Articles tagged with AIFM Directive
08/09/2010
Passive marketing would be legalised as part of the EU’s Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFM) Directive under a new proposal by the Belgian presidency, although private placement rules would be scrapped as part of the same plan, HFMWeek can exclusively reveal.
The Belgian position paper, circulated at the second of two AIFM-themed trialogues last week (the first meetings following the EU’s August recess), was designed as a potential compromise in the as-yet-unresolved debate on third-country marketing. A copy of the proposal has been obtained by HFMWeek.
The plan is based on three “major axes”:
14/07/2010
The chances that EU negotiators will meet their new September deadline for a vote on the Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFM) Directive are diminishing, with disagreement still rife as the Parliament’s summer recess looms.
A meeting took place on Monday, just four days before parliament breaks on 16 July, and there has still been “no agreement on any key issues”, one Brussels source told HFMWeek. With chances of a compromise “dead until we're back on 31 August”, they added.
With so little time left, many parliamentarians now believe that October is a more likely
30/06/2010
The $3.44bn Avon Pension Fund is to assess the potential impact of the draft Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFM) Directive as part of a major review of its hedge fund portfolio.
The fund’s current investment portfolio, which has been allocating to the space since 2007, currently allocates 10% of its overall portfolio to five funds of hedge funds (FoHFs): Stenham Universal, Lyster Watson, Signet Global, Gottex and Man Group.
“We are due to review our FoHF investments and so naturally we wanted to incorporate any regulatory change into that review,” Matt Betts, assistant investments manager
23/06/2010
Jean-Paul Gauzès, the Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFM) Directive’s EU parliamentary representative, is coming under increasing pressure to dilute his hard-line stance on marketing rules for non-EU hedge funds as part of the document’s final draft, HFMWeek can reveal.
As reported last week, the EU Council of member states and Gauzès, the Directive rapporteur in parliament, remain at loggerheads over their relative positions on third-country marketing – Gauzès proposing a potential ban on certain non-EU jurisdictions, Council backing national discretion.
However, high-level sources from within the EU have suggested that while Council has put
16/06/2010
The EU Parliament is at loggerheads with its legislative counterpart, the Council of Member States, over plans to allow third-country investment funds access to Europe, as AIFM Directive negotiations becomes deadlocked with the finishing line in sight.
Jean-Paul Gauzés, the Directive’s parliamentary representative, remains determined to push through his hard-line stance, which would see a marketing passport introduced but with the potential for an EU-wide ban on funds based in non-EU jurisdictions. The Council text ignores the passport, instead leaving marketing decisions to each individual member state – a stance favoured by the funds industry.
01/06/2010
The Alternative Investment Management Association (Aima) has hit back at a report recently published by the European School of Management and Technology (ESMT), which states that hedge investors require greater protection from regulator, saying that the study makes “a number of elementary errors”.
The report, which looked at the performance of 1,543 hedge funds over a 10-year period, concludes that many investors will chase performance “at all costs” which could leave them “vulnerable and unprotected”.
“This is exacerbated at the individual fund level by the opacity and lack of regulation of the sector, which already means
21/05/2010
The total number of European hedge funds is set to approach its previous 2007 high within three years, yet average assets under management are likely to decrease as the industry struggle to meet the challenges presented by the EU AIFM Directive, according to a recent study by Boston-based financial research and consulting firm Celent.
According to the report, entitled ‘Hedge Funds in Europe: Riders of the Storm' , while hedge funds are becoming increasingly efficient in areas such as risk management, the higher operational costs expected to arise as a consequence implementation of the Directive is expected to
14/05/2010
Growing concerns that the EU will push through its controversial hedge fund legislation have prompted a spike in lobbying efforts, including a fresh warning from industry body the Alternative Investment Management Association (Aima).
In a statement released today, Aima chief executive Andrew Baker warned that the consequences of the Directive – criticised most vehemently for its perceived protectionist approach to non-EU jurisdictions – would be much wider than on just the hedge fund and private equity industries. “Real estate and infrastructure investment in Europe would also be impacted because funds in this sector would also be covered
12/05/2010
The controversial third-country provisions in the Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFM) Directive still look set to be backed in the EU parliament, despite the chamber this week postponing a vote on the legislation for the third time.
Members of the Economics and Monetary Affairs (Econ) committee, the parliamentary body overseeing AIFM negotiations, were scheduled to vote on Parliament’s version of the draft on Monday, but this was pushed back to 17 May at the last minute.
According to a Brussels source, however, the latest set-back was a result of incongruence between Econ and Juri, the
28/04/2010
The UK’s three main political parties have reiterated their broad support for the country’s hedge fund industry in interviews with HFMWeek, prior to next week’s general election, with the Conservatives confirming their commitment to reforming the UK’s method of financial regulation.
Mark Hoban, shadow financial sectary for the Conservative party, said: “While hedge funds are only a small part of the financial services sector, their growing importance does mean that we need to keep the regulation of the sector under review to ensure that it reflects the risks they pose.”
Conservative plans to return
