Wealth & Finance International | June 2016
Exclusive Interview with Tech Billionaire Andy Khawaja As Allied Wallet has recently celebrated its tenth anniversary, we take this opportune moment by speaking to Andy Khawaja who reflects on the success of the company. /14
Hedge Fund Manager of the Month - USA We caught up with Jeff Kong at The Tradex Group, a minority-owned alternative asset management business. /18
Investing in Macro Trading - Investing for the Future Thomas Rollinger of Red Rock Capital talks to us about the firm’s awardwinning Systematic Global Macro Program. /32 Arbitrage Search’s company director Chris Apostolou shares his thoughts on the issues involved with Macro Trading. /34
Rising Cost of Risk in Wealth Management We spoke to SCM Direct’s Gina Miller to find out more about the company and the key issues around the rising cost of risk in wealth management. /22
Business Elite CEO of the Year 2016 We speak to Adgistics’ CEO on being Elite CEO of the Year and how Adgistics is a growing influence in the world of brand management. /30
Fund Manager Elite 2016 - Thailand
We speak to Krung Thai, an Asset Management Public Company Limited, the third largest asset management company in Thailand. /20
Hedge Fund Manager of the Month - Vanuatu We talk to Endre Dobozy, Managing Director FTM Limited Licensed Securities dealer. /20 www.wealthandfinance-intl.com
A top-down approach to recruitment Arbitrage Search specialises in front office recruitment for banks, hedge funds and asset managers. Leading in Macro & Multi-Asset 1605LB34
Retained Search Competitor Research Contingent Recruitment www.arbitrage-search.com chris.apostolou@arbitrage-search.com +44 (0)20 3823 4540 @ArbitrageSearch
Welcome to the June 2016 edition of Wealth & Finance magazine www.wealthandfinance-intl.com
Welcome to the June edition of the Wealth & Finance magazine. ZyFin Holdings Pte. Limited (ZyFin) announced on 13th June the listing of the world’s first dedicated Turkish sovereign laddered bond fund, the LAM Alternatif ZyFin Turkey Sovereign Bond UCITS ETF (the Fund), on the Deutsche Börse and London Stock Exchange. In other news, WisdomTree Europe, an exchange-traded fund (“ETF”) and exchange-traded product (“ETP”) sponsor announced that it has listed three new ETPs on the London Stock Exchange as part of its Boost product range. And Tennis champion, world number two Andy Murray announced in mid-June, that he has made three further investments in British start-ups on the UK’s most active equity crowdfunding platform, Seedrs. In an inspiring and insightful interview with Tech Billionaire Andy Khawaja, he proclaims the wonders of his company Allied Wallet, and their astounding and secure “Next Gen Payment Gateway.” As Allied Wallet has recently celebrated its tenth anniversary, we take this opportune moment by speaking to Khawaja who reflects on the success of the company, and how he would like to inspire others to believe in themselves so they will get everything they want in life. Other features in this edition include Hedge Fund Manager of the Month, Fund Manager Elite 2016, the Rising Cost of Risk in Wealth Management and the Challenges Facing Hedge Fund Start-ups to name just a very few of the select choice on offer. READ THIS MONTH’S CPD ACCREDITED ISSUE TO GAIN 6 CPD POINTS The content of the following has been certified by the CPD Certification Service as conforming to continuing professional development principles
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Acquisition International & Wealth & Finance INTL June Edition Online Learning
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4. News 14. Top 100 Financial Services USA - Allied Wallet 18. Hedge Fund Manager of the Month - USA -The Tradex Group 21. Finest in Finance - Phil Anderson Financial Services 26. Fund Manager Elite 2016 - Thailand - Krung Thai Asset Management 28. Rising Cost of Risk in Wealth Management - SCM Direct 32. Hedge Fund Manager of the Month - Vanuatu - FTM Limited 36. The Business Elite UK MD of the Year 2016 - NEP UK 38. The Business Elite UK CEO of the Year 2016 - Gable Holdings Inc 40. Business Elite CEO of the Year 2016 - Adgistics Ltd. 42. Investing in Macro Trading - Investing for the Future - Red Rock Capital 44. Investing in Macro Trading - Investing for the Future - Arbitrage Search 46. Business Elite MD of the Year 2016 - The SPA Group Ltd 48. Investment Solutions for Asset Managers - Quartal Financial Solutions 50. FundAdministration - Challenges Facing Hedge Fund Start-ups 52. Finest in Finance - Information Age for I.T. Consultations 54. 60 Seconds - SCM Direct 3
56. Winners Directory
Wealth & Finance International | June 2016 | News
Zyfin Launches World’s First Turkish Sovereign Laddered Bond ETF ZyFin Holdings Pte. Limited (ZyFin) announced on 13th June the listing of the world’s first dedicated Turkish sovereign laddered bond fund, the LAM Alternatif ZyFin Turkey Sovereign Bond UCITS ETF (the Fund), on the Deutsche Börse and London Stock Exchange.
Rising interest among domestic and international investors in the Turkish domestic debt markets has led to enhanced liquidity and strength in Turkish sovereign bonds. It is the sixth largest local currency bond market among emerging economies. The Fund offers international investors low cost and easy access to Turkish sovereign bonds.
Turkey has been all the more impressive. ZyFin is bringing to international investors an interesting opportunity to add Turkish, as well as other emerging market, exposure to their portfolios in an efficient and transparent way.” Sanjay Sachdev, Executive Chairman of ZyFin, said: “Straddling the continents of Europe and Asia, Turkey’s strategically important location has historically being very important. Turkey remains an investment grade destination and has enjoyed sustained GDP growth over the past 16 years with forecasts indicating continued growth of 3.5% in 2016. With research insights from ABank and backed by our expertise in asset management we have structured this attractive investment solution for investors who wish to participate in the growth momentum that we believe will unfold in Turkey.”
The objective of the Fund is to track the performance of the ZyFin Turkey Sovereign Bond Laddered Index (‘the Index’) which consists of a basket of sovereign bonds issued by the Government of Turkey in Turkish Lira (TRY) across various maturities (‘the Index Securities’). Underlying exposure is taken through physical replication and is therefore more efficient in tracking the index. The Index is comprised of six bonds issued by the Government of Turkey, selected from a universe of all bonds issued by the Government, which have greater than 100m TRY outstanding amount. The bonds are divided into three baskets, with each basket containing two bonds and having a residual maturity closest to a target maturity of 2, 5 and 10 years respectively. Index Securities are issued with fixed- rates and the Index is calculated in USD.
Müge Öner, ABank Acting CEO, added: “I strongly believe that the newly established Alternatif ZyFin Turkey Sovereign Bond ETF will be an important instrument for international investors who would like to focus on the Turkish market. As ABank, we are glad to be the preferred counterparty and broker of this ETF in Turkey. With such partnerships, we will continue taking strong steps to be a key player both in Turkish banking sector and in the region, thanks to the support of our major shareholder The Commercial Bank (Q.S.C.).”
ABank, Turkey, (subsidiary of Commercial Bank of Qatar) will provide local market expertise in the Turkish market with geopolitical and macroeconomic assessments, interest rate trends’ research and local market intelligence. These are all critical elements in Turkish sovereign bond market analysis. The synergies generated by on the ground expertise of ABank and asset management strengths of ZyFin is expected to add significant value to the product.
Abdurrahman Bilgiç, Ambassador of Turkey to the United Kingdom, commented: “Thanks to the steady economic growth in Turkey, there have been important steps to bring Istanbul and London even closer in terms of economic and financial relations. In this manner, I welcome the listing of the world’s first Turkish Sovereign Bond ETF on the London Stock Exchange, which will enable investors to invest directly into the Turkish fixed income market.”
Nina Shapiro (Board Member, ZyFin and former VP Finance and Treasurer, International Finance Corporation) said: “With all the global financial volatility over the past few years, the economic growth of
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WisdomTree launches Boost Volatility and Emerging Markets Exchange-Traded Products (ETPs) on London Stock Exchange WisdomTree Europe, an exchange-traded fund (“ETF”) and exchange-traded product (“ETP”) sponsor announced that it has listed three new ETPs on the London Stock Exchange as part of its Boost product range. The new ETPs come on the back of increasing demand for Boost Short & Leveraged ETPs. As of 31 May 2016, Boost ETPs reached almost $583 million in AUM. These new ETPs add more breadth and depth to the Company’s already comprehensive product offering. Market share turnover in the UK for Boost products represents 31.4% of the European Short & Leverage market.
cases adjusted to reflect fees and costs inherent to maintaining and rolling a leveraged position in the futures, plus interest revenue earned on the collateralised amount. Boost’s S&L ETP platform now covers the world’s major asset classes, which include equities, volatility, fixed income, currencies, and commodities. This brings the Boost ETP product range to a total of 144 listings on Borsa Italiana, the London Stock Exchange and Germany’s Xetra.
Boost S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures 2.25 x Leverage Daily ETP The VIX Index measures the return from a daily rolling long position in the first and second month VIX futures contract. The S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures Index ER is considered a useful tool for hedging against potential large and sudden drops in the US equity market and, historically, has had a negative correlation to the S&P 500. The Boost S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures 2.25x Leverage Daily ETP provides 2.25 times the daily performance of the Index, adjusted to reflect fees and costs inherent to maintaining and rolling a leveraged position in the futures, plus interest revenue earned on the collateralised amount.
Viktor Nossek, Director of Research at WisdomTree Europe, commented: “This years’ volatility underpinned by China’s slowdown and slumping commodities has soured sentiment in risk assets, forcing global growth expectations down and creating opportunities to position bearishly in equities. US equity markets’ relative high exposure to tech stocks suffering from recent disappointing financial results and downgraded growth expectations has added to the rise in volatility in this region. With a leveraged S&P 500 VIX short-term futures ETP, investors can tactically and efficiently position around rising risks in equity markets by using less capital to obtain the same (unlevered) exposure or amplify their exposure with the same capital.
Boost Emerging Markets 3x Leverage / 3x Short Daily ETP The Boost Emerging Markets ETPs provide 3x long and 3x short exposure to the Emerging Equities Rolling Futures Index, which tracks Front Quarter and Second Quarter MSCI Emerging Markets Index futures. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index futures provide exposure to the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, a free float-adjusted market capitalisation index designed to measure the equity market performance of the following 23 emerging markets countries: Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Qatar, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey and United Arab Emirates. With 835 constituents, this index covers approximately 85% of the free float-adjusted market capitalisation in each country covered.
The geared long-and-short ETPs tracking Emerging Markets are a way to position tactically around the uncertainty in the region, as 2016 begins with a stark divergence in the outlook on growth within the region: Russia and Brazil are in recession, China’s politically orchestrated rebalancing is enforcing an economic slowdown, even while India still sustains a boom. However, much of these expectations remain driven by volatile commodity prices, and the recent rebound of crude oil is giving EM commodity exporter stocks another boost. Until the dust settles and the economic picture for the region stabilises, investors may look for short-term opportunities to trade in and out, or hedge their EM exposure which, using leverage, requires less capital to achieve. These new products provide investors with a new set of momentum and hedging opportunities within the Boost S&L ETP range”.
