05/09/2013
Lyxor to launch AIFM hedge fund platform
Lyxor, a well-known specialist in managed accounts, is currently working on launching a new AIFM hedge fund platform which institutional investors will be eligible for. The first funds are expected to be available by the end of the year, probably in December, says Nathanaël Benzaken, deputy head of alternative management at Lyxor Asset Management. The initiative is a response to a desire on the part of Lyxor to offer a third option, between UCITS-compliant hedge funds and totally offshore vehicles, between highly regulated products on the one hand, and offshore hedge funds with very little oversight on the other. ‘This is a third option which will allow us to take advantage of the new AIFM directive. Institutional investors have previously not had any choice other than ot invest in offshore vehicles. The regulatory environment now offers them another solution. Alternative investment funds (FIA) from our point of view appear to be the solutoin which best meets the requirements both of regulators and of risk-takers. This is clearly a range aimed primarily at institutional clients. However, I am persuaded that the AIFM brand can and will become a standard label, possibly outside Europe, like the UCITS brand, since it now allows for invetsmnt in all alternative management strategies, including the least liquid strategies, without as restrictive an investment limit as the one imposed on UCITS funds, all in an onshore environment, under the supervision of regulators.” The initiative may also allow for the interest of institutional investors in alternative management to be rekindled, due to the more favourable environment, insofar as “we are returning to more fundamental markets,” Benzaken adds.
