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Published Papers » Published Articles, 2010

UCITS Regulations: The Hiccups and the Hurdles

The current state of play and what’s on the horizon

In the wake of the financial crisis the UCITS regulations are proving more popular than ever. Even outside the EU, UCITS III is regarded as best practice, with asset managers in China joining their counterparts in the US to offer funds based on the Committee of European Securities Regulator’s (CESRs) stipulations.

Perhaps the most surprising foray into UCITS territory has been the adoption of the European regulations by some hedge funds. This has, naturally, raised a few eyebrows among industry watchers, since working within the UCITS III framework appears to be the diametric opposite of the traditional way of doing business behind the brass-plated doors of Mayfair. Nonetheless, a number of firms regard the UCITS III fund as an ideal vehicle for attracting more conservative institutional investors, or rather re-attracting those made jittery by the credit crunch.

By Steve Carrier-Simon, Sentinel Product Manager for Fidessa

Published: The Hedge Fund Journal, Jul/Aug 2010

The Missoni Tapes

Navigating post–MiFID liquidity – what the buy-side really thinks

Fidessa recently hosted an evening event at the Hotel Missoni in Edinburgh where a number of institutional buy-sides participated in some direct conversations with some key industry practitioners. A range of issues were discussed, including the level of fragmentation in the European equity markets, the value of MiFID for the buy-side, consolidated tape, what the buy-side really thinks about the SOR capabilities of its brokers, and why you’ll probably only get a prawn sandwich if you have lunch at Chi-X Europe.

By Steve Grob, Director of Group Strategy, Fidessa (Moderator)

Published: Fidessa group plc

Taking compliance seriously

MENA asset managers should wake up to the potential of compliance technology as a platform for a new proactive approach to meeting a whole range of pressing challenges. As the financial world struggles to mitigate the impact of the events of the past 18 months, the asset management world is being forced to re-evaluate its attitude to risk, transparency and regulatory oversight. Against the backdrop of the current climate, asset managers are coming under fire from both clients and regulators.

By Robin Strong, Director of Buy-side Market Strategy for Fidessa

Published: The Banker Middle East, July 2010

UCITS regulations pose challenge for hedge fund strategies

Despite the move to more highly regulated and prescribed funds by some hedge funds, some pension funds and similar institutional investors remain reluctant to invest in these products.

There is talk among some hedge funds that have started to offer a UCITS III compliant fund of restructuring their offerings to overcome this reluctance. Some hedge funds have launched UCITS III funds only to find the realities of investment compliance and the consequent implications for the business have been imperfectly understood. As a result funds have taken an unnecessarily conservative approach to legal ratios and calculating limits often on the advice of auditors.

By Steve Carrier-Simon, Sentinel Product Manager for Fidessa

Published: Hedge Funds Review, June 2010

Transaction Cost Analysis – a star emerges

In today's market, custodians, trustees, consultants and investors are making more forceful demands for their agents to open their activities to sunlight and scrutiny. One of the consequences of the credit crunch is the demand for greater levels of transparency at each stage of the order flow.

By Richard Hooke, Buy-side Product Director for Fidessa

Published: Global Investor, June 2010

Pariah of the markets

As the cornerstones of a vast derivatives market that critics say has been languishing inside a regulatory vacuum, regulators and market participants have long been worried about the market for largely unregulated over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives. Some of the most notable credit events of the past two years have prompted fresh scrutiny of this market and a closer focus on counterparty risk.

By Peter John, Derivatives Product Manager for Fidessa

Published: Waters, May 2010

Putting New Money To Work

Improvements in trading technology have allowed greater productivity on the program trading desk, without which the opportunity to slice large numbers of orders up in different ways would not have been achievable. As liquidity has fragmented, the decisions about where and how much to trade have been supplemented by the integration of smart order routers or execution based algorithms. Nowadays, technology can be employed to import whole baskets of stocks, automatically generate lists and sort them by customised profile, modify strategies and adjust individual stocks. Where next?

Phillip Slavin, Head of European Product Strategy, and Robin Strong, Director of Buy-side Strategy for Fidessa are quoted.

Published: FTSE Global Markets, June 2010

Will the GCC go global?

Global capital never rests. It is constantly seeking out new opportunities and new potential. Now, it is looking beyond its home territories in Europe, Asia and the US and focusing intently on new, emerging markets. Alongside the BRIC territories, investors are also intrigued by the opportunities within the GCC and considering whether this region represents a viable addition to their investment portfolios.

Steve Grob of Fidessa takes a closer look at global investors entering the GCC market and what the implications are for the region.

Published: MENA Fund Manager, May 2010

AMT Time

With demand for over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives and other esoteric products continuing to mount, asset managers will require much more consistent trade-cycle data, pricing standards and, above all, increased risk-management tools. For buy side desks on a limited budget, even a nominal degree of process outsourcing is a good way to combat poor inter-operability between legacy systems. From Boston, David Simons reports.

By Robin Strong, Director of Buy-side Strategy for Fidessa

Published: FTSE Global Markets, May 2010

Responding to complexity

The pace of change continues to accelerate in the buy-side front office. Although the financial crisis has brought and will continue to bring with it undeniable changes to the securities industry, a number of those issues – particularly those affecting the buy-side – have been bubbling under for some time. Rather than introduce a whole new set of problems, the credit crisis has highlighted, accelerated and increased the focus on existing, known challenges and opportunities.

By Robin Strong, Director of Buy-side Strategy for Fidessa

Published: FTSE Global Markets, May 2010

Best sourcing: buying in what you can’t do without

In the wake of the downturn, financial institutions are relying on their trading and compliance technology to support their businesses in more ways than ever before. They need it to be robust enough to deal with the rigours of an increasingly complex market structure, more stringent regulations and more demanding investors. They also need their technology to provide the functionality to fill orders across multiple exchanges, and to support integrated, managed connectivity to brokers and other liquidity venues. Above all, financial institutions need the support of a solid end-to-end platform from investment decision and compliance-checking through to execution and settlement. By Fidessa LatentZero’s Robin Strong.

Published: Buy-Side Technology, April 2010

The marriage of compliance and risk (Asian version)

With more stringent regulation following hot on the heels of the financial crisis, Benedict Shea of Fidessa LatentZero looks at how Asian asset management firms can prepare themselves by taking a more holistic view of risk and compliance issues in their organisation.

Published: April 2010

more (English Version)

more (Chinese Version)

Changes: time to turn and face the strain

Published: Investor Services Journal, March 2010

The marriage of compliance and risk

With a new regulatory regime in the offing, and the promise of more stringent controls likely to be fulfilled, Matt Grinnell of Fidessa LatentZero looks at how asset management firms can prepare themselves by breaking down the barriers between legal, risk management and compliance teams.

Published: Wall Street Letter, February 2010

Asset Managers Making Compliance Systems a Higher Priority Among IT projects for 2010

Compliance is the new king in the asset management industry, commanding IT-resources as a priority and marking a victory for some solutions vendors in the aftermath of the great upheaval in financial markets over the past two years. Systems investments to support more rigorous compliance with client mandates and preparing for anticipated regulatory changes are in many cases at the top of buy-side firms’ IT projects, edging past the heavy focus on trading tools of the past several years.

Published: Global Investment Technology, February 2010