The Boost Emerging Markets 3x Leverage Daily ETP and the Boost Emerging Markets 3x Short Daily ETP provide three (3) times long and (3) times short (respectively) the daily performance of the Index, in both
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Wealth & Finance International | June 2016 | News
CGT cut Exemption and the end of Mortgage Interest Rate Relief top list of Concerns for UK Landlords The exemption of residential property from the new Capital Gains Tax cuts tops the list of concerns expressed by professional landlords for the health of the sector over the next 12 months, according to new research1 by Amicus Property Finance, the leading specialist short term property lender. Concerns for landlords over the next 12 months Changes to taxation impacting treatment of capital gains 63% Changes to taxation impacting treatment of rental income 61% Changes to taxation impacting treatment of maintenance and improvements 57% Increasing/changing costs being passed on from the Right to Rent legislation 53% Rising professional fees – legal and accountancy 52% Changes in legislation that favour large financial institutions investing in rental portfolios 51% The threat of rising interest rates 49% Fall in property prices or rental yields 49% Changes in national planning rules 45% The impact of Brexit on the UK economy 44% Changes in local planning rules 40% Access to new long term finance to grow my property portfolio 34% Source: Amicus Property Finance (May 2016)
Nearly two-thirds (63%) of landlords cited the Chancellor’s decision to maintain existing CGT rates on residential property sales while reducing them by 8% on assets, as their biggest challenge. In second place (61%) is the abolition of tax relief on mortgage interest, which means that landlords will no longer be able to claim tax reliefs worth 40% or 45% of the interest payments on their buy-to-let mortgages. Instead, the maximum tax relief will be set at 20%, although the change will be introduced over a four-year period. This was followed by the tax changes to maintenance and improvements (57%), whereby landlords will only be able to claim for ‘wear and tear’ costs actually incurred on replacing furnishings when calculating taxable profits. Increasing costs being passed on from the Right to Rent legislation (53%) and rising legal and accountancy fees (52%) were in fourth and fifth places respectively. Fewer than half (44%) of landlords expressed concern about the impact of Brexit and only a third (34%) are worried about accessing long term finance to grow their portfolios.
Amicus Property Finance, part of Amicus is a specialist in the provision of short term property loans. The firm‘s property loan portfolio is currently made up of 85% residential properties and 15% commercial properties, with 70% located in London or the South East. Its loans are repaid, on average, in 8 months and it typically lends between £50,000 and £7 million.
John Jenkins, CEO of Amicus commented: “The tax landscape has become a lot more hostile for landlords and it’s no surprise that this dominates their list of concerns for the year ahead. In contrast, the prospect of interest rate rises, the threat of falling property prices and difficulties in accessing long term finance are less likely to be keeping landlords awake at night. “Despite the new tax changes, we are seeing a sustained and growing appetite for property finance driven by the inability of some lenders to act sufficiently quickly to respond to demand. We’re anticipating a strong 12 months for the professional buy-to-let market.”
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Innovative Investment Inspiring Africa
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Wealth & Finance International | June 2016 | News
Will Germany Succeed in its “Green Economic miracle”, or is it Reacting too Slowly to COP21 and Market Signals? At the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) held in Paris in late 2015, a deal was reached to limit global warming. At the Berlin Investment Forum hosted by the German newspaper Tagesspiegel, experts discussed the structural changes required in business investment and government policy in order for realising these goals. Among the speakers were Prof. Gernot Klepper, a noted climate researcher from the University of Kiel, State Secretary Rainer Baake of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, and representatives of numerous companies and impact investors, including Allianz Global Investors, Citigroup, General Electric, Willows Investments and Wermuth Asset Management. It was in Germany that the global energy revolution originally began, triggered by its laws guaranteeing power grid access and purchase prices for renewable energy producers. “Today, solar power is being offered in Dubai for $ 3 cents/kWh, equating to an oil price of just USD 5 per barrel,” explains Impact Investor Jochen Wermuth of Wermuth Asset Management. “Through this guaranteed access to the power grid, electric cars can feed a portion of the power stored in their batteries into the grid at peak times, thereby earning as much as EUR 2,000 a year – and thus significantly reducing total cost of ownership. Additionally, these cars require significantly less energy than diesel vehicles and are also far cheaper to maintain. For this reason, further investments into fossil fuels and combustion engines make absolutely no business sense.”
this corresponds to roughly USD 130 per tonne of CO2 emissions. EUR 30 per tonne would thus be roughly in line with the average cost burden for reducing CO2 emissions by one tonne. The European Commission could achieve this target by purchasing ETS certificates on the market. “Ultimately, this is about redirecting global capital flows. To achieve this, time is of the essence,” says Wermuth, adding that there needs to be an immediate change in thinking on the part of oil, gas and coal producers. They need to take responsibility aligning their business strategies to the changing political environment and economic realities. This means that 80 per cent of the known coal, gas and oil reserves that are recorded in the balance sheets must not be used and need to be written off. Proceeds from current fossil fuel production should no longer be invested into senseless new projects, but rather should be distributed to shareholders or directed into opportunities for renewable energy and resource efficiency.
“Germany can continue to be a leader in the global revolution in green industries which it originally set off,” declares Wermuth, adding that he sees the possibility of a second “green economic miracle” with lower energy and transportation costs, new sources of economic growth, lower taxes and secured jobs. The only thing that is needed is a level playing field for renewable energy and electromobility, particularly the legal basis for electric cars to feed power into the grid. “While Germany will not be able to make cheaper cars than China, it can make more intelligent ones. For example, the energy storage pilot project in Lünen being conducted by Daimler, GeTech, The Mobility House and Remondis, marks a major step forward for electromobility,” adds Wermuth. But new and better storage technologies remain needed for alternative energy to be rolled out on a wider basis.
“Although the world is awash with excess capital, and although investments into renewable energy, emission-free mobility and resource efficiency offer attractive returns, there has been very little redeployment of capital so far towards renewable energy,” notes Wermuth, further explaining that there continues to be a lack of adequate equity capital to finance project development and assume the risk of first loss. In fact, with just EUR 30 billion of equity capital, one could make a total of EUR 200 billion available to finance solar and wind generation projects, thus reducing CO2 emissions by 80 million tonnes. If one were to sell the completed projects and repeatedly reinvest the proceeds, then after five such investment cycles, the total pool of capital would be up to EUR 1 trillion, enough to finance projects taking out 400 million tonnes of CO2 emissions, or 1% of the global total. “Through intelligent investing, an initial investment of EUR 30 billion in equity capital could, with debt financing, reinvestment of earnings, and the compounding effect, be turned into EUR 3 trillion of available project financing after 25 years, enough to replace 1,2 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions – or in other words, more than the entire annual CO2 output of Germany today. This opportunity must not be missed.”
“Furthermore, clear market signals are needed reflecting the true costs of emissions. The EU should do everything in its power to ensure that the price of CO2 emissions does not fall below EUR 30 per tonne, compared to the current price of roughly EUR 6. The European Emission Trading System (ETS) should finally be expanded to encompass motor vehicles and aircraft,” says Wermuth. The IMF estimates the total value of direct and indirect subsidies for fossil fuels amounts to some USD 5.3 trillion per year. According to calculations by Wermuth Asset Management, and based on global CO2 emissions of approx. 40 gigatonnes,
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Ethika (ethlikluh) originates from the name of Aristotle’s most influential work, in which he states logic, perseverance and goal-directed ethics as key principles in achieving success.
Ethika Investments LLC (“Ethika�) is a real estate investment firm formed to provide access to a unique platform by tactically investing in opportunistic real estate assets primarily in the United States.
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Wealth & Finance International | June 2016 | News
Andy Murray Makes Further Investments on UK’s Number One Equity Crowdfunding Platform, Seedrs Tennis champion, world number two Andy Murray announced on 13th June that he has made three further investments in British start-ups on the UK’s most active equity crowdfunding platform, Seedrs.
Murray identified the three very different businesses he wanted to back, investing undisclosed amounts into each. This follows the multiple investments Andy made in February on Seedrs, with plans to continue backing British startups as part of his strategic relationship with Seedrs.
of Grazia and Elle in November 2013, blow LTD has been dubbed the “Uber for beauty” and provides expert blow-dries, makeup and nails to customers’ doors (whether home, office, hotel or event) or in one of blow LTD’s flagship beauty bars in Covent Garden and Canary Wharf.
The investments include: Beeline, a smart navigation device and mobile app for bicycles, allowing cyclists to navigate by informing them of the direction and distance to their destination. Dog Tracker Nano, a live tracking device with geofencing and alerts to keep your dog safe with inbuilt tech to monitor activity, fitness and location. Lastly, blow LTD; London’s leading ‘beauty on demand’ service, delivering expert blow dries, makeup and nails to your door.
Murray said about the investments, “Giving recognition and support to British entrepreneurs is really important to me, especially those who are the driving force behind growth-focused businesses. Every one of these entrepreneurs is passionate and dedicated to succeeding and I’m excited to have invested in their future growth.”
Beeline successfully raised over £500,000 in under a week from over 350 investors on Seedrs, quickly exceeding its fundraising target of £400,000. This campaign follows a successful rewards-based campaign on Kickstarter, with the London based company also receiving investment from well-known fund, Seedcamp. The smart device connects to wirelessly the rider’s phone, enabling the compass to direct the rider to their destination. Cyclists can rediscover the fun of cycling as BeeLine lets them pick their own path, unlike most navigation devices that use turn-by-turn GPS navigation.
Jeff Lynn, CEO and co-founder of Seedrs, said, “It’s great to see Andy supporting entrepreneurs so actively on Seedrs by investing in another three businesses. Andy is a great example of an investor who understands early stage investment and the importance of building a diverse investment portfolio aligned with a wider investment strategy. Seedrs was named the most active investor in private companies in the UK last month, and our continued growth and leading position in the market are testament to our reputation and the support from people like Andy.”
Dog Tracker Nano has returned to Seedrs for their second round of funding and are currently over 115% of their funding target with investment from 110 investors. The health, fitness and GPS tech for pets is a small, lightweight and waterproof dog tracking system that can be worn everyday by all breeds of dogs to monitor activity and fitness. The always-on ‘live tracker’ provides a constant location of your pet via your mobile, wherever you are in the UK or abroad – essential for detailed tracking of walks, activity and exercise, and for accurate geofences and alerts. Andy and Kim are big dog lovers and often talk about their terriers Maggie May and Rusty. Murray’s final investment is in blow LTD. Blow LTD has raised over £1.1 million with over 210 investors including Unilever Ventures and the founder of ASOS. Launched by co-founders Dharmash Mistry, Venture Capitalist & Entrepreneur and Fiona McIntosh, former Editor-in-Chief Neale Cousland / Shutterstock.com
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fxfinpro.com
Wealth & Finance International | June 2016 | News
Professional Advisers Must Collaborate More Closely to Achieve Optimum Client Outcomes Clapton Consultants; the chartered accountancy practice, has said that advisers must now work more closely with accountants in order to deliver the best financial solution for their clients. The firm has stated that by collaborating more closely, IFAs and accountants are better placed to help clients take full advantage of available tax breaks and calls for greater industry collaboration to address this issue at its core.
