News
Fidelity Family Office Services, Boston, on Tuesday announced the release of new investment ownership capabilities within its Web-based Alternative Investments Administration tool, which enable family offices to more effectively track and report whether an alternative investment is owned by one or multiple family members and assign ownership percentages to each individual. Investment activity, such as capital calls, distributions and valuation updates, is then allocated to the family member based on his or her ownership percentages. Fidelity also announced that it surpassed 120 family office clients and $20 billion in assets, as of September 30, up 32% and 54% over the past year, respectively. On average, Fidelity Family Office Services' clients custody $160 million with the company.
After a drastic 11-point decline in August, investor confidence bounced back with a 12-point increase in September, according to recent data from Spectrem Group's Spectrem Millionaire Investor Confidence Index. The advance, the largest since May 2009, brings the index back to neutral territory, at minus 6. At the same time, the Spectrem Affluent Investor Confidence Index, which measures the investment confidence and outlook of households with $500,000 or more in investable assets, rose four points in September to minus 16, which Spectrem considers "a mildly bearish reading."
Pershing LLC, a BNY Mellon company based in Jersey City, N.J., has unveiled a study showing growth opportunity for hedge fund managers within separately managed account structures. The report, Transparency and Liquidity: The Growth of Separately Managed Accounts in the Hedge Fund Industry, developed with Greenwich Associates, a research-based strategy management financial services firm, details growing investor demand for SMAs. The report notes, for example, that nearly 63% of investors surveyed cited the opportunity to have greater influence on SMA strategy and input in the area of risk management as one of its primary benefits. The study also provides guidance on how hedge fund managers can more effectively incorporate SMAs into their investment solutions and attract additional assets. For information go to www.pershingprimeservices.com.
Investment Professionals Inc. (IPI) of San Antonio announced the acquisition of the bank relationships of Nexity Financial Services Inc., the wealth management division of Nexity Financial Corporation. Will Mackey, former CEO and founder of NFS, has been named IPI director of business development, and David Doerflinger, former CFO and COO of NFS, has been appointed senior business development officer and regional director. Jay McAnelly remains IPI president and CEO. Founded in 1992, IPI is a private financial planning, asset management and risk mitigation firm with $4.2 billion under management for 45,000 retail and institutional clients nationwide.
Hedge funds posted their best year-to-date performance in September, according to Credit Suisse Liquid Alternative Beta (LAB) Index Performance data. While the entire index was up 3.58% last month, the greatest positive contributor was the Credit Suisse Long/Short Liquid Index, which posted record returns of 5.41%. The LAB Event Driven Liquid Index was up 4.65%, making it the best performing sector, with gains of 8.89%. The LAB Merger Arbitrage Liquid Index posted gains of 1.96% for the month, aided by continued activity in the M&A space, according to Jordan Drachman, head of research for Alternative Beta Strategies at Credit Suisse.
Half of all U.S.-based financial services professionals are expecting higher bonuses this year than last, according to a survey released Monday by eFinancialCareers North America. Bigger bonuses are anticipated with greater frequency by those working at bulge-bracket banks, long-only asset managers and boutique banks than by employees at hedge funds, commercial banks, independent trading or research firms and professional services companies. While personal (34%) and firm performance (33%) are the main reasons for this year's anticipated bonus increases, 9% surveyed cited changing employers.
Joel Greenblatt has announced the creation of Gotham Asset Management LLC, an RIA in New York City for which he will serve as managing principal and co-CIO. Greenblatt is the author of several investment books, including The Little Book That Beats the Market. He will be part of a 16-member team that will offer a suite of domestic and international value investing strategies, with a focus on the institutional segment of the market. Robert Goldstein will serve as managing principal and K. Blake Darcy as co-CIO.
State Street Corporation, a Boston-based provider of financial services to institutional investors, announced it has increased its wealth manager services capabilities through enhancements to its proprietary platform, State Street Wealth Connect. Investment policy compliance, administrative review, trade order management and integrated account management services are among the platform's new features. State Street has about $250 billion under management, representing about 500 wealth managers comprised of 90,000 accounts within the high-net-worth market.
Marcum LLP, an independent public accounting and advisory services firm in New York City, announced that it has merged with Stonefield Josephson Inc., a Los Angeles-based accounting firm, creating a new firm called MarcumStonefield. All 150 members of the Stonefield Josephson team will join Marcum. The combined firm consists of more than 1,100 employees, including 150 partners in 21 locations, including Hong Kong and Grand Cayman.