the Eurozone and the U.S. had t...

Benedicte Gravrand, Opalesque Geneva: As part of the "sharing economy" phenomenon brought on by the internet are platforms where lenders and borrowers meet. Borrowers may seek an alternative from the more traditional lending outlets which have tighter string to their purse, and lenders may be attracted to the prospect of uncorrelated monthly income. There are two ma...

Bailey McCann, Opalesque New York: For the founders of iStar Capital, an Amsterdam-based CTA, choosing trend following as a core trading strategy was a bit of a journey. Co-Founder Rudolph Shally, actually started his professional career theoretical physics, and moved into financial services, where his work at Citibank showed him how trend following could be a winning strategy. He moved ...

Bailey McCann, Opalesque New York: For investors looking into emerging markets, specifically Latin America, commodities have often been the driver of those opportunities. Now, several new funds are emerging that are expanding that opportunity set to include new countries and different investment opportunities. LW Investment Management is one such firm. LW is a Latin American focused hed...

Orix Corporation, the Japanese financial services group, is close to buying the asset management arm of Rabobank, the Dutch lender, for about €2bn ($2.7bn), as it seeks a European bridgehead to complement growing businesses in the US and Asia. Orix confirmed to the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Friday that it was eyeing the acquisition of Robeco, a firm with €189bn in assets under management at the end ...

Beverly Chandler, Opalesque London: Dan Steinbrugge of Agecroft Partners reports that hedge fund industry assets are up slightly from their peak in the third quarter of 2008 but the average fee paid on industry assets has declined much more than reported in industry surveys. "These surveys typically show that the stated fe...

Benedicte Gravrand, Opalesque Geneva: The Cassiopeia Fund, a volatility arbitrage fund, was launched in 2003, after years of research done by the fund's founder, Dr. Michel Dominicé. This fund profit s from markets' irrational moves and proves through its performance that a rational approach to irrationality can lead to high reward. Indeed, the Share Class B ...

Bailey McCann, Opalesque New York: The principals of Forum Asset Management, a decade investment advisor have come together on a new firm, Connecticut-based Waypoint Asset Management, which will focus on emerging market lending, debt, and special situations opportunities. The founders are taking their 13-year track record of successfully outperforming in Latin America, Eastern Europe, ...

Benedicte Gravrand, Opalesque Geneva: Global macroeconomic uncertainty has driven bond yields to record low and global risk premia to all time highs. AlphaParity’s new fund, the All-Weather Strategy, which is to be launched this week, is designed to capture those very risk premia. The fund is fundamental with a momentum bias, and it focuses on value, carry ...

This article was authored by by Bartt Kellermann of Global Capital Acquisition, a hedge fund consulting company based in New York City. "It's going to happen!" - that was the refrain at the recent hedge fund event in Shanghai titled "International Hedge Funds and Direct...

From Precy Dumlao, Opalesque Asia – Family office Athena Capital Advisors, has announced the opening of a New York City office and the hiring of Zung Nguyen to lead the new office. This is the second location for Athena Capital Advisors, with headquarters located in Lincoln, MA. Lisette Cooper, Founder and CIO of At...

From Businessinsider.com: Morgan Creek Capital Management, an investment management firm with offices around the world, released its 2013 market outlook, entitled "Peering Over the Precipice."…The slideshow presentation focuses on the three big risks facing the market: the Euro crisis, possibility of a downturn in China, and fallout from the Fiscal Cliff. Of these three, the ...