Legislative changes to taxation laws prompted by this year’s Budget mean that advisers are now under increased pressure to take full advantage of the new tax breaks for savers. These include spousal income allowance, the savings allowance and the dividend nil rate band. With assistance from a chartered accountant, advisers could now use these allowances to achieve tax free savings of up to £20,000 per annum for a client with a joint income of up to £150,000, according to Eric Clapton, Founder of Clapton Consultants.
Clapton says: “This year’s Budget has provided advisers with ample opportunity to achieve tax efficient earnings on behalf of their clients. With more accountants wishing to become actively involved with financial planning by using the opportunities afforded by their DPB licence there is no longer an excuse for the industry’s failure to collaborate more effectively.” Clapton added: “The key to a successful adviser/accountant relationship is understanding each other’s limitations and respecting each other’s boundaries. The accountant’s role is to liaise with HMRC, educate the client on taxation issues and provide the adviser with an assessment of the possible savings that could be made with an effective plan in place. It is then the role of the adviser to create and execute a suitable financial plan based on that assessment. Providing that neither side attempts to tread on the other’s toes, this approach can be hugely beneficial for both parties and most importantly; the end investor.”
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Wealth & Finance International | June 2016
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Top 100 Financial Services USA
First of all, can you give us a brief background to the company? The company was founded based on inspiration, and at its dawn I realised there was something missing out there with credit card transactions online and a way to secure this. I came up with the idea of a “Next Gen Payment Gateway” which encompasses cyber security. It secures the transaction, encrypts the card, and ensures that the identity is completely stored so nobody can hack into it. In addition, it uses a third party card number to prevent merchants and customers from being a victim of fraud or identity theft. Although Allied Wallet was founded in May 2006, it took six years to build a platform. We are the only company in the market today that has no CV investors because it is all self-built. If you think of any company including PayPal, they all started with money from an investor because such firms did not belief in themselves. I believed in myself and the company while risking my own money in the project. What is the most exciting thing about your position in the company? As the sole owner and CEO of Allied Wallet, the most exciting thing is being hands-on and my involvement with the everyday activities of the business. I like to understand what goes on in my company. I enjoy communicating with my people to improve things. If I’m not on top of it all, how can I therefore improve it?
In an inspiring and insightful interview with Tech Billionaire Andy Khawaja, he proclaims the wonders of his company Allied Wallet, and their astounding and secure “Next Gen Payment Gateway.” As Allied Wallet has recently celebrated its tenth anniversary, we take this opportune moment by speaking to Khawaja who reflects on the success of the company, and how he would like to inspire others to believe in themselves so they will get everything they want in life.
Could you tell us a bit about the 24-hour support that is available to your customers and why you think this is important? Many other companies out there in the market today don’t provide sufficient, live customer support, even PayPal. Allied Wallet still firmly believes in the old school approach, when you have a problem you can speak to somebody about it instead of being put through to an automated machine. An automated machine is not the way to conduct business. We are human beings. Allied Wallet has customer support in place with people able to speak different languages. The company is able to speak in English, French, German, Spanish, Arabic and Japanese and this is very important in regards to accommodating consumers, to ensure they are satisfied with the service they receive, and also to listen to the story and frustrations of the merchants. In short, we have to look after them. Could you tell us about the size and nature of your client base? Allied Wallet is massively well-known in the US, Europe, and Asia and we deal with clients that do €100 a month to €15m a month in business. We take care of businesses of all kinds, so whether you are a small merchant or a large merchant, we will treat you the same. Ultimately, our firm likes to do business with everybody. We had merchants start nine years ago and they have stayed with us and have been loyal, despite every other processor out there trying to get them on board. When you start-up an e-commerce business a lot of people don’t believe in your ideas and that includes banks. With no investors and no money in the bank it can be very difficult as a start-up particularly if you have just come out of university and college, the banks will only cater for big businesses. This leaves many entrepreneurs with no hope and that is the problem. In the past ten years, I have managed to get approximately 3600 entrepreneurs on board with me, and right now they are making a massive volume by generating more than 600,000 jobs in the UK, USA and Asia. Companies like Allied Wallet believed in them and as a result they are helping the economy and indeed all of these families, instead of sitting at home unemployed and taking the government’s money. Allied Wallet helps guide our clients through both the good and bad times, and they stick around because we treat them every much like a friend, not a client.
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Wealth & Finance International | June 2016
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Could you tell me about your offshore credit card processing solutions and what this entails? If you are a UK-based company and have consumers scattered around the world, the question is how your bank is going to understand. If you have a European entity in the UK and more than 50% of your customers are from outside Europe, your bank is going to look at you as a potential risk for them and they could close down your account. Banks don’t understand that e-commerce is international and globally accessible due to the world wide web. From a compliance point of view, they don’t understand why consumers are going to buy your product, so we at Allied Wallet consider ourselves as the messiah of global processing simply because we make things happen. Why should potential customers out there choose Allied Wallet? First, we are partnered with every popular shopping cart solution. We can make it happen because we already have them integrated. We’ve spent years and years integrating shopping carts. We have about 40 of the best shopping carts in the world with approximately 200 million consumers on the back of them. This integration takes less than a few hours to give consumers access to shopping carts in every region of the world. We take Direct Debit, ACH (the electronic cheque), VISA card, American Express, and many other payment methods which banks do not provide - but as a global processor, we have all these in place. What are the challenges and opportunities for you and the company in 2016 and beyond? The company is growing and is doing great, but the only thing I would say is we need to add more services. More services entail finding a more flexible way to do electronic payments, indeed we have a new mobile device coming out which is the pin, chip, and swipe - all of which are combined in one device. We also have a card registration service. Which means if you have a card registered with Allied Wallet, you will never have to apply for a card again or pull out your wallet again because it is fully electronic. We guarantee the transaction and the payment for all of our merchants, so you will never ever see fraud transactions or a chargeback based on the usage because we have the full information stored in our facilities for every single consumer registered with Allied Wallet. We are preventing the merchant from becoming a victim of fraud and accommodating the consumer with an easy and secure way to pay. Thank you for these inspiring and choice words. Is there anything else you would like to add? I would say one thing to entrepreneurs out there and to everybody reading this… Hope is the best thing you can have, and that I am one of you. I believed in myself and took a chance and made it to the top. Don’t be afraid. There is always light at the end of the tunnel. Just believe in yourself and you will get everything you want in life. Don’t let anyone slow you down. If you don’t start today, every day you waste is one you will never get back in life.
Company: Allied Wallet, Ltd. Web Address: www.alliedwallet.com
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Wealth & Finance International | June 2016
Hedge Fund Manager of the Month - USA 1605JN02 18
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The Tradex Group is a minority-owned alternative asset management business located in Greenwich, CT.
What is the Tradex Relative Value Fund? The Tradex Relative Value Fund is a structured-rates hedge fund strategy. The Fund uses a market-neutral, multi-strategy approach to achieve superior risk-adjusted returns.
Whatever the current market conditions are, why do prospective clients need to be confident that their manager is able to best serve their unique needs, provide goal-oriented investment management solutions and deliver strategies in order to preserve and prudently grow their wealth through all economic and market cycles? Our experienced team works closely with each client. We tailor our investment management practices to the specific risk tolerance and investment objectives of both our institutional and individual investors. We also accommodate our clients by establishing investment vehicles that fit their unique requirements in terms of SMAs. Investor relations is a central part of our business, and our team has decades of experience meeting the special needs of our clients who represent a variety of investor profiles.
Please describe the market-neutral nature of strategy. We attempt to hedge out risk factors that we do not want to take and focus on those we seek. Thus, in accordance with our expertise, we strive to hedge interest rate risk while collecting carry and capturing price performance from securitized Agency bonds. Please describe your multi-strategy approach. We believe that our multi-strategy fixed-income approach is well equipped to provide superior risk-adjusted returns over a full range of market environments by implementing a duration-neutral combination of prepayment arbitrage, relative value trading and opportunistic investing.
How can your company assist in achieving meaningful investment results through the disciplined application of time-tested methods of analysis? Our Portfolio Manager, Jeff Kong, has weathered many business cycles over his 25-year career in structured-rates that began at Greenwich Capital in the 1980’s. Jeff is regarded as a pioneer of the prepayment arbitrage strategy. Over his career, he developed and refined the multi-strategy approach to fixed-income investing that is utilized in the Tradex Relative Value Fund. This evergreen investment approach is unique in that it is interest rate neutral and it has the potential to profit from rate uncertainty. Jeff’s investment management skill has been tried and proven in the most extreme market conditions, and he has consistently delivered stable returns to investors.
In Prepayment Arbitrage, we attempt to identify opportunities where collateralized Agency bonds are cheap relative to their intrinsic value. We accomplish this by developing a more accurate view on prepayments and the resultant cash flows than what is priced by the market. Given the varying degrees of sophistication across fixed-income investors with differing objectives and constraints, those with superior models and market experience are often presented with lasting opportunities to capture returns.
What do you believe contributes towards successful investment outcomes? A disciplined approach to risk management is the key to successful investing. Our investment team has built a robust and rigorous system to maintain our intended exposures precisely, at both the portfolio and asset levels. As part of our market-neutral approach, we attempt to hedge out the risks we wish to avoid while managing those risks that we seek. We strictly limit our exposure to our areas of expertise, taking prudent positions based on structured rate fundamentals and spread risk. We believe this focus is an important driver of long-term performance.
Relative Value Trading in Agency pass-through securities is a source of alpha in very liquid fixed-income securities. These assets, which are second in liquidity only to US Treasuries, can be arbitraged via econometric mean-reversion strategies to produce high-conviction, short-term trades that last from days to weeks. Opportunistic Investments may be the result of broad dislocations as seen during the Great Recession and the Great Recovery. Many fund structures limit investment strategies and leave money on the table when outsized opportunities occur. Given this reality, we designed the strategy to take advantage of such dislocations. Due to the uncertainty seen in markets today, this sleeve should augment return for our investors.
