AuM in private markets to grow between $4.2tn and $5.5tn globally by 2025... [more]Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia: A new analysis by PwC forecasts that assets under management (AuM) in private markets to expand by between $4.2 trillion and $5.5 trillion in the years up to 2025 to reach between $13.7 trillion and $15.0 trillion in worst/best-case scenarios for Covid-19 economy recov

CI Financial to acquire $23bn asset manager Segall Bryant & Hamill... [more]Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia: Canadian-based asset and wealth manager CI Financial announced plans to acquire a majority stake in Chicago-based Segall Bryant & Hamill (SBH), a high-net-worth registered investment advisor (RIA) and institutional asset manager with US$23 billion in assets. Terms o

Leon Black retires after Jeffrey Epstein ties revealed... [more]Bailey McCann, Opalesque New York: Apollo Global Management CEO Leon Black has decided to retire following revelations that he had financial ties to sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Law firm Dechert conducted an independent internal review and found that Black was not involved in any of Epstein

Despite recent losses, Citadel and Point72 back Melvin Capital... [more]Bailey McCann, Opalesque New York: Hedge fund Melvin Capital has received an influx of $2.75 billion despite losing 30% this year. The cash comes from Citadel and Point72. Citadel is investing $2 billion and Point72 is providing the remaining $750 million. Another $1 billon may yet come from othe

Hedge fund Tiger Global made the most money for investors last year, Bridgewater Associates lost $12.1bn for investors in 2020, Dinakar Singh's Axon Capital soared 74% last year... [more] Hedge fund Tiger Global made the most money for investors last year From Institutional Investor: Chase Coleman's Tiger Global earned its investors $10.4 billion in 2020 - the most of any hedge fund that made the annual list of the top 20 managers compiled by London fund-of-funds firm

SS&C GlobeOp Forward Redemption Indicator measured 1.78% for January 2021... [more]Opalesque Industry Update - SS&C Technologies Holdings announced that the SS&C GlobeOp Forward Redemption Indicator for January 2021 measured 1.78%, down from 3.95% in December. "SS&C GlobeOp's Forward Redemption Indicator for January 2021 of 1.78% reflects lower redemption notices than the 2.26

New Launches: Tybourne is raising money for a new private fund, Octopus Ventures to launch $136m healthcare-focused fund, Qiming Venture Partners closes RMB Fund VI at $440m, Credit Suisse launches meta thematic fund, Private equity credit investor Northstar Capital raises almost $500m for new mezzanine funds, Oakley Capital closes Origin Fund at $640m... [more] Tybourne is raising money for a new private fund From Institutional Investor: A little-known hedge fund whose founder formerly worked for Lone Pine Capital's Stephen Mandel Jr. is raising money for a new private fund.Tybourne Capital Management said it is seeking capital for Tybourne S

Dynamic Beta uses ETFs to replicate hedge funds... [more]From Bloomberg: When you start your hedge fund career at Seth Klarman's Baupost Group LLC, every job move after might feel like a step down. But that was hardly the primary issue confronting Andrew Beer, founder and managing member of Dynamic Beta investments and this week's guest on the Masters in

Institutional Investors: Industriens posts 5.1% return after hard year for its unlisted assets, Arizona Public Safety Personnel commits to venture capital fund... [more]? Industriens posts 5.1% return after hard year for its unlisted assets From IPE: Denmark's Industriens Pension has reported a 5.1% return for 2020, with listed equities contributing to the total with a 14.3% gain, but unlisted assets failing to perform as well due to the effects of the

Investing: GameStop's hedge fund fan turns less bullish after surge, Small investors ganging up online against Wall Street hedge funds as a new paradigm, Revenge of megacaps hurts investors fading the oligarchic era... [more] GameStop's hedge fund fan turns less bullish after surge From Bloomberg: The South Korean hedge fund that made a bold bet on GameStop Corp. almost a year ago is turning less bullish on the U.S videogame retailer's stock following a seemingly endless rally that has wrong-footed many sho

SPACs: SPAC launches leap, but institutions are wary, Foley-backed SPAC agrees to $7.3bn deal with Blackstone's Alight, The inside story of Fortress's successful SPAC business, Ruffer: SPAC mania could be one of 'greatest financial follies' ever... [more] SPAC launches leap, but institutions are wary From PIonline.com: The huge increase in the number of SPAC launches in 2020 continues apace, but so far, most institutional investors still are on the sidelines when it comes to investing directly in them. There were 248 special purpose

