KKR taps $1.3bn Global Impact Fund to invest in Australian carbon offset business Greencollar... [more]Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia: Global private equity giant KKR has backed Australian carbon offsetting specialist GreenCollar through its $1.3bn Global Impact Fund, which is focused on generating risk-adjusted returns by investing in companies that contribute toward the United Nations Sustainable De

Unlisted infrastructure industry fundraising nosedives 70% in Q2 2020 compared to the previous quarter... [more]Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia: Fundraising and dealmaking in the unlisted infrastructure industry sees declines in the second quarter of the year as COVID-19 began to impact significantly, said a report. According to the Preqin report, fundraising activity slowed, with the $12bn secured by infras

Eurekahedge Hedge Fund Index up 1.38% in June, -1.28% YTD... [more]Opalesque Industry Update - The Eurekahedge Hedge Fund Index was up 1.38% in June, supported by the strong performance of the global equity market as represented by the MSCI ACWI IMI (Local), which returned 2.70% over the same month. The resumption of the economic activity of most countries, par

Barclay CTA Index loses 0.22% in June... [more]Opalesque Industry Update - Rebounding equity and energy markets caught some in the managed futures industry on the wrong foot in June, leading the CTA industry to a 0.22% monthly loss, according to the Barclay CTA Index, compiled by BarclayHedge, a division of Backstop Solutions. Year-to-date CTAs

Ray Dalio's Bridgewater flagship fund tanks 21% as quants resume slump, Equity hedge fund soars 30% by buying undervalued tech stocks, Dorsal's long-short fund posted gains - Without the whiplash-inducing volatility of the markets. How?, Hedge fund that jumped 40% picks winners in office-free world... [more]Ray Dalio's Bridgewater flagship fund tanks 21% as quants resume slump Machines are continuing to feel the pain. Morgan Stanley's latest Quant Trends report lays bare that quantitative hedge funds - systematic macro and commodity trading advisers, which trade futures, securities and curre

New Launches: Carlyle targets $2bn for Americas growth equity fund, D.E. Shaw plans $1bn fund to target credit dislocations, Singapore's Wavemaker closes venture fund at $111m, CerraCap Ventures announces the close of its second fund... [more]Carlyle targets $2bn for Americas growth equity fund From Bloomberg: Carlyle Group Inc. is seeking to raise as much as $2 billion for a fund dedicated to mid-size private equity deals in North America, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The Carlyle Growth Equity Fund wi

Blackstone to shutter real estate income fund that held CMBS... [more]From Bloomberg: Blackstone Group Inc. is closing a real estate fund that used leverage to load up on commercial mortgage backed securities, investments that have slumped during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Blackstone Real Estate Income Master Fund, with about $1.1 billion of total investments at y

Institutional Investors: Oregon looking for diversified strategies consultant, Boston Retirement chooses Walter Scott for international equity, Pension funds put pressure on Brazilian govt to act on deforestation... [more]Oregon looking for diversified strategies consultant From PIonline.com: Oregon Investment Council, Tigard, which runs the $77.2 billion Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund, launched an RFP for its first diversifying strategies consultant, said spokeswoman Rachel Wray in an email.

Investing: This 'anti-bubble' investment could save your portfolio, says hedge-fund manager who's returned 47% this year... [more]From Market Watch: Diego Parrilla is on the lookout for anti-bubbles. In other words, the manager behind the $450-million Quadriga Igneo hedge fund's investment process focuses on cheap assets poised to perform when bubbles burst. At the top of the list: Gold. "What we've seen over the last deca

Wirecard: Argonaut's Norris says shorting Wirecard helped fund soar 38% amid 'groupthink', Wirecard made this short seller right but not rich... [more]Argonaut's Norris says shorting Wirecard helped fund soar 38% amid 'groupthink' From Financial News: Barry Norris, founder and chief executive of equity asset manager Argonaut Capital Partners, says there are two key rules to successful investing: "A highly sensitive bulls--t antenna. And

Hedge funds really can blame Fed for wrecking their strategies... [more]From Bloomberg: The next time you encounter a hedge fund manager blaming central bankers for their performance woes, resist the urge to roll your eyes: They just might have a point. A new study delivers some of the strongest evidence yet directly connecting the malaise of the fast-money investor