Company: The Tradex Group Name: Jeff Kong Email: jkong@thetradexgroup.com, investorrelations@thetradexgroup.com Web Address: http://www.thetradexgroup.com/ Blog Address: http://thetradexgroup.blogspot.com/ Address: 35 Mason St, Greenwich, CT 06830 Telephone: (203) 863-1500
Please provide us with some background on the Portfolio Manager. In 2014, Jeff Kong founded Tradex Global Advisory Services, for which he directs all investment activity. Prior to Tradex, Jeff was a Portfolio Manager at San Francisco-based Passport Capital. Jeff started his hedge fund career at Structured Portfolio Management, where, from 2000 to 2010, he managed the $1B+ flagship SPM fund, Structured Servicing Holdings (SSH) that annualized +23.56% net during his tenure as Portfolio Manager. Bloomberg Markets ranked SSH the #1 Large Hedge Fund in the world and SSH placed #8 in Barron’s Top 100 Hedge Fund List. Jeff is a member of the Association of Asian American Investment Managers.
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The Finest in Finance
Wealth & Finance International | June 2016
Finest in Finance
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Phil Anderson Financial Services Ltd is a financial advisory business in the North and North East of Scotland. Established in October 2011 the company can offer independent financial advice to clients in relation to investments, pensions, savings, mortgages and insurance.
With offices in Aberdeen and Caithness along with our main office in Ellon, Aberdeenshire we have a committed team who can provide financial advisory solutions at your request. In terms of our approach to our clients, we are happy to meet them where they find the most convenient, and our aim is to find our clients the most competitive financial products to suit their individual needs. In regards to our investment advisory service we typically deal with investment bonds, investment trusts, capital protected investments and children’s saving plans. However, we can also deal with bank and building society accounts, personal taxation planning, inheritance tax planning and tax efficient investments etc. Our mortgage advice generally covers a wide area with first time buyers, home movers, remortgages and buy to let mortgages being most common. In regards to pension services, we offer advice on personal pensions, stakeholder pensions and self-invested personal pensions. At the moment we are dealing with a lot of “At retirement� advice. The pension freedoms last year have seen a huge spike in business in this area and our Senior Financial Planner Ryan Yule, is being kept very busy with pension enquiries. Last year we arranged over 200 mortgages and we are on track to arrange over 300 mortgages in 2016. If we take a closer look at the industry, one of the challenges we are currently facing is regulatory costs. However, looking ahead to the remainder of 2016 and beyond sees Aberdeen being severely impacted by the low oil price the local economy in the north-east which is challenging to say the least. In addition, at some point I can see purchase mortgages decreasing, but the increase in people looking for pension advice is negating this for us. In December 2015 we moved into a larger office and throughout 2016 it is our aim to continue our growth. We have recently taken on another administrator and we hope to have another financial planner on board in the near future.
Company: Phil Anderson Financial Services Ltd. Name: Phil Anderson Email: phil@philandersonfinancial.co.uk Web Address: www.philandersonfinancial.co.uk Address: 8 Bridge Street, Ellon, Aberdeenshire, AB41 9AA Telephone: 01358 268166
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2014 Copperstone Capital. All rights reserved.
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Copperstone Capital is an investment management firm founded in 2009 with offices in Moscow, Russia and London, United Kingdom. We manage wealth for high net worth individuals and institutions through various hedge fund strategies. 16 Sadovnicheskaya Street, Moscow, 115035, Russia T +7 495 988 0010 F +7 495 951 1410 www.copperstonecapital.com
HEDGEfund awards2015 Best Russian Fund (Since Inception)
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Wealth & Finance International | June 2016
Fund Manager Elite 2016 - Thailand
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We are a locally based asset management company and our business is to invest on behalf of our clients, from large institutions, high-net-worth individuals and retail investors. However, our products are not limited to investment services, we also have other services such as property and infrastructure funds, trustee for REITS, Private equity trust, Sukuks and provident fund registration. Currently, we are the third largest asset management company in Thailand with asset size of USD 20 billion. We started off in 1996 and we have an office based in Bangkok, Thailand.
We believe that our strength lies in the business of property and infrastructure funds and REITs where we command 29% of market share. Our track record speaks for itself, naming a few of our landmark deals are Tesco Lotus Retail Growth Freehold and Leasehold Property Fund (TLGF), Thailand’s largest property fund at the time of launch and Thailand’s first infrastructure fund sponsored by the government, the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand’s North Bangkok Power Plant Block 1 Infrastructure Fund (EGATIF) which raised THB 20.9 billion.
tries, we believe we could bring unrivalled performance to our investors. Apart from traditional asset classes, we are developing our capability to manage Private Equity to bridge between the needs of clients in finding alternative avenue of returns, and the required financing of emerging entrepreneurs with unique and practical technological ideas. Additionally, as the only state enterprise asset management company in Thailand, we also aim to play a prominent role in establishing government sponsored infrastructure funds, as part of the government policy to strengthen the core competency of the country.
Another strength is our knowledge of the local market, where believe that our understanding and in-depth research will give us an advantage over our competitors. At the same time, we have created a local niche offering our clients with a comprehensive range of products across various asset classes and investment strategies.
Weathering the expected volatility will definitely be our key challenge for 2016. Quantitative easing programs by various central banks have led to a liquidity glut and inflated asset prices, thus confronting us with increased market volatility. We believe that having a variety of products available, as well as closely working with our distributors, will help our clients to position their portfolio to best withstand such volatility.
The World of Funds In the last few years, foreign investment funds (FIFs) have boomed due to the dire local market and the attractive returns elsewhere. However, the momentum has slowed down as all major markets have struggled recently. Simultaneously, we are seeing a shift by clients from multi-asset income generated funds to absolute returns, as the income generated from these funds was not sufficient to offset the loss of capital. We expect stock and bond markets to be more volatile in the coming years, thus making absolute return strategy even more attractive.
The low interest rate environment would lead deposit like product investors to move away from investment grade companies to a domestic non-rated and high yield arena ones. Due to the limited information and liquidity of the papers, we, like many large fund houses in Thailand, have been refraining from investing in it. This has made many highnet-worth investors to shun more traditional fixed income products from us and invest directly into the papers or through the high yield funds offered by smaller fund houses. This is proving to be a major challenge for our firm in terms of educating our clients and finding alternative products with a better risk reward return for them to maintain our market share.
Exchange-Traded Funds (ETF) and the Hedge Fund Market Today Hedge funds are still not allowed by the SEC, but we are eagerly waiting for further developments on this issue. Regarding ETFs, they are still suffering from low liquidity and lack of distribution channels as investors are still favouring banking channels. Consequently, ETFs are relatively small in sizes. Nevertheless, there’s light at the end of the tunnel, because we are expecting the forthcoming Securities Act to allow retail funds to invest into other retail funds under the same management company, which would certainly help to increase the size and liquidity of ETFs.
The development of a direct offshore product offering through foreign and local distributors domestically is also a challenge for Thai asset management industry. Indeed, those who could better expand their client base into the retail space would be able to secure their position. Finally, in the environment where the market is volatile, we put great effort into educating investors about the role of asset allocation and viewing investments as a portfolio. We believe that having a right mix of assets in a portfolio will help investors to move through this volatile market.
Insight into life as a Fund Manager and Approaching Clients The role of fund manager is to deliver consistent returns to remain true to their philosophy and style. Our approach is simple; we aim to become our clients’ long term investment partner. We do this by understanding their needs and limitations, delivering best possible solutions, ensuring highest quality of services with full transparency.
Company: Krung Thai Asset Management Public Company Limited Email: webmaster@ktam.co.th Web Address: www.ktam.co.th Address: 1 Empire Tower, 32nd Fl., South Sathorn Rd., Yannawa, Sathorn, Bangkok 10120, Thailand Telephone: 0066 2686 6100
The Road Ahead We are seeing an enormous potential in the Sub-Mekong region markets in the years to come, and would like to be the pioneer asset management company from Thailand to gain access to these markets. With our deep rooted understanding in multifaceted culture of these coun-
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Wealth & Finance International | June 2016
Rising Cost of Risk in Wealth Management SCM Direct is an innovative online investment manager offering clients direct low cost to high-end wealth management that is smart, common sense and modern. First launched in 2009 as a reaction to the 2008 financial crisis SCM is based just off Sloane Square, Westminster, London. We spoke to the firm’s Founding Partner, Gina Miller, to find out more about the company and the key issues around the rising cost of risk in wealth management
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Can you tell us about what your company does? As innovative online investment managers, we offer clients direct low cost access to high end wealth management that is smart, common-sense and modern. Everything we do is underpinned by 100% transparency and treating our clients fairly. How long has the firm been going for and where are your offices based? The company was launched in 2009 as a reaction to the 2008 financial crisis and a desire to challenge the status quo. We are based just off Sloane Square, Westminster, in London which is very central but not in the traditional heartlands of either Mayfair or the City and the cultures that purvey the traditional establishments there. What kind of clients do you serve and how do you approach them? Investors who come to us are looking to bypass expensive advisers, layers of inefficiencies and high fee underperforming traditional active funds. For UK clients our entry level is £15,000, either direct or via an ISA or SIPP wrapper. For overseas clients our entry level is £150,000 or the equivalent in Euros or US Dollars. We are also delighted to work with corporates and charities but whatever the size of our clients, the same levels of fees, openness, approachability and respect apply to all. Our approach is simple, straightforward and personal. We do not believe that anyone should invest with us unless they fully understand our offering and appreciate that no manager has a crystal ball or can predict the future. What we aim to do is to minimise costs and risks, preserve capital and produce consistent positive returns. Everything we do is underpinned by 100% transparency and treating our clients fairly. How are wealth management firms fighting battles on two fronts; financial regulations resulting in increasingly squeezed margins, and – fundamentally - the rising cost of risk? As originators of the True and Fair Campaign, launched in 2012, calling for 100% transparency of fees and holdings, as well as a Code of Ethics, we do not believe that financial regulations have created a truly competitive, or customer centric, market in fund management. The industry has operated more like a cartel, profiting from a lack of price competition, new entrants, and embedded conflicts of interest. Rather than take a strong hand on regulation, the UK regulator has seemingly deferred its responsibilities to conflicted trade bodies. The end result of this dereliction of duty is a complete lack of transparency of fees or holdings, product mislabelling, closet index tracking, inflated research costs and risk and suitability tools that are not fit for purpose. The industry only has itself to blame for increased regulation as they have failed to put their own houses in order. In terms of margins, the average operating margin for a UK drugs company valued at more than £2 billion is 23.4%, compared to a stonking 44.8% for a UK large fund management company in this bracket. It is no wonder that the industry is so reticent to be honest with their customers regarding their charges and fights any transparency reforms – like turkeys they do not seem to want to vote for Christmas. To what extent do you agree that as many as 81% of wealth managers cite conduct risk as a significant focus in their firm. With this is mind, how is your firm tackling risk in your company? According to the FCA, conduct risk centres on Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs), anti-money laundering and sustainability, but I think it can be encapsulated by how a wealth manager’s proposition and service builds and maintains trust. We focus on trust because it is fundamental to everything.
