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La Française Group has obtained AIFM approval for all its management companies.
By capitalising on its experience in the registration of UCITS funds internationally and now its AIFM status, the La Française Group is able to extend its services across Europe.
The following Group management companies have obtained AIFM approval:
– La Française AM International (LFI)
– La Française Investment Solutions LFIS
– La Française REM
– La Française des Placements
– La Française Inflection Point
– New Alpha AM
As Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) managers, the companies will be able to manage AIFs in an EU member
Carne Group, a provider of governance and oversight services for asset managers, has opened a new office in the Channel Islands.
Joining Carne as managing director responsible for the Channel Islands is Mark Hodgson, who will be available immediately to serve as an independent director on Jersey and Guernsey fund boards.
Hodgson is a highly experienced funds professional and has been resident in Jersey for over eight years. He has spent over 25 years in the financial services industry, including as a senior executive with HSBC in the UK and Jersey. He joins Carne from Capita, where he was
Swoon Editions, an online furniture business, has confirmed a GBP4 million Series A funding round to expand its business in the UK, led by Octopus Investments and Index Ventures.
The investment will be used to grow Swoon Editions’ community of ‘insiders’ (interior-savvy people signed up to its email list) as well as increasing the number of designs launched each week.
The team has grown from three to 36 in the past 12 months and an additional 20 roles will be created across a range of disciplines, primarily in the London head office, and also in Vietnam, India and China.
European private equity firm Silverfleet Capital has agreed to acquire AGR Holdings, the petroleum services division of Oslo-listed AGR Group, in a NOK1,640 million (EUR195m) transaction.
Completion will be on or around end of August.
AGR is the largest independent well management group operating globally. AGR delivers well, reservoir, HSEQ, and facilities management services to the upstream oil and gas industry. The company also offers rig access management, consultancy manpower, software solutions and tailored industry training. AGR’s client base comprises some of the largest international and national oil companies as well as a wide range of small and medium sized
Societe Generale Securities Services (SGSS) has appointed David Painter as head of trustee and depositary services in the UK.
Based in London, he reports to Bertrand Blanchard, SGSS’ country manager in the UK, and to Michèle Besse, global head of depositary control.
Painter will play a key role in launching and managing trustee and depositary services in the UK for a broad range of investment funds, including UCITS and alternative funds, and actively help develop a range of integrated client solutions.
SGSS’ full range of trustee and depositary services will include asset safekeeping, cash monitoring and oversight duties.
Some 62 per cent of small to medium sized UK firms have ambition to grow dramatically or moderately in the next two years, up from 59 per cent in 2013, according to a report by Albion Ventures.
Only three per cent think they will shrink or wind down.
Businesses in the North-West are most confident about the future, with 83 per cent anticipating growth over the next two years, closely followed by London with 81 per cent of businesses expecting their businesses to grow. East Anglian businesses are the least optimistic with 39 per cent anticipating growth.
On
There is a compliance shortfall among alternative investment funds (AIFs) on the eve of the deadline for Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) authorisation, according to research by BNY Mellon.
While 82 per cent of managers canvassed confirmed the required AIFM structure has been established to meet tomorrow’s July 22 deadline, 44 per cent will not have received authorisation from their local regulator by that date.
The survey highlights that a significant proportion of managers will have work left to complete in respect of key elements of the AIFMD regulations. For example, 31 per cent still need to implement
Arma Partners acted as exclusive financial advisor to Vero Software on its sale to Hexagon AB.
Founded in 1988 and with headquarters in the UK, Vero is an independent provider of computer aided manufacturing software, with a presence in over 40 countries and more than 20,000 customers on maintenance worldwide.
Backed by technology investors Battery Ventures, Vero is a high growth company which recently achieved 24th place in the UK’s Sunday Times Profit Track 100 league table.
Hexagon is a provider of integrated design, measurement and visualisation technologies worldwide. Vero will allow Hexagon to extend the reach of
Private equity firm Palamon Capital Partners has agreed the sale of Retail Decisions (ReD) to ACI Worldwide for USD205 million, subject to regulatory approvals.
The sale will result in total Sterling investment returns for Palamon of 2.5x invested capital.
ReD is a provider of payment fraud prevention technology and services to merchants, card issuers, acquirers and processors. The company’s flagship product ReD Shield, a real-time, online fraud prevention solution, is used by large e-commerce and multi-channel merchants in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Latin America, to boost online revenues while reducing fraud losses.
Palamon acquired ReD in a
ACTIVE Venture Partners has appointed two team members with entrepreneurial and venture capital experience.
Sebastian Blum joins as partner coming from previous senior roles in Silicon Valley’s mobile technology and VC market, while Georg Stockinger takes up his role as venture advisor bringing large-scale digital business expertise to the firm.
Blum was VP of business development at California-based photo viewing app developer Cooliris, where he was responsible for corporate & business development and partnerships with special focus on Asia. Previously he was in senior positions at T-Venture, the VC arm of Deutsche Telekom, and most recently as the managing director of its San Francisco office where he drove investments in mobile start-ups throughout Europe and the US.
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