Posts Tagged ‘Prime Brokerage’

Investor Relations, Optional Chaos And Institutional Selling

February 6th, 2010

Today, we’ll concentrate on what happened last week when the markets were shelled by broad-based institutional selling. Our sample data showed anonymous electronic order flow accounted for 42% of all trading Nov 5-9 and an astonishing 69% of volume on Nov 8.

What happened, why does it matter, and what’s to be learned, IROs?

Looking first at what happened, we believe institutions abandoned the orderliness of prime brokerage relationships where broker-dealers employ technology, access to liquidity and their own capital to control execution costs for clients and effect minimal impact on market structure. Instead, it appears that institutions connected directly to the markets in a nearly desperate effort to reduce exposure to equities. Whatever the reasons, the astounding role of anonymous execution platforms like Archipelago on Nov 8 was indisputable.

Why did it happen? Two reasons: First, we can’t overlook fear. Quantitative and fundamental investors alike are trading in four or five-day increments and making swift changes. Second, options set to expire this Friday, Nov 16 include currency and treasury futures as well as security futures. » Read more: Investor Relations, Optional Chaos And Institutional Selling

The Comeback of the Hedge Fund of Funds: London Based Hedge Fund of Funds and Investors Set the Record Straight

December 31st, 2009

 
London, July 7th, 2008 — Opalesque, the world’s largest subscription-based publisher covering the alternative investment industry, has just launched the seventh issue of its groundbreaking Roundtable Series: Opalesque U. K. Roundtable (download here: http://www. opalesque. com/index. php?act=static?=RoundtableUK)
 
Remember a couple of years ago various reports claimed funds of hedge funds were doomed because of the multi-strategy managers? The fund of funds didn’t look to good back then. This Opalesque UK Roundtable held June 5th 2008 in London offers some important updates on this discussion.
 
 
In addition, you will read:
l Which strategies work and are in demand since the credit crunch?
l Why this is not the time to go into passive investments
l For what strategies is the credit crunch actually a good environment, who is striving
l You hear a lot about that difficulty of valuing collateral – why this complaint is often without merit
l Vital points investors often overlook in discussing fees with hedge funds
l What UK based managers say about the FSA principles-based regulation
l What US investors often don’t understand about UK regulations
 
The Opalesque UK Roundtable was sponsored by Newedge Prime Brokerage Group (www. newedgegroup. com) and took place in their London office with the following participants:
 
l David Harding, Founder and CEO of Winton Capital Management
l Paul Dunning, CEO, Financial Risk Management Limited (FRM)
l Tim Haywood, CEO of Augustus Asset Managers Ltd. (formerly known as Julius Baer Investments Ltd. )
l Stephen Oxley, Managing Director PAAMCO Europe (Pacific Alternative Asset Management Company)
l Joe Leitch, Co-Founder and COO of Rubicon Fund Management
l Karsten Schröder, Founding Partner and CEO of Amplitude Capital
l Gerard Gardner, Partner, North Asset Management
l Alistair (Ali) Lumsden, Portfolio Manager, CQS Management
l Mark Salem, Managing Director of Mount Capital
l Duncan Crawford, Head of Capital Introductions, Newedge Prime Brokerage Group
l Philippe Teilhard de Chardin, Global Head of Prime Brokerage, Newedge Group


The Opalesque U. K. Roundtable Script can be downloaded here: http://www. opalesque. com/index. php?act=static?=RoundtableUK
All other previously published Opalesque Roundtable Scripts (New Zealand (March 17th), Australia (March 25th), Singapore Roundtable (April 24th), Hong Kong (May 1st), Japan (May 23rd), New York (June 11th) can be downloaded here: http://www. opalesque. com/index. php?act=archiveRT
Matthias Knab, Director of Opalesque Ltd, moderates the Opalesque Roundtables. Matthias Knab is an internationally recognized expert on hedge funds and alternatives and has frequently served as chairman of hedge fund conferences in New York, Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Miami, Bahamas, Stockholm, Dubai etc. In addition, he has presented or moderated at hedge fund events in Sydney, Cape Town, Madrid, and Bombay, and lectured at numerous universities on the subjects of hedge funds and the state of the global alternative asset management industry.
 