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We tackle risk by ensuring we treat our customers fairly, abiding by the FCA’s very pragmatic overarching principles of ‘fair, clear and not misleading’ and apply the ‘would I tell or sell this to my mother’ test. I believe actions speak louder than words. So our proof of promise is that we invest significant sums of our own money alongside clients, on exactly the same terms and fees. If a firm is confident they are delivering on these principles, they should not be concerned about conduct risk - the issue is that behind the slick marketing most are not putting customers first, so they should be worried. How you can give our readership a high return on their investments? We cannot control or predict future returns - no one can. In our investment team’s long experience, the best recipe to preserving wealth and achieving consistent returns is by staying vigilant, focusing on fundamentals, having a contrarian mind-set, concentrating on asset allocation not stock picking, which accounts for over 90% of returns, and constantly seeking to minimise costs and risk. What challenges lie ahead for your company in 2016? As a new challenger, our challenge is connected with brand building. Our seven-year track record proves our innovative approach delivers, we just need to continue building consumer / investor awareness without the deep pockets of the bigger traditional brands. Another challenge is operating a 100% fee transparency model with no hidden costs at any level when we are not playing on a level industry playing field. Traditional wealth and investment managers continue to hide between 50 - 85% of their true Total Costs. Can you outline any specific industry based challenges you are facing now and in the future? Via our True and Fair Campaign, which led to us contributing text for Article 24 in MiFID II, as well as the fee calculator in PRIPS, the industry is facing a seismic change in 2018. All wealth and investment managers will have to show all costs in one Total Cost number. This will be a huge challenge for tradition wealth managers as their clients will realise the fees they think they are paying are typically only one third of the true total. New entrants such as SCM Direct will finally be competing on a level playing field, and investors will finally be granted the basic consumer right of knowing how much they are paying. Looking ahead to the future, if we can continue to thrive as a company and identify any opportunities in the market from which we can achieve more success for both our clients and ourselves, without compromising our principles and ethics, we shall be delighted.
Company: SCM Direct Name: Gina Miller Email: gina@scmprivate.com Web Address: www.scmdirect.com Address: 2 Eaton Gate, Westminster SW1W 9BJ Telephone: +44 (0) 7838 8650
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Wealth & Finance International | June 2016
Hedge Fund Manager of the Month - Vanuatu 1606LB03 32
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During the darkest days of the global financial crisis (GFC) one thought kept going through my mind. What if the only way to beat the market was to “Forget the Market?”. Honestly, just then all I wanted to do was forget the market. I was terrified of what the new trading day would bring. Everywhere I looked, it was a sea of red and the concept of diversification didn’t mean a damn thing! Established market, emerging market, none of it offered protection for my clients. Previously uncorrelated assets fell in tandem and there was literally nowhere to hide.
The Birth of FTM From the time of its inception we knew FTM was something really different. Even our logo is out there, it’s a light bulb with legs signifying a great idea with room to run. Our mission statement is “A new breed of financial thinking”. So, in March 2010 FTM Class A was opened to the public and since that time it has notched up 75 positive months in a row for a total return, net of fees, of 68.91% and an annualized return of 8.78%. All done without any leverage at all while adhering to every single criterion outlined above.
Up until the GFC I thought investing was relatively easy: simply pick the next up and coming emerging market fund from Russia, China or India, throw in some main stream market equites, some bonds, some futures and maybe even an arbitrage fund, take a long term buy and hold approach and based on past performance, you were set. Unfortunately, the value of a good fund manager isn’t really evident until everything turns to custard. Up until late 2007, virtually every fund manager was a genius as they kept making money for their clients …….. until they didn’t. That’s when I learnt the hard truth that you could only find which fund manager was actually worth their salt in a downturn and no, the fact that you lost less than everyone else did not necessary make you a good fund manager. In truth, most failed the task miserably.
There is something seriously liberating not being tied to the whims of central bankers and policy makers and being able to go to sleep without worrying what the new trading day will bring.
So I lay awake at night in a cold sweat, wondering what I could have done differently, with that same thought churning over and over in my mind “Forget the Market”! Seriously, I wanted nothing more than to get rid of that lump in my throat. To get out from under that elephant sitting on my chest as I went into the office.
The graph below illustrates the growth of FTM Class A since inception 7 6 6
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So I set out to examine every type of investment strategy I could find, to see what worked and also dug into what didn’t work and why. My mission was simple: to create an investment strategy that could match the market long term averages but not be at the mercy of them. One in which my friends, family and clients (that were still speaking to me), could invest in without sleepless nights and avoid these horrific market drops. It seemed really simple. All I had to do was not lose money so that any profits generated weren’t wasted on trying to claw back past losses. Oh, and I wanted it be capital secured too.
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Could it really be that simple? Was there really another way to invest? What if you could generate returns similar to the long-term market averages but without investing in the market? Was it even possible to contemplate such a crazy idea?
How does FTM work? The predominant investment strategy used by FTM was born out of an opportunity to exploit the inefficiencies of the US medical system when it comes to the delays incurred by doctors, hospitals and medical practitioners in the payment for treatment of personal injury cases. Today, more than ever, cash flow is the key to meeting operating costs and, in an effort to speed up the payment process, doctors, hospitals and medical practitioners are willing to accept less now instead of waiting years for payment. It is this that enables FTM to fund the purchase of discounted medical receivables and, by assuming the risk, generate a substantial return.
Honestly, there was no point doing what everyone else was doing because then we would just end up in crowded trades and eventually, if history was any guide, we would wind up going through another massive downturn. After all, Wall Street had already lost over 45% of the typical investor’s money TWICE over the past 17 years. And if you lose 45% you need a gain of 81.8% just to break even. To me the saner alternative was never to take the loss in the first place.
The majority of the research and direct purchase of the receivables is done via a Medical Accounts Receivables company which is, for want of a better word, a “go between” between an insurance company and a medical patient.
Then I stumbled upon an investment strategy that had been used since 1996 and never ever had a negative year. That meant it survived the Russian Default and LTCM Bailout of 1998, the Tech Wreck of 1999, recession of 2000 and the GFC of 2007-2009 and it never missed a beat.
Imagine the following example. There is a car accident, with the result that the injured party (who is not at fault) will require back surgery.
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Wealth & Finance International | June 2016
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Now, as long as we can prove that they are not at fault, that this is not a pre-existing condition and that the policy limit is sufficient to warrant it, then the receivables company will fund the operation now and collect from the insurance company upon settlement. In the meantime the receivables company places a lien against the insurance proceeds.
Well here we are a little over eight years into the bet and the index fund is up almost 66% while the hedge funds are up around 22% for the same time. So, I wondered how FTM Class A would compare over the same time frame as we are up 68.22% in a little over six years. Assuming FTM Class A continued with its annualised return of 8.78%, the return for the 8 years would be 80.23% and that’s with less than 1% exposed to the market.
The medical procedures covered would have taken place eventually with or without the intervention of the receivables company but, by providing the funding, the operation can happen sooner and the injured party can resume a normal life much faster. The hospitals also provide the surgery at a discount, because they get paid sooner instead of having to wait years for the settlement of the claim.
Then I thought I would compare FTM Class A performance against the major market indices from January 1st 2016 to May 31st 2016 as the markets have had a pretty tough run so far this year. In fact, the reality is that most markets have gone nowhere for the past two years.
This is similar, in principle, to accounts receivables factoring, but with a critical difference. In traditional factoring a company buys a large pool of debt and simply hopes that enough will be paid to ensure a profit. In our case, the Medical Accounts Receivables Company pick and choose the cases they wish to fund and, on average, four out of every five cases reviewed are rejected. Additionally, the receivables company aims for an average purchase price of 33 cents on the dollar as investor safety is paramount. It should also be remembered that the payer is an insurance company, not a patient or hospital. The FTM portfolio is split between 3 different investments which are FX (forex), which is negligible and so small to be almost non-existent. Then there is the cash component which fluctuates from five to 10% of the entire Class A portfolio and is used to meet redemptions and operating expenses. Then there are the discounted medical accounts receivables that tends to make up anywhere from 90-95% of the overall portfolio. This means that 90-95% of the portfolio is secured with $3 of receivables for every $1 invested where, if you include the cash component, exposure to market movements is less than 1%.
The investment landscape has changed 15 years ago you would simply ask your client how much they wanted to live off in their retirement. If they said $50,000 a year, then you knew they needed to grow their investments to $1,000,000 and then they could simply put that $1,000,000 in the bank and get $50,000 a year to live off without eating away at the principal.
To be honest, we have become somewhat a victim of our own success in that each passing positive month puts more pressure on us personally to ensure another positive month and, for that reason, we have all but phased out the FX component. In fact, in June of 2012, as a result of the forex trading we came very close to a negative return with 0.08% for that month so, from then on, we scaled back the FX portion dramatically because we didn’t want to be the reason for any of our clients having sleepless nights.
Now there are five countries with negative interest rates and many more at zero. Exactly how much money do you need to accumulate so that you can earn interest of $50,000 a year in a zero interest world? According to Bloomberg by February, more than $7 trillion of government bonds worldwide offered yields below zero.
The truth is, you work hard for your money and the only reason to invest is to make it grow over time so you can improve your living standard or have a less stressful retirement. Either way we created FTM to help not to hinder. Personally, I believe a lot of fund managers would do better if they approached investing this way and maybe the hedge fund industry in general wouldn’t be getting as much negative press.
So, if you are interested in finding out more about an investment strategy that is: • Unaffected by falls in the market • Non correlated to equites • Recession Proof • Consistent
The FTM Difference You may have heard of the $1,000,000 bet between Warren Buffett (one of the world’s greatest investors) and Ted Seides (a famous Hedge Fund manager) with the proceeds being donated to charity.
Contact me directly on endre@ftmmutual.com or visit our website www.ftmmutual.com for a free investment report.
The bet is for 10 years with Warren Buffett betting that a low cost index fund (Vanguard 500 Index Fund Admiral Shares) will outperform the collective performance of the group of five hedge funds selected by Seides.
Company: FTM Limited Name: Endre Dobozy, Managing Director FTM Limited Licensed Securities dealer Email: endre@ftmmtual.com Web Address: www.ftmmutual.com Phone +678 238 39
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Wealth & Finance International | June 2016
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The Business Elite UK MD of the Year 2016 NEP UK & Ireland is a leading provider of outsourced, creative broadcast and live event solutions with over 30 years’ experience. The company has been in business for over 30 years and has operations in Bracknell, Slough, London and Dublin.
Our services typically include Outside Broadcast, Major Projects, Host Broadcasting, Fly-Pack, Post Production, Uplink & Satellite Communications and Video Display. We specialise in technological broadcast and content management solutions coupled with experienced crews and project management.
I am hugely passionate about the industry and the people working in it and we continue to drive forward an ethos of embracing new technology, developing talent and using them to enhance our clients’ coverage. I lead an extremely talented and motivated team who thrive on the challenge and excitement of outside broadcasting and creative media management.
