Internal analysis at a fund management shop sets the price of a non-exchange traded security at $US80 — the most recent trade price that could be found. However, the third party evaluations provider used by the fund manager says it’s worth no more than US$60 based on projected future cash flows and taking into account the illiquid market. What’s the […]
Fund Managers: Turning Investor Relations Into Big Bucks
If we make money for them, investors will be beating down our doors. That conventional wisdom for fund managers is starting to look a little bit stodgy and a lot less wise. Welcome to the new new world of investor relations for institutional and alternative fund markets. The standard of communication considered de rigueur for public firms, vulnerable to […]
Pre-Trade Swaps Credit Check: It’s Time to Study the Options
Once there were two pre-trade credit checking hubs for swaps. Now there is only one left standing. Time for fund managers to ask their clearing agents some tough questions. Futures commission merchants (FCMs) are backing Traiana’s pre-trade credit checking hub over Markit’s, which was forced to shut down for lack of traffic. Concerns about the potential for […]
Securities Finance Data Analysis: A Wing and a Prayer?
Oh, what a tangled web we weave, or make that what regulators weave! If the Financial Stability Board (FSB) has its way, back-office operations executives at fund managers, custodians and broker-dealers will be working overtime to track down hoards of data on securities lending and repurchase agreements with no certainty it will be of any […]
Futures Commission Merchant: Four Steps to the Right Choice
It’s the phone call no operations manager wants to get. The trading desk just tried to execute a swap contract, and discovered that the newly hired futures commission merchant (FCM) doesn’t handle transactions in that currency. Or doesn’t accept that kind of collateral. Or isn’t a member of the necessary clearinghouse. Who’s to blame? Good question, […]
Shareholder Ballots: The Quest to Confirm a Vote
An investor receives information about a corporate agenda and casts its votes. It happens every day of the week and most frequently from February through June when most US firms hold their annual meetings. bhad barbie nude But just because a shareholder votes, doesn’t necessarily mean there’s any way to verify the vote made its way […]
Russia: Behind-the-Scenes Progress on Operational Risk
US and European sanctions aside, the Russian securities depository and regulators are staying on track toward their goal of turning Moscow into a major financial center through two badly needed operational reforms — the automated processing of corporate actions and electronic proxy votes for annual meetings in Russian corporations. In line with the global trend toward using ISO-compliant messages for […]
DTCC’s Institutional Tri-party Repo Clearing: Great Idea…Maybe
A recent proposal by the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. to serve as the middleman for a large chunk of the institutional tri-party repo market through its subsidiary Fixed Income Clearing Corp. might sound like a great way to reduce counterparty risk and the potential for fire sale of collateral, but with so few details unveiled […]
T+2 in Europe: Smooth Sailing or Turbulence Ahead?
A non-event. That is how European securities depositories; their bank and brokerage participants, fund managers and software vendors describe the migration of over two dozen European markets to a two-day settlement cycle on October 8. Yet they are all realizing that they must keep up the good work in ensuring seamless middle office procedures. Relying […]
New Criteria for US Accredited Investors: Looming Pain for Alt Funds?
The Securities and Exchange Commission might think it is protecting Americans from risky investments as it considers changing the criteria for defining accredited investors, but middle and back-office executives at hedge fund management shops are worried their livelihoods and client service levels are at risk. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act requires the SEC to […]