Crypto: Crypto hedge funds underperformed Bitcoin during rally last year, Bitcoin rebound to $40,000 in doubt as Grayscale Fund flows slow, BoE Governor: Cryptocurrencies of today are destined to fail long term, Harvard, Yale, Brown endowments have been buying Bitcoin for at least a year... [more] Crypto hedge funds underperformed Bitcoin during rally last year From Bloomberg: Actively managed cryptocurrency hedge-funds underperformed Bitcoin during the largest digital asset's bull run last year, according to Crypto Fund Research. The funds' average rate of return was 166%,

M&A: Lehner Investments acquires Catana Capital... [more]Opalesque Industry Update - The shares of the German FinTech company Catana Capital GmbH (Catana), a pioneer in Big Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven asset management, will be fully acquired by its strategic partner Lehner Investments AG (LIAG). The acquisition will be made in exchang

Commodity: Oil buying fades as risks shift to downside, Commodities ETFs rally as stocks melt down... [more] Oil buying fades as risks shift to downside From Reuters: Hedge funds purchased petroleum derivatives for the 11th consecutive week, but the buying impulse that started with the announcement of successful coronavirus vaccines appears to be fading. Hedge funds and other money manage

Property: ElmTree teams up with Guggenheim in $600m real estate dealt, Founder of Claure-backed hedge fund buys Gables Estates mansion, Pent-up wall of money set to pour into Asian property... [more] ElmTree teams up with Guggenheim in $600m real estate dealt From Institutional Investor: Real estate private equity manager ElmTree Funds is partnering with investment firm Guggenheim Investments to buy industrial e-commerce assets in the U.S., with Guggenheim making a $600 million equ

Europe: Cash flows into European funds surged more than 60% in 2020, Global managers fail to meet U.K. cost transparency standards, Europe's sudden IPO revival breaks slow two-year streak... [more] Cash flows into European funds surged more than 60% in 2020 From CNBC: The European fund industry saw a deluge of investment in 2020, with net inflows rising by around 61.6%, according to new figures from Refinitiv Lipper. Across the year, overall net inflows into European funds we

Asia: Shanghai to be financial hub for yuan-denominated assets, Singapore's SGX and Temasek partner to bolster digital asset infrastructure... [more] Shanghai to be financial hub for yuan-denominated assets China Daily: Foreign institutions to increase participation in sectors like securities, insurance. Although it is still uncertain as to how long COVID-19 will ravage humanity and wreak havoc on markets worldwide, indications poin

PE/VC: Venture capital takes off: How the lines between VC and PE are blurring, Global venture capital clusters in fewer firms, Bumper year for UK private equity as deals soar 257%... [more] Venture capital takes off: How the lines between VC and PE are blurring From PE News: As 2020 came to an end, Ian Connatty, managing director of British Patient Capital (BPC), had good reason to feel satisfied with the progress of the organisation that he helped set up in 2018. In

Study: Active managers kept losing out to passive, even after markets crashed, Secondary deals plummeted in 2020. Here's why... [more] Active managers kept losing out to passive, even after markets crashed Passively managed funds weathered the market volatility of 2020, highlighting the need for active funds to deliver better and more consistent performances in order to slow the erosion of marketshare, according to th

ESG: Resisting diversity could lead to termination, NYC's biggest pension funds vote to divest $4bn from fossil fuels, Investors offer advice to ministers for U.K.'s low-carbon ambitions, ECB sets up climate change centre, to invest in new BIS green bond fund... [more] Resisting diversity could lead to termination From PIonline.com: Foundations argue that scrutiny of investment consultants and money managers lagging on the diversity front will only move the needle so far. For firms failing to meet diversity goals set by foundations, the best recourse

News Briefs: Double our fees or we quit: Brevan Howard's ultimatum to BH Global & Macro boards, Hargreaves multi-manager funds stung by lingering Woodford exposure in second value assessment, Family offices building up infra and healthtech assets, China surpasses US as top destination for foreign investment... [more] Double our fees or we quit: Brevan Howard's ultimatum to BH Global & Macro boards From City Wire: Hedge fund manager Brevan Howard has stunned investors in BH Global (BHGG) and BH Macro (BHMG) demanding a doubling in its annual management charges and a return to performance fees, threa

And, finally: COVID concerns taken too far... [more]A California man who police said claimed to be too afraid to fly due to COVID-19 hid out for three months in a secured area of O'Hare International Airport until his weekend arrest, prosecutors said Sunday. Aditya Singh, 36, is charged with felony criminal trespass to a restricted area of an air