10/05/2010 Author: Shannon Hawthorne

HFMWeek Daily Snapshot - 10 May

NEWSPAPERS AND WIRES
Triple A Partners, a Hong Kong-based provider of start-up capital for hedge funds, is forming an alliance with Tokyo-based OGI Capital Partners to introduce overseas funds including hedge funds to Japanese investors, reports Bloomberg. Under the alliance, Triple A plans to use its overseas network to find funds for Japanese clients, while OGI Capital will help local institutional investors, including pension funds, to make those allocations. “Our clients are facing challenges in realising their targeted investment returns to support the pension portfolios and other funds they manage,” said Hideyuki Omokawa, president of OGI. “We aim to use Triple A’s network and bring outstanding funds overseas to Japan for our clients here.”

The hedge fund industry is losing the battle to be the dominant force in the rapidly expanding alternative Ucits arena, according to analysis by New York consultancy Strategic Insight, says the FT. A number of hedge fund houses have launched regulated versions of their flagship funds in the past 18 months; however, the study revealed that few of these so-called ‘Newcits’ funds have raised significant assets, with most languishing below $100m, while in contrast, a number of more established alternative and absolute return Ucits, predominantly managed by “traditional” long-only managers, are “widening their lead”.

Hedge fund managers and other large speculators increased their bullish bets on gasoline to record highs in the week ended May 4, according to the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, reports Bloomberg. Long positions in gasoline futures and options outnumbered shorts by 70,742, up 12% from the previous week and the highest since at least 2006, according to the commission’s Commitments of Traders Report today. Speculators also added to their long bets on crude oil. “It’s a seasonal play,” said Tim Evans, an energy analyst at Citi Futures Perspective in New York “They’re thinking let’s load up ahead of the summer driving season.”

A hung Parliament has left Britain at a huge disadvantage in negotiating the final wording of the much-debated EU AIFM Directive which seeks to clamp down on hedge funds and other alternative asset classes, says the Times. “There is a real concern that the UK election result leaves a major part of our financial services industry without a voice at a critical point in the EU legislative process,” said Lisa Cawley, regulatory partner of law firm Kirkland & Ellis. The Directive, which is to be agreed today in Brussels, marks a determined effort by European regulators to crack down on alternative investment companies in the wake of the financial crisis.

LAUNCHES
Quality Capital Management (QCM), a  systematic macro hedge fund manager, has launched a new Ucits III compliant fund which seeks to replicate the investment profile and performance of QCM’s flagship managed futures product, Global Diversified Programme (GDP),a  long/short product that trades 115 financial and commodity futures. The DB Platinum IV QCM GDP Index Fund, which is part of Deutsche Bank’s db funds platform, offers daily liquidity and is one of the few current Ucits offerings providing access to a diversified portfolio of financial and commodity futures.

PEOPLE MOVES
Optima Fund Management has hired industry veteran Rachel Minard as partner and managing director. In this role, Minard will be responsible for expanding the firm's global institutional relationships across all distribution channels and will report directly to Dixon Boardman, CEO and founder of Optima. She will sit on the firm's management and investment committees and will open and oversee the firm's San Francisco office. Prior to the appointment, Minard  who has over 18 years of experience in hedge fund sales and marketing  was president and partner of Cogo Wolf Asset Management.

James Sullivan, formerly managing director of Millennium Management’s Asian business has joined JPMorgan Chase & Co. as head of Asia telecom research and telecom, internet and new media strategist, Bloomberg reports. Sullivan, who is based in Singapore, aims to rebuild JPMorgan’s telecommunications research team in the region following recent departures of analysts including the former head of Asia telecom research, Timothy Storey. He previously managed investments in Asian telecom, media, internet and gaming stocks at Millennium in Singapore.