NEP UK & Ireland Broadcast Services provide equipment and crews for the coverage of live or recorded events. The genres typically fall across sports, music, reality and entertainment and we supply the personnel to engineer and operate our cameras, lenses, displays, video, replay, storage and sound equipment.
In regards to our clients we serve a diverse range of people who operate in differing markets with differing needs and the content reaches a spectrum of audiences across sports, light entertainment and music events. Typically our clients are leading broadcasters, production companies, governments, advertising agencies and film producers.
NEP UK & Ireland Creative Technologies provide solutions to create edit and distribute some of the world’s best known current affairs programmes, commercials, drama and film. Our award winning talent is unmatched and their work is enjoyed by millions.
We have a great track record and have long and trusting partnerships with our clients, every day brings new challenges and we constantly push ourselves to succeed. Being a creative technology business we have to be innovative, that’s exciting and brings change but we also need to make sure everything we deliver is of the highest of standards and that we deliver everything on time. I care passionately about my staff, NEP and the company so I take every decision seriously.
Next time you are watching a new feature film, your favourite comedian or band or enjoying your team succeeding in a sports final it may well be possible because of what NEP UK & Ireland do. I (Steve Jenkins) started in outside broadcasting in 1993 after completing my higher education in arts and media. Initially I started as a General Assistant and then after some training I became a Vision Engineer. I joined Visions Limited in 1997 and was fortunate enough to progress through the company from being a Technical Unit Manager to Commercial Director in 2003.
To have been awarded ‘The Business Elite UK MD of the Year 2016’ is a great honour and I feel that any win for the company is a team effort and shared with all the staff, we are a close community and take great pride in our work. Looking ahead to the future if we can continue to thrive as a company and identify any opportunities which we can take advantage of then we will be more than content.
‘Visions’ was acquired by NEP in 2005 and I became Managing Director of Roll to Record Limited, another NEP acquisition in 2006. Remaining with the NEP group and having successfully grown the Roll to Record business in January 2009, I took on the role of Managing Director of NEP Visions. Today I am President for the NEP UK & Ireland Group of companies, including the latest acquisitions, ScreenScene, Digital Space, Ardmore, OBS TV and Observe.
Company: NEP UK Name: Steve Jenkins Email: info@nepuk.co.uk Address: Venture House, Arlington Square Bracknell, RG12 1WA Telephone: +44 (0)1344 356 700
In addition I am also a member of the NEP leadership team and have aligned with my colleagues in 16 different countries around the world.
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Wealth & Finance International | June 2016
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Gable Insurance celebrates its tenth birthday in 2016 with record growth as one of Europe’s leading players, providing insurance to a range of SME sectors in the EU. We talk to CEO, William Dewsall, about the challenges of building a successful financial services brand.
Celebrating its tenth anniversary since writing its first policy in January 2006, Dewsall has built a business which now writes premiums of over £100m annually, insuring businesses across nine European countries, providing a range of products to SMEs across many sectors.
“Clearly we have the key advantage derived from our efficient underwriting platform, affording us the ability to write profitable business across multiple sectors and differentiate through service, product specification, claims handling and settlement to our customers. This has allowed us to grow the business while still maintaining our pricing discipline. There are still a number of markets where we are being asked to provide new bespoke products, there is still much to play for, despite the changes to the regulatory regime across the EU which is a challenge to everyone in the insurance business. We know that we can build significantly on what we have already achieved, so in essence, it will be more of the same for us” he explains. Gable’s distribution is focused on exclusive distribution relationships in different territories and markets, utilising its networks of brokers, building some commercial partnerships with some major broking networks along the way. Gable’s European business outside of the UK accounts for over 50% of gross written premiums, with an increasingly diversified book of business. “Our continued strong growth is driven by our bespoke products provided through our expanding European wide distribution channels. Although the economic environment in general remains challenging, I believe we have excellent momentum and can foresee continued expansion supported by our European broker network. The fundamentals of our business are sound and underpin our optimism and growth ambitions for the future” he enthuses.
When asked what he thought he would achieve back in 2006, Dewsall explains: “Europe was going through many changes and I had worked successfully across a number of insurance markets. It was clear to me that with the right brand and capital backing, we could build a service offering that would be defined by quality and trust. We set about building Gable from a standing start, creating a product portfolio that was designed to meet what the customer required. It was about offering bespoke products through a selected distribution network of brokers around Europe who we could work with and build a trusted brand in the insurance sector.” Clearly, customers liked what they saw, and Gable now provides a range of commercial insurance products through specialist brokers in the UK, France, Italy, Ireland, Denmark, Norway, Germany, Sweden and Spain. Gable commenced underwriting in the UK market with its construction liability insurance products. Over subsequent years since then it has consistently expanded its product range and the number of European markets in which it operates, achieving uninterrupted growth in both premiums written and insurance profits. “Since inception we have managed our growth carefully, balancing the requirements of our customers with the management of risk. Ultimately, we are there to support our customers with bespoke products that can allow them to do what they are good at. Over the last ten years we have seen many different situations where businesses that we insure have required swift action by us to help them get back on their feet after an event which threatens their business. At the same time, we have managed to qualify our overall risk by the purchase of reinsurance from world-wide A-rated reinsurers” he continues.
About William Dewsall William Dewsall has over 30 years’ experience in the European insurance market having worked at Jardine Glanville (UK) and Alexander Stenhouse. In 2000 he established his own underwriting agency, writing insurance risks in the UK and worldwide on behalf of a number of insurers including Italian giant, Assicuriazoini Generali. He was instrumental in developing policy wordings for the Contractors and Liability insurance sector, credited in the foremost sector reference ‘Construction Insurance and UK Construction Contracts’. He is registered with the FCA as an approved person for insurance activities.
Dewsall and his team have certainly delivered on the promise to customers, with high upper quartile retention rates supporting year-on-year growth in the business, allied with a series of new products. Gable has also carefully built a network of trading relationships with a range of specialist brokers in each of the countries in which it has expanded into, providing bespoke products such as Deposit Guarantees, Commercial Bonds, Latent Defect and its core range of Commercial Combined products.
Company: Gable Holdings Inc Name: William Dewsall, CEO Email: info@gableinsurance.com Website: www.gableholdings.com Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7337 7460
Gable produced another year of growth in 2015 with the underlying business producing a strong core underwriting performance, achieved against a backdrop of challenging markets. Commenting on Gable’s 2015 performance, Dewsall comments: “As always, we have remained focussed on delivering high service levels to our customers whilst managing underwriting profits, delivering a strong and growing cash position which has continued to increase by over 40% on 2014.” Where does Gable go from here? Dewsall reveals that his team will continue to focus on building Gable’s brand reputation in each of the markets in which it now operates and continue to listen carefully to what its customers are asking for.
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Business Elite CEO of the Year 2016 With offices in London, UK and Chicago, USA Adgistics Ltd is a marketing technology solution provider that views every aspect of an organisation’s business system through the ‘lens of the brand’. Founded in 1999 the company offers cloud-based capabilities for the marketing and communications supply chain. My career background has been quite diverse in nature; from being in the Australian Military before joining Rupert Murdoch’s News Limited, to then joining Quickcut which was my first ‘step into the world of enabling and disruptive technologies’. I embraced the reasons and benefits behind the use of new technologies in the workplace. Be it from the introduction of the personal computer, to cell phones, to smartphones, to cloud computing and social networking. There is no doubt that the introduction of these technologies has shaken up the status quo and enforced a management re-think.
we also ‘operate’ in a rapidly changing digital landscape where marketers must re-think the roles their brands play in the lives of their customers, and how they bring those roles to life across platforms and touch points.
I understood that I needed to be part of this change and as such, I now have extensive experience in ‘building’ early-stage technology companies from the brand management, advertising and marketing sectors before expanding their ‘footprint’ internationally, which led me to joining Adgistics some six years ago. The company’s solutions platform, the Brand Centre®, has evolved in line with the changing demands of brand management and the challenges marketers face.
We believe a company’s brand extends beyond marketing communications. It is a management asset and business system that provides a common language across the multiple specialties in a business. It can be optimally managed through a Brand Centre to create growth, profit, sustainability and long-term value.
As such, one of my challenges as CEO is to ensure our client’s and the market understand that Adgistics is constantly striving to demonstrate its desire and credentials to those marketers so that we can help them deliver upon those challenges.
During the six years I have spent as CEO of Adgistics, we have had a lot of successes in terms of new client wins, platform development and expansion of our ‘global footprint’. However, I was insistent that our many successes didn’t compromise our core values of quality customer service, maintaining strong values and integrity and also the desire to continually quest for improvement. To that, Adgistics continues to grow and extend its reach both across business verticals and geographies.
The Brand Centre is a suite of networked technologies that enable companies to optimise and support some or all major marketing operations activities and processes. Whilst it has been developed on solid, proven marketing asset management and business process management, it also matches specific functionality to individual enterprise needs, and recognizes that these needs evolve. By doing this, Adgistics ensures optimum uptake, operational efficiency, improved productivity, organisation-wide transparency and contribution to building brand advocacy.
It is certainly an honour to be awarded Business Elite CEO, and I would like to thank Wealth & Finance very much for the recognition. Being CEO of a company that has such a group of innovative, passionate and professional people who love what they do is something I am extremely proud of and makes the role even more enjoyable.
Even though I have been immersed and involved with these ‘types’ of technologies for over 25 years, if doesn’t stop me from being continually amazed with the volume and creativity of the ground-breaking technologies being developed and how these advances have and will continue to transform life, business and the global economy.
Looking towards the future, I am very confident that Adgistics will continue to grow in 2016 and beyond. It would be too easy to focus on ‘delivery and results’ and lose sight of what is more important. I need to ensure we have clarity on what we stand for, where, why and how we’ll get there. We operate in the ‘world of branding’ and how brands utilise technology to help them serve their customers better continues to evolve at a rapid pace and as such, we must constantly demonstrate that we can deliver with and for our clients. I want Adgistics to be the company our clients look to for inspiration.
Given that the challenges faced by marketers today is ‘universal’ in nature and ever evolving, Adgistics solutions are used by brands of all types and sizes from small to medium sized businesses, to large corporate enterprises. Interestingly, in the last 24 months, the company has seen a lot of traction from brands in the Financial, Pharmaceutical and Healthcare sectors where the volatility in both their respective market conditions and public perception have caused these sectors in particular to consider the best methods to make brand coherent, effective and consistently expressed on a global stage, whilst taking into account they operate in heavily regulated industries.