People: J.P. Morgan names head of institutional portfolio strategy, GMO hires two execs from QMA... [more]J.P. Morgan names head of institutional portfolio strategy J.P. Morgan Asset Management announced the appointment of Jared Gross to the newly created role of Head of Institutional Portfolio Strategy, based in New York. Jared will work closely with the firm's product teams and institut

Crypto: Singapore readies international blockchain payments network for adoption, Numbers show institutional investors investing into digital asset futures and swap trading at extraordinary rate, Chainalysis says bitcoin scammed from Twitter users is 'on the move'... [more]Singapore readies international blockchain payments network for adoption From Strait Times: Singapore has developed a blockchain-based payments network that enables payments to be carried out in different currencies on the same network, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and invest

Tech: Asian investors grow desperate for data centres, Robinhood traders hang on and win in beaten-down stock revival... [more]Asian investors grow desperate for data centres From Asian Investor: Investors want to invest in a part of the property sector directly benefiting from rising e-commerce and cloud computing. But finding assets is difficult, and prices are rising. Data centres, a relatively niche inves

OCIO managers continue to grow assets... [more]From PIonline.com: Outsourcing managers currently oversee about $2 trillion in assets, a blistering increase from $599 billion in 2011. The 10 largest managers run 67% of all outsourced chief investment officer assets under management. Mercer is the largest manager with more than $260.5 billion, up

Europe: Billionaires look to exit equities after turning quick profit, The EU recovery plan could create its own green safe asset, Dividend crisis has U.K. income funds fighting for future... [more]Billionaires look to exit equities after turning quick profit From Reuters: Billionaires looked after by Swiss bank UBS (UBSG.S) are looking to move their cash out of equities after profiting from an unprecedented sell-off and rapid rebound from March to May, the world's largest wealth ma

Asia: Majority of HK managers to promote Asia fixed income, KOFIA vows to restore trust amid snowballing hedge fund fiasco, Volatility curbs China insurers' offshore investing plans, Thai investors remain cautious... [more]Majority of HK managers to promote Asia fixed income From Fund Selector Asia: Asset managers operating in the SAR are also expected to promote global multi-asset and ESG strategies to distributors, according to a report published by Boston-based research firm Cerulli Associates. Aroun

UBS: World's wealthiest lower their private equity expectations, Wealthy clients' biggest fear in volatile markets is missed opportunities... [more]World's wealthiest lower their private equity expectations From Institutional Investor: As the pandemic was unfolding earlier this year, the world's wealthiest families began doubting that private equity investments could beat gains from stocks, according to a new report from UBS Group.

Study: Companies prepared to work remotely see better returns, Some managers see return to the office; others aren't so sure... [more]Companies prepared to work remotely see better returns - study From PIonline.com: Companies with a high level of preparedness for working remotely outperformed the MSCI USA Investable Market index for the year through June 30, shows a study by MSCI. The index provider constructed four

ESG: ESG investing in the pandemic shows power of luck, American Century Investments launches active ESG ETFs, EU green pensions regulation is moving too fast, says Leppäla, Asia-Pacific firms can become ESG global citizens, Deutsche Bank regional ESG head says... [more]ESG investing in the pandemic shows power of luck From WSJ: Does ESG investing make money? The trouble with asking about environmental, social and governance investing is that it isn't a thing that can be measured-or rather, it is lots of things all measured differently. That hasn&

Regulatory: ESMA to assess German financial reporting system over Wirecard... [more]From IPE: The EU securities markets watchdog is to carry out a fast-track assessment of the German financial reporting system following the collapse of Wirecard. The assessment will focus on the supervisory response by regulator BaFin and financial reporting enforcement authority FREP to the eve

News Briefs: Amid cash crunch, endowments consider lending to universities, Fertility rate: 'Jaw-dropping' global crash in children being born... [more]Amid cash crunch, endowments consider lending to universities From Institutional Investor: As universities ready themselves for a semester defined by the coronavirus, their endowment staff are considering ways to offer up support without increasing their spending rate. According to

And, finally: Getting out of your comfort zone with COVID-19... [more]From BizarreNews: A Greek student whose flights home from Scotland were repeatedly canceled due to COVID-19 decided to make his own way home with a 48-day bike ride. Kleon Papadimitriou, 20, a student at the University of Aberdeen, said he attempted to book flights home to Athens three times in