Apollo Global Management eyes expansion in Japan, appoints a new head for alternatives... [more]Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia: Alternative investment firm Apollo Global Management plans to build out a private equity business in Japan, where it sees opportunities in alternatives market. The global alternative investment manager announced the appointment of Tetsuji Okamoto as a Partner, Head

Asset managers credit profiles will remain resilient in 2020, says Moody's... [more]Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia: Global asset management 2020 outlook remains stable amid structural headwinds, which constrain EBITDA growth. "The 2020 outlook for the global asset management sector is stable, reflecting high-profit margins, manageable debt burdens, and sustained risk appetite am

Asset managers have a poor understanding of blockchain technology, says survey... [more]Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia: A vast majority of senior executives in fund management industry have an average to poor understanding of blockchain technology, said a survey. Despite overall optimism in blockchain's potential, 76 percent of industry respondents described the level of understandin

NY AG sues private equity manager over false claims and bad investments... [more]Bailey McCann, Opalesque New York: New York Attorney General Letitia James is suing Laurence G. Allen and the various corporate entities he controls for defrauding investors and misappropriating more than $13 million to enrich himself and his companies between 2008 and 2018. The complaint - filed

There may only be huge hedge funds left soon... [more]From Axios: Bad news has continued for the hedge fund industry this year. Overall hedge fund returns have continued to trail both the S&P 500 and a mix of 50% global stocks and 50% global bonds by a wide margin. What's happening: There are too many hedge funds, and too many of them are using sim

Alternative data blew up thanks to desperate hedge funds looking to get an edge, Asset growth remains top priority for alternative funds... [more]Alternative data blew up thanks to desperate hedge funds looking to get an edge From Business Insider: The constantly changing alternative data space is set for more growth in 2020, according to one data platform, but the datasets, structure, and clients will be different. After primarily

The Ackman surge continues... [more]From Institutional Investor: Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Capital is on the way to having its best year ever. Last month, its publicly traded fund, Pershing Square Holdings, gained 3.2 percent, putting its year-to-date gain above 50 percent - 51.3 percent, to be exact, according to a report to inv

New Launches: Revelstoke raises $1.4bbn for sophomore fund, single asset secondary, DPAM launches climate aid fund, Sumeru Equity Partners racks up over $347m for third fund, Portag3 Ventures closes $320m second fund focused on fintech investment, Amundi unveils private equity strategy, Kaiser Permanente Ventures closes fund V, at $141m... [more]Revelstoke raises $1.4bbn for sophomore fund, single asset secondary Revelstoke Capital Partners, a private equity firm focused on investing in healthcare services companies, announced today that it has completed fundraising for Revelstoke Capital Partners Fund II, L.P. (RCP Fund II) and

Institutional Investors: Minnesota State Board assigns nearly $1bn to 7 alts managers, PennSERS sets $150m for private equity, Canada's CPPIB to invest up to $600m in Indian infrastructure fund, Denmark's $450bn pension market slams new speculation ban... [more]Minnesota State Board assigns nearly $1bn to 7 alts managers From PIonline.com: Minnesota State Board of Investments, St. Paul, approved the recommendation of its investment committee to commit a total of $950 million to seven alternative investment funds during a Dec. 2 board meeting, sa

Investing: Elon Musk buys out the neighbors, Steve Cohen says Mets won't distract from his investing 'passion'... [more]Elon Musk buys out the neighbors From WSJ: Elon Musk, the high-profile billionaire who has placed bold bets on driverless cars and space flights, is known for his over-the-top antics: He appeared in a Los Angeles court earlier this week, telling a jury that a Twitter message he sent sugge

People: BlackRock's Mark Wiseman terminated for failing to disclose employee relationship, CIO to leave Church of England pensions board, RepRisk names head of ESG Quantitative Investments, Asia equity portfolio manager exits Credit Suisse... [more]BlackRock's Mark Wiseman terminated for failing to disclose employee relationship From WSJ: A contender for the top job at BlackRock Inc. was ousted from the money-management giant for failing to disclose a relationship with an employee under his reporting line, the latest high-profile in