Company: Adgistics Ltd. Name: Joe Jarrett Email: joe.jarrett@adgistics.com Web Address: www.adgistics.com Address: 2nd Floor Deben House, 1 Selsdon Way. London E14 9GL United Kingdom Telephone: +44(0)20 7378 6777
As CEO, I need to ensure we stay cognisant of the challenges facing marketers today as they conceive new ways to aggregate and curate content, whilst simultaneously managing campaigns and maintaining a strong brand value identity. However, I also need to ensure we understand that
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Wealth & Finance International | June 2016
Investing in Macro Trading - Investing for the Future
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Red Rock Capital is a multi-award winning systematic commodity investment management firm located in Newport Beach, California. The firm was founded in 2003 and has approximately $75 million of client capital under management. Its Systematic Global Macro Program has a verifiable track record netting clients +9.97% annualised going back nearly 13 years. How Red Rock Capital’s Systematic Global Macro Program works: g Basic statistics and quantitative analysis are used to put a framework around repeatable investor behaviour. g The strategy was designed from the ground up to systematically capture the risk premiums made possible by hedgers and inefficient market participants who exhibit herd behaviour / biases. g Technical data such as price, volatility, term-structure, and volume are statistically analyzed and trending environments in various markets are identified. g If legitimate trending behaviour is identified, a long or short position is initiated in a market. g Only a small amount of account equity is risked on each new position g Exits / stop-losses are pre-determined and aim to reduce risk and volatility. g Winning trends are kept in the portfolio; losing trades are jettisoned to preserve capital. g Over time performance has resulted in a payout profile that is similar to being long options; that is, the strategy experiences larger profits when a trend emerges, but relatively small losses when trends fail to materialise or reverse.
History of Systematic Global Macro Systematic global macro managers have a track record of producing positive annual returns for more than three decades with low to negative correlations to traditional asset classes and hedge fund strategies. They can also be classified as global macro, managed futures, or trend-following/CTA. The core methodologies used by systematic global macro programs are well-documented in academic and financial literature. Why ‘Systematic’ Macro instead of Discretionary? Systematic trading has significant advantages over discretionary styles. For example, one of the challenges faced by a discretionary trader is the control of emotions during critical points of market activity or personal performance. In contrast, systematic trading programs are emotionless and do not suffer from this issue. Investment decisions are based on decades of historical quantitative research and are carried out in a repeatable, systematic, disciplined manner. Since they are almost or entirely automated, trading systems are easily scalable and can thus far more readily accommodate new markets or new investor capital. Finally, systematic programs are typically more broadly diversified than discretionary traders, both in the number of markets analysed and in the types of strategies employed.
Red Rock’s edge, stemming from one of the founder’s training, is that we incorporate Probability Theory in a unique and effective manner that increases the risk-adjusted returns of our Systematic Global Macro program.
Potential Benefits g Portfolio Diversification – since its September 2003 inception, Red Rock’s SGM program has produced -0.08 correlation to stocks and 0.06 correlation to bonds. g Long or Short exposure to over 70 globally diversified, highly liquid commodity & financial futures markets spanning all market sub-categories: grains, precious and base metals, energies, foods & softs, currencies, interest rates, bonds, and equity indices. g Opportunity to be on receiving end of ‘Crisis Alpha’ – during the Great Financial Crisis (Sep ’07 – Feb ’09) our Systematic Global Macro program netted clients +75.52% returns, while U.S. stocks lost -48.14%, International stocks lost -51.92%, Commodities lost -43.69%, and Hedge Funds were down -17.01%. g SMAs offered at client’s choice of broker. Daily pricing, transparency & liquidity. g Regulated futures exchanges minimise credit risk and allow for standardised contract specifications. g Margin requirements are generally significantly less than in the cash markets, creating an opportunity to use leverage effectively.
Why Red Rock Capital’s Systematic Global Macro? Almost 13 years of proven net performance to investors – much of it when they needed it most. With all of the uncertainty in the current global marketplace such as China’s currency interventions, Brexit, Bank of Japan NIRP, and FED attempts to continue to normalise rates, high net worth investors would be wise to consider a strategy that is ‘long volatility’ – and that has shown to prosper during times when traditional asset classes have struggled the most. About Red Rock Capital Red Rock Capital is a multi-award winning commodity investment management firm. During 2016 Red Rock’s Systematic Global Macro Program will proudly celebrate its 13th anniversary. The firm is lead by Thomas Rollinger, most notably a devoted pupil and former protégé of quantitative hedge fund legend, Edward O. Thorp. Rollinger’s partner is Scott T. Hoffman, the original founder of Red Rock. Given recent developments with the firm, plus increasingly favorable market conditions, Red Rock is especially well-positioned to grow and thrive in the managed futures industry.
Key Return Drivers g Futures often get incorrectly labelled as ‘zero-sum’ because for every buyer of a contract, there is a seller – and all contracts eventually expire worthless. While this is true of how futures contracts logistically work, it does not speak to the inherent return that can be mined from successful systematic futures trading. Hedgers, the very large group of market participants who wish to reduce their unknown future price risk, are continually willing to be on the receiving end of losing positions. This risk off-loading provides a risk premium for those skilled enough to be able to regularly capture it. g Also, as highlighted by Behavioural Finance, many large market participants exhibit ‘herd’ behaviour and sub-optimal psychological biases.
Company: Red Rock Capital Name: Thomas Rollinger Email: trollinger@redrockcapital.com Web Address: www.redrockcapital.com Address: 5000 Birch Street, Suite 3000 Newport Beach, CA 92660 Telephone: 001 949 648 9506
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Wealth & Finance International | June 2016
Investing in Macro Trading - Investing for the Future
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Arbitrage Search is a boutique search firm focusing on recruitment for macro hedge funds. Based in the West End of London the company have been in business for six years to date. The company’s director Chris Apostolou shares his thoughts on the issues involved with Macro Trading.
As a company we focus on a few core areas: economics, research and multi-asset. We are veterans of all recruitment styles, networking to generate references, advertising to create interest, directly contacting candidates and cold-calling businesses to uncover talent. Our research staff focus on blue-skies analysis and researching teams at places such as the IMF or ECB in the public sector. This broad background work means we are fully prepared before major searches begin at which point the research can be tailored to each project. Our senior consultants focus on the ‘selection’ stage, luring out top talent and ensuring the quality of shortlists to make certain candidates are fully briefed and motivated by opportunities. In regards to our clients we are largely referred on by existing customers so the word of mouth is clearly a vital factor behind the success of our business. Run by a former economist and trader we can offer unique insight into candidates, and are unique in parting the sector by ‘macro’ skills rather than by firm type. We can attract established names who can raise capital and further provide alpha driven performance in a variety of environments. Macro is supposed to be low correlation and offer superior returns, but there are many funds managing money that have failed to prove that. However the top tier continues to do well and inspire investors and the inevitable imitators. Macro investors are increasingly reliant on quant signals and models, but it has been no real replacement for traditional fundamental analysis and use of expert judgement. If we take a closer look at the industry currently underperforming firms are threatening the top end fee structure. But there is also increasing impetus on risk adjusted performance metrics which shouldn’t necessarily apply to alternative managers, in some ways these deter the narrowly focused trading strategies which enabled past out performance. Looking ahead to the future finding consistent performing portfolio managers will be a key challenge as only the top 3rd of the sector have produced credible results.
Company: Arbitrage Search Name: Chris Apostolou Email: Chris@arbitrage-search.com Web Address: www.arbitrage-search.com Address: 48 Charlotte Street, London, W1T 2NS Telephone: 0203 823 4540
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Business Elite MD of the Year 2016 Based in leafy Lymm in Cheshire, The SPA Group, a dedicated marketing agency for over 22 years, delivers integrated marketing, PR and event management campaigns for an array of diverse clients, across many sectors. As such, I really love the variety of the work we do here and no two projects are the same. It is a constant challenge, but we always enjoy rising to the occasion and achieving stellar results for our clients.
Despite being around for over two decades, 2015/16 was actually a record year for SPA and a culmination of a great deal of hard work by the team here. While we are successful, and it hasn’t happened overnight, we never rest on our laurels, because in our industry you are only as good as your last campaign or live event.
As for this award, I am delighted to have won this very prestigious ‘gong’ and hope perhaps it is reflection of a certain doggedness to ride through both recessionary times as well as the years of plenty. Ultimately, if I can continue growing the bottom line, doing great, exciting work for some fantastic clients I will be very happy. It’s not about me or my business, but moreso about the success and growth of my clients’ businesses. If we get that right, everyone succeeds!
As for our clients, I work across many industry sectors, spanning American Golf and Black Death Vodka and to the lime industry and commercial engineering. All of these endeavours require a fresh approach to their marketing, PR and events, and this is something I really enjoy conceiving and delivering. When expanding our client base, we are often approached direct, but I also recommend networking at the highest level, as this is something that has certainly paid off for me.
Company: The SPA Group Ltd Name: Simon Plumb Email: simon@spa-group.co.uk Web Address: www.spa-group.co.uk Address: 2, Bridgewater Court, Barsbank Lane, Lymnm, Cheshire WA13 0ER Telephone: W: 01925 755590 M: 07799 403121
In terms of my experience, I started my career as the brand manager for Vladivar Vodka, ‘the Wodka from Varrington’, working for Greenalls’ Brewery. After that wonderful opportunity, spending 10 years in-house, doing amazing marketing and powerful PR stunts, I stepped over to ‘the other side’ and joined the agency world. It was in this environment I was able to use my flair, creativity and sense of humour, aligned with marketing nous and experience. Generally speaking, I enjoy going into companies where growth is an issue. I tend to come at problems from a new, but informed perspective. I find this can awake slumbering giants who are embedded in old ways, and the younger members of the in-house management teams tend be fully supportive of these fresh ideas. Then, when they start to work, everyone feels the momentum and we are all winners. Looking further down the road, there are many issues facing companies in our industry. Succession planning is one for all ambitious companies. However, I intend to continue developing my team and delegating greater levels of responsibility. If I can get my golf handicap down to around 15, my succession planning would be deemed to be working.
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Wealth & Finance International | June 2016
Roman Harbich (COO)
Thierry Zuppinger (CEO)
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Investment Solutions for Asset Managers
Quartal Financial Solutions is a market leading provider of revenue and expense management systems, specialising in commission and fee management. Established in 1999 we are headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland and have offices in London, Frankfurt, Paris and Luxembourg.
Our products effectively support the entire commission and fee management lifecycle, from calculations and payments to invoicing, controlling, allocations, modelling, forecasting and reporting all on one single software platform. Quartal FEE MANAGER is a multi-asset class fee and revenue management solution that increases transparency and accuracy in fee processing while reducing associated costs, risks and revenue leakage. It is a market-leading one stop solution that automates the entire process from calculation to invoicing and all the way to reporting. Quartal COMMISSION is a multi-asset class commission and distribution fee management solution that increases transparency and accuracy in commission processing while reducing associated costs and risks. A flexible and innovative solution, it automates the calculation, allocation and reconciliation of distribution commissions and sales costs. Our solutions reduce processing costs, allowing clients to increase their revenues and information transparency and optimise their pricing and cost models, while significantly reducing compliance and process risk. With a well-established, strong product and service offering and an innovative product roadmap, Quartal is a global market and mindshare leader in fee and commission management. In regards to our clients we are currently working with more than 30 clients with over 50 software installations in 13 different countries across Europe, the United States, Middle East and Africa, and the Asia-Pacific region. Our clients are in the asset management, wealth management, securities services, capital markets and insurance space. Looking ahead to the remainder of 2016 and beyond if we can maintain our reputation in the market and identify any further solutions which may help our clients prosper in the future then we will be more than content.
