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It’s a true sign of the times. The two top performing hedge funds of 2018, according to data providers Preqin, are both focused on cryptocurrencies and blockchain.
Silver 8 Capital – read about them further on in this report – managed the highest returning hedge fund last year focusing on financial technology, with a particular focus on blockchain and the crypto world, returning 770.74 per cent, while Global Advisors’ Bitcoin Investment Fund came in second with returns of 330.08, according to Preqin.
Further evidence comes from HFR, whose Cryptocurrency Index was up 155.70 per cent for the last 12 months to
The Investment Management Due Diligence Association (IMDDA), an investor-based organisation dedicated to the professionals who investigate facts concerning investment programs, is to launch a professional due diligence designation program later this year.
The Chartered Due Diligence Analyst (CDDA) will be an internationally recognised designation developed to ISO 17024 and ANSI accreditation standards that rigorously tests for aptitude and expertise in due diligence. Each person who passes the exam becomes a Chartered Due Diligence Analyst® (CDDA), a designation that denotes one as an authority in the due diligence field.
“Understanding how money is invested and all the business and operational
2016 was an interesting year for those interested in the impact of cyber security incidents on asset valuations. USD350 million (7.2 per cent) was wiped off Yahoo’s purchase price after it disclosed several cyber security incidents during its acquisition by Verizon.
And Muddy Waters Capital shorted the medical implant manufacturer St Jude Medical (STJ) before releasing information about several serious security vulnerabilities in its core pacemaker products. The St Jude stock dropped over 10 per cent intraday, and Muddy Waters Capital ended the year with a 16 per cent gain.
The impact of cyber security incidents on asset valuation is
Fund administrator Apex Group (Apex) and Genstar Capital have jointly acquired Custom House, a global hedge fund administrator delivering services to alternative investment managers across Europe, Asia and the Americas.
The acquisition adds a further USD24 billion in assets under administration to the Group’s portfolio and is a strong strategic and cultural fit given its independent business model and focus on delivering a personal approach customer service. The addition of the Custom House business bolsters Apex’s existing hedge fund service arm. With offices in Beijing, Chicago, Dublin, Geneva, Hong Kong, Malta, Rotterdam, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Singapore, Sofia, and Sydney, Custom House
Golden Gate Ventures, a venture capital investor in Southeast Asia, is spinning out a dedicated fund for global blockchain investments. LuneX Ventures is a partnership between the firm and its former Head of Growth, Kenrick Drijkoningen, now Founding Partner of LuneX.
LuneX Ventures is a spin-out from the early-stage VC firm, Golden Gate Ventures. LuneX is a Venture Capital firm with a global mandate to invest exclusively in high-growth blockchain companies and cryptocurrency assets.
Drijkoningen says: “We view blockchain as a foundational technology, on a par with or possibly exceeding the Internet in disruptive potential. Right now valuations have
Alternative asset manager The Carlyle Group has signed a 15-year lease for 94,367 square feet on floors 36-38 at One Vanderbilt Avenue, a 1,401-foot office tower being constructed in East Midtown, New York City.
One Vanderbilt is now 37 per cent leased, meeting SL Green’s end-of-year leasing goal five months early.
The Carlyle Group joins a distinguished roster of top-tier finance, banking and law firms that have committed to One Vanderbilt more than two years ahead of its planned 2020 opening. Other tenants previously announced at the building include: TD Bank with approximately 200,000 square feet of office space;
Resurgens Technology Partners has acquired InvestorForce from MSCI and is to merge it with portfolio company Investment Metrics. The combined investment analytics and reporting solutions business will cater for investment consultants, wealth managers and investment managers.
The transaction is expected to close within the next three months, subject to customary closing conditions. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
Resurgens says the merger will enable the combined business to provide investment tools for performance analysis, investment reporting, investment policy statements, peer benchmarking and competitive insights, leveraging the unique and substantial data assets of the combined company. The newly
Blockchain for private equity firm Swarm has partnered with decentralised autonomous organisation MakerDAO to integrate the Dai token into the Swarm platform.
Swarm writes that this will give Swarm’s community of accredited investors a greater capability to lock in crypto prices, using the world’s first decentralised stablecoin on the Ethereum blockchain.
“When we connected with the MakerDAO team, we found them to be like-minded, community-focused technologists. Our cooperative relationship will provide new ways for our investors to create and protect their value,” says Philipp Pieper (pictured), CEO and Co-Founder of Swarm. “It removes what has been perceived as
Fintech company seriesOne has partnered with Securrency, a provider of financial and regulatory technology products for the tokenised issuance and trading of securities.
seriesOne will utilise Securrency’s platform and products to enable its customers to conduct securities token offerings (STOs) in a secure and regulatory-compliant fashion. In addition, the joint venture between seriesOne and Securrency will establish and secure regulatory approval for an alternative trading system (ATS) for the secondary market exchange of tokenised securities.
“We believe that Initial Coin Offerings and security tokens represent the next generation of capital formation for businesses,” says Michael Mildenberger (pictured), Founder
UCL Technology Fund’s first investment to IPO has seen MeiraGTx Holdings, a clinical stage gene therapy company, raise USD75 million of gross proceeds from a public offering on 12 June.
MeiraGTx sold 5,000,000 shares at USD15.00 per share. The shares are listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.
The UCL Technology Fund (UCLTF) is managed by Albion Capital in collaboration with UCL Business (UCLB), UCL’s commercialisation company, and is dedicated to bringing UCL’s research in life and physical sciences to commercial reality. MeiraGTx is its first investment to IPO. MeiraGTx’s rare eye diseases business was borne out of the laboratories
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