Crypto: Ethereum gets another big development boost from Ernst & Young, Deutsche Bank research: Crypto to replace fiat currencies by 2030, Bitcoin battered: The worst crypto catastrophes of 2019... [more]Ethereum gets another big development boost from Ernst & Young From News BTC: Accounting giant Ernst & Young has just released open source code that vastly improves privacy and transaction efficiency for Ethereum. The news comes just days before the network undergoes an upgrade that furth

U.S.: Fed injections are no lasting solution for 'broken' repo market - experts, U.S. equity funds attract $4.29bn in week... [more]Fed injections are no lasting solution for 'broken' repo market - experts From Financial News: The Federal Reserve's ongoing efforts to shore up the short-term "repo" lending markets have begun to rattle some market experts. The New York Federal Reserve has spent hundreds of billions

Europe: Investors recover equity appetite following record UK outflows, M&G suspends $3.28bn property fund, UK property: Which funds are facing the biggest outflows?... [more]Investors recover equity appetite following record UK outflows From City Wire: Equity fund inflows returned over October following record Q3 outflows as savers invested £648 million into the funds over the month. Figures from the fund management trade body the Investment Association

Asia: For Australia's pension funds, it really does pay to be good, Hedge fund sends letter to Korea lawmakers on stock value boost, Why India's one of top hedge fund expects an even greater rally for Nifty... [more]For Australia's pension funds, it really does pay to be good From Yahoo: Responsible investing pays real dividends. That's the verdict of a survey released Friday by the Responsible Investment Association Australasia, which analyzed the returns of almost 60 of Australia's largest superann

PE/VC: Private equity: The bottom line benefits from gender diversity, Paris emerges as Europe's venture capital hub... [more]Private equity: The bottom line benefits from gender diversity From FT: When the private equity executive Lise Fauconnier led Ardian's investment in logistics specialist Staci in October, acquiring a majority stake, it was not just another feather in the cap for an experienced investor wi

Study: Central bank policies put the squeeze on pension funds... [more]From All About Alpha: Amundi-CREATE Research has offered its independent assessment on challenges now faced by the world's pension funds, given the policies of central banks. The subject is of great significance to alternative investments managers who represent the aggressive end of many a pension f

ESG: Climate change has made ESG a force in investing, Who says you can't trust ESG data? One of the biggest names in ESG, You can't afford to ignore sustainable finance... [more]Climate change has made ESG a force in investing From Economist: "Labelling based on incomplete information, public shaming, and shunning wrapped in moral rhetoric," said Hester Peirce, a straight-talking commissioner at America's main financial regulator, the Securities and Exchange Comm

Legal: SEC charges hedge fund started in dorm room with fraud... [more]From FA Mag: A Chicago-area hedge fund advisor who launched a hedge fund in his dorm room has been accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission of committing a multiyear fraud that involved the inflation of his fund's values, cheating investors out of $1.4 million in fees. The agency's comp

Activists: Investor to oppose Instructure's plans to sell to Thoma Bravo, Metro Bank's biggest backer reveals fresh cut to stake after boss quits... [more]Investor to oppose Instructure's plans to sell to Thoma Bravo From Reuters: Rivulet Capital, a large investor in Instructure Inc, on Thursday said it will resist the U.S. educational software company's plan to sell itself to private equity firm Thoma Bravo for $2 billion, calling the deal

News Briefs: More allocators said they would consider investing with managers entangled in sexual harassment allegations. Here's why, SoftBank 'no bailout' pledge tested as tech stress spreads, Saudi Aramco's IPO is the biggest ever, 'Greenwashing': The go-to solution of hedge funds and oil companies... [more]More allocators said they would consider investing with managers entangled in sexual harassment allegations. Here's why. From Institutional Investor: An increasing percentage of allocators are considering investing with investment managers who have had issues with sexual harassment, accor

And, finally: Russian scientists make VR headset to help make dairy cows happy... [more]From Oddee: Russian farmers have decided to make valued members of society a little more comfortable. Which members? Cows. They give us our beloved dairy, why not share technology? A farm just outside Moscow is giving VR goggles to their cows to increase the quantity and quality of milk. The Minist