About Opalesque:
Opalesque leads the finance media space for its in-depth and innovative products. Since February 2003, Opalesque is publishing Alternative Market Briefing, the premium news service on hedge funds and alternatives. The launch of these Briefings was a revolution in the hedge fund media space (”Opalesque changed the world by bringing transparency where there was opacity and by delivering an accurate professional reporting service. ” – Nigel Blanchard, Culross) combining proprietary news with the “clipping service” approach of integrating third party news. Each week, Opalesque publications are read by more than 400,000 industry professionals in over 100 countries.
Opalesque is the only daily hedge fund publisher which is actually read by the elite managers themselves (http://www. opalesque. com/op_testimonials. html). For more information, please go to http://www. opalesque. com.
About Opalesque publications:
Alternative Market Briefing:
A daily newsletter on the global hedge fund industry, highly praised for its completeness and timely delivery of the most important daily news for professionals dealing with hedge funds. Alternative Market Briefing offers both a quick overview and in-depth coverage. Subscribers can also access the industry’s largest news archive ( 27,000+ articles ) on hedge funds and related topics.
A SQUARE:
Opalesque A SQUARE = Alternative Alternatives is the first web publication, globally, that is dedicated exclusively to alternative investments. A SQUARE’s weekly selection feature unique investment opportunities that bear virtually no correlation to the main stream hedge fund strategies and/or distinguish themselves by virtue of their “alternative” motive – social, behavioural, natural resources, sustainable /environment related investing.
With its “research that reveals” approach, fast facts and investment oriented analysis, A SQUARE offers diversification and complementary ideas for: private, high net-worth and institutional investors, pension funds and endowments, portfolio and hedge funds managers. Technical Research Briefing:
Delivers three times a week a global perspective/overview on all major markets, including Equity Indices, Fixed Income, Currencies, and Commodities. Opalesque Technical Research is unique compared to most available research which is fundamental in nature, and not technically (chart) oriented.
Opalesque Roundtable Series:
In an Opalesque Roundtable, we unite some of the leading hedge fund managers (single and multi strategy managers) as well as representatives of the local investor base (institutions, fund of funds, advisers) to gain unique insights into the specific idiosyncrasies and developments, the issues and advantages of individual global hedge fund centers.
No matter if you are a hedge fund investor looking for new talent, a hedge fund interested in diversifying your investor base or a service provider looking for new clients, you will get to know some of the leading heads of each hedge fund center and find invaluable information and intelligence right on your desk, without any travel involved.
For more information, please go to Hedge Funds News | Alternative Investment News

Investor Relations, Optional Chaos And Institutional Selling

December 14th, 2009

Today, we’ll concentrate on what happened last week when the markets were shelled by broad-based institutional selling. Our sample data showed anonymous electronic order flow accounted for 42% of all trading Nov 5-9 and an astonishing 69% of volume on Nov 8.

What happened, why does it matter, and what’s to be learned, IROs?

Looking first at what happened, we believe institutions abandoned the orderliness of prime brokerage relationships where broker-dealers employ technology, access to liquidity and their own capital to control execution costs for clients and effect minimal impact on market structure. Instead, it appears that institutions connected directly to the markets in a nearly desperate effort to reduce exposure to equities. Whatever the reasons, the astounding role of anonymous execution platforms like Archipelago on Nov 8 was indisputable.

Why did it happen? Two reasons: First, we can’t overlook fear. Quantitative and fundamental investors alike are trading in four or five-day increments and making swift changes. Second, options set to expire this Friday, Nov 16 include currency and treasury futures as well as security futures.

With concerns ranging from the real impact of credit issues, to currency disparities, to geopolitical mayhem potentially rendering forward risk-management derivatives wildly out of whack versus underlying assets, institutions pared back the asset base. By forcing down stock prices through the simple act of selling, forward risks were alleviated because leverage relative to puts and calls ratcheted down. Interestingly, the REAL quad-witching next month on December 21 won’t include currency and treasury futures because they expire on Dec 14. So we had an unusual, but telling, day in November. » Read more: Investor Relations, Optional Chaos And Institutional Selling