Company: Quartal Financial Solutions Name: Thierry Zuppinger Email: thierry.zuppinger@quartalfs.com Web Address: www.quartalfs.com Address: Muertschenstrasse 39, 8048 Zuerich Telephone: +41 44 200 22 44
Vito Monteduro (CFO)
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Wealth & Finance International | June 2016
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FundAdministration - Challenges Facing Hedge Fund Start-ups Fundadministration is a full-service fund administration firm dedicated to providing accurate, timely and comprehensive accounting and administration services to the financial services industry. Denise DePaola gives her thoughts on the work of the company and imparts her thoughts on the key challenges facing Hedge Fund Start-ups today.
Typically we work with hedge fund managers that require more personalised attention from their administrator. We act more as a partner than a provider, offering them accounting, administration and consulting for their businesses.
Looking ahead to the remainder of 2016 and beyond we are looking at some strategic partnerships that will hopefully accelerate our growth as well as assist our clients in expanding their funds. The key challenges will without doubt be banking, cyber security, increased regulations and reporting.
In terms of the people we serve, we have a variety of clients in the financial services industry and customise our suite of products to meet the individual needs of each client.
Founded in 1990, we are a leading global hedge fund administrator with offices located in New York and clients around the world.
With Hedge Fund Start-ups arguably the most common mistake is launching without enough capital, having not even prepared a breakeven analysis or creating a business plan. Understanding the costs involved is a very important factor to consider in a start-up, for example complex structures cannot be implemented if you have a limited budget. Trying to launch a business within a few weeks is totally unrealistic.
Our highly professional and experienced associates provide our clients with world-class service, transparency and oversight along with independent data verification. Our cutting-edge technology is fully automated, flexible and provides a cost-effective level of reliability that meets the specific needs of our client’s sophisticated investors.
Believing you can duplicate the strategy you might have ran at a larger firm should be avoided and keep in mind that your track record may not be portable. Never leave a large organisation thinking clients will follow. Among others, you must be clear on who your target investor is and understand the tax consequences to the investor.
Company: Fundadministration, Inc. Name: Denise DePaola, CPA, CEO Email: ddepaola@fundadministration.com Web Address: www.fundadministration.com Address: 4175 Veterans Memorial Hwy, Suite 204, Ronkonkoma, NY USA, 11779 Telephone: 631-737-4500
To make the investment flourish you need to avoid these mistakes, due diligence and choosing the right service partners are key factors which can help you do that. However you will reach a stage where you have to be willing to take some level of risk to help you realise the returns. At present I am seeing growth in the industry, however at the same time it is being stunted by banks not wanting to do business with hedge funds. As a result, we are constantly finding new ways to assist our clients to overcome these challenges. Just like any firm the staff play a key role behind the success of the firm, in fact without the team at Fundadministration our clients would be lost.
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Wealth & Finance International | June 2016
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Finest in Finance Information Age for I.T. Consultations is a Kuwait based consultation firm specialised in I.T consultations which was first formed in 2013. Since its establishment, Information Age for I.T. Consultations has understood the role of following I.T. market trends. We focus on Natural Language Processing, Text Analytics, Social Media Analytics, Social Media strategies, Web Analytics, Big Data Analytics, and Financial Market Analytics. However, training and consultation remains the standard line of business offered to our clients.
We are partners with a number of international firms including Metastock, SAS, Microsoft, Citrix, Face Group, and Hootsuite. Forrester Research highlighted our efforts in the field of Natural Language Processing, Big Data, and Text Analytics for Arabic language in a report published on November 2015 entitled “The Gulf Cooperative Council’s Big Data Opportunity: How The GCC Can Use Big Data to Be More Competitive”.
Looking ahead to the remainder of 2016 and beyond, we are working on utilising big data analytics and social media analytics to provide our customers in the financial sector with insights and indicators that help them in sensing and measuring the market trends and taking the proper decisions. In this respect, we have developed a Sentiment Analysis API for Standard Arabic language and Kuwaiti dialect. We have also developed a social media analytics system optimised for Standard Arabic language and Kuwaiti Dialect. These systems can be utilised to analyse the investors’ trends, sentiment, and tone in relation to financial markets, stocks, news and other events affecting the local and regional financial market landscape.
In regards to the financial areas, our company launched a portal for financial market analysis and training. The project merged applications of information technology and financial market analysis in a unique portal. The portal provides our customers with e-training courses and lectures to learn how to use technical analysis software like Metastock and Xenith in order to help them take the right decisions during their trading.
We are also focusing on Social Trading by merging our experience in information technology, social media analytics, and financial markets to provide our clients with a robust interactive social trading environment which can be applied to local, regional, and international financial markets.
The portal also offers the possibility to attend our training programs and lectures via the internet using live webinars and virtual classroom technologies. These technologies enable the trainees to attend lectures remotely from any place, using any computer or smart phone or a tablet PC. This is achieved by using Citrix e-collaboration technologies for live broadcasting and online collaboration. Recorded lectures and webinars are also available through an integrated Learning Management System.
Company: Information Age for I.T. Consultations Name: Dr. Salah Alnajem Email: alnajem@information-age-consulting.com Web Address: www.information-age-consulting.com Address: Ali Tower, Floor 7, Office 9, Abdullah Al Mubarak Street, Al Qiblah, Kuwait City, Kuwait Telephone: +965 90097970
In addition to this portal, we offer to our clients other consultancy services which merge information technology, financial market analysis software, finance, economics and business. In this respect we offer consultancy in using information technology and financial market analysis software for financial and investment institutions and private traders. We also develop information technology solutions and software for corporations working in financial markets. Our hands-on training, support, and customisation for Metastock software is used in financial market analysis. Moreover, we support media and business institutions with financial reports and economic indicators utilising financial market analysis software.
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Wealth & Finance International | June 2016
60 Seconds Name: Gina Miller Company: SCM Direct Email: enquiries@scmdirect.com Web Address: www.scmdirect.com Address: 2 Eaton Gate, Westminster, London, SW1W 9BJ Telephone: 0207 838 8650
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As a modern investment manager SCM Direct offer low cost access to high end wealth management via Exchange Traded Funds. We got in touch with the Founder of the company Gina Miller to find out more about the company itself and the challenges which lie ahead for the company. What does your business do? As innovative online investment managers, we offer clients direct low cost access to high end wealth management that is smart, common-sense and modern. Everything we do is underpinned by 100% transparency and treating our clients fairly. Who are your clients? Generally speaking they are Investors looking to bypass expensive advisers, layers of inefficiencies, and high fee underperforming traditional active funds. For UK clients our entry level is £15,000, either direct or via an ISA or SIPP wrapper. For overseas clients £150,000 or the equivalent in Euros or US Dollars. We are also delighted to work with corporates and charities. What makes you unique? As a boutique firm, the founders not only invest significant sums of their own money alongside clients on exactly the same terms and fees but also roll their sleeves up and are fully involved in every aspect of the organisation. Clients can, therefore, be confident their money is being looked after as if it were our own. In terms of investing, our Chief Investment Officer (CIO) is one of a handful of highly respected fund managers. His 28 years’ unique track record has resulted from managing money for a wide range of clients – retail, institutional and private – across a wide range of asset classes – equities, property, fixed interest and alternative assets. At this moment in time, we are also the only investment house that publishes our true Total Cost of Investing on our factsheets monthly, in one number – no hidden fees whatsoever! What’s your biggest challenge facing you at present? As a disruptive brand we face several challenges. To compete with the deep pockets of big brand incumbents, to continue to provide exceptional service to clients whilst growing but not compromising efficiency and ethics, as well as resisting the tempting offers of external finance which would impact our principles, ethos and customer care. What’s the aim for your business? It is two-fold. To continue to help people to save for their future so they live the end of their days with finances that affords them dignity and security. To be successful and profitable so that profits feed into our Foundation – www.trueandfairfoundation.com – which will ensure we can continue being philanthropists and help heal communities. Links: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/why-too-many-funds-are-hedgingtheir-bets-jzvxgn632 https://next.ft.com/content/a9ee95cc-0711-11e6-9b51-0fb5e65703ce http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/05/19/no-wonder-britain-isntsaving--scandalous-fees-and-obfuscation-h/
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Winners Directory The Business Elite UK MD of the Year 2016 Company: Whitescape Ventures Limited Name: Andrew White Email: andrew.white@whitescape.co.uk Web Address: whitescape.co.uk Address: Studio 5a, Upper Adhurst Farm, London Road, Petersfield, Hampshire GU31 5AE Telephone: 01730 897960 The Business Elite UK MD of the Year 2016 Company: Covenco Recovery Services Ltd Name: Gurdip Sohal Email: Gurdip.Sohal@Covenco-dr.co.uk Web Address: www.covenco-dr.co.uk Address: Unit 4, MXL Centre, Lombard Way, Banbury, Oxfordshire, OX16 4TJ Telephone: 01295272080 The Business Elite UK FD of the Year 2016 Company: Sellick Partnership Limited Name: Nives Feely Email: nfeely@sellickpartnership.co.uk Web Address: www.sellickpartnership.co.uk Address: Queens Court, 24 Queen Street, Manchester M2 5HX Telephone: 0161 834 1642 The Business Elite 2016 Company: Associated Joinery Techniques Ltd. Name: Anneliese Polan Email: apolan@ajtlabfurniture.com Web Address: www.ajtlabfurniture.com Address: Waterside, Marks Hall, Margaret Roding, Chelmsford, Essex CM6 1QT Telephone: 01245 231881
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Most Outstanding Law Firm of 2016 Company: EmployEasily Legal Services Limited Name: Gary H Sutherland Email: enquiries@employeasily.co.uk Web Address: http://www.employeasily.co.uk Address: Baltic Chambers, 50 Wellington Street, suite 544-545, Glasgow, G2 6HJ Telephone: 0800 612 4772 Most Outstanding Law Firm of 2016 Company: Lee International IP & Law Group Name: Nicholas Park Email: npark@leeinternational.com Web Address: www.leeinternational.com Address: 14F, Poongsan Bldg., 23 Chungjeong-ro Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 03737, KOREA Telephone: +82 2 2262 6000 Most Outstanding Law Firm of 2016 Company: Cordell & Cordell Email: info@cordellcordell.com Web Address: cordellcordell.com; cordellcordell.co.uk Telephone: 1-866-DADS-LAW; 0330 60 60 161
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1604MR02
fx trading, technical analysis and tailormade advisory
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