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Long ago, an energy company called Enron was, owing to the investigative work of a soft-spoken Fortune reporter, revealed to be not only an unregulated trading organization built on a complex maze of debt and fraud, but an actively destructive enterprise aligned against national infrastructure, able to manipulate the power grids of certain US states…
Does your legal entity structure look similar to Figure 1 below? If so, this PE Bite is a must read! Cascading Cash and Waterfall are terms used in private investing that define how distributions flow from the investment to the partners… and what happens when things don’t go as planned. It’s important to understand how…
Now, perhaps more than ever, private equity firms are being asked to do more with less. With the significant growth in asset inflows and the extraordinary pressures created by the COVID-19 pandemic, treasury teams are faced with increasing pressure. With vast numbers of staff working from home, there are additional challenges to face, with a…
As we leave 2020 behind and start 2021, we find ourselves looking ahead and planning for the new year to come. For many on the buy-side, that means UMR compliance deadlines. The 1-year delay from the original September 2020 deadline for phase 5 firms gave us a much needed breather, but as the calendar flips…
When college kids start enthusiastically discussing short interest activity in a particular stock, maybe there has been a fundamental shift in market behavior? Rather akin to one of the game ploys sold within its outlets, gamers, enabled by social media platforms and game-like brokerage technology, appear to have wrought havoc on one of the biggest…
Harnessing the Winds of Change? In the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2008, as fossil fuel costs fell and “green energy” stocks struggled to gain traction, the solar, wind, tidal flow and electric vehicle industries were heavily shorted by the buy side. Since then however, slowly but surely, the environmental segment has gained momentum…
Working from home and moving money creates additional risk for treasurers, CFOs, operations personnel and – ultimately – investors. Hackers have taken note of the decentralized work environment and are looking to take advantage of any weakness. It comes as little surprise to see a multi-million dollar loss and the closure of Levitas Capital, a…
This week, the CEO of Pfizer broke the news regarding a potential vaccine for COVID-19 that is 90% effective. This has contributed to a rise in global markets around the world. On the flip side, however, last week, we saw a significant increase in shorting of Pfizer (PFE) shares by hedge funds. The chart below…
Today’s treasury management systems (TMS) have evolved dramatically since banks were first able to transmit data electronically. Whether facilitating centralized real-time visibility into account balances, consolidating payment approval workflows or bridging the technical gap with general ledger software, TMS solutions have become an operational necessity for the Corporate Treasurer. The emergence of cloud computing has…
Back in 2017, the Wall Street Journal published an article, “Stop Using Excel, Finance Chiefs Tell Staffs.” Shortly afterwards, due to an unexpected backlash and firestorm of reader comments, a second story was published, “Finance Pros Say You’ll Have to Pry Excel Out of Their Cold, Dead Hands.” This highlights the disconnect between today’s CFO…
On September 10, Hindenburg Research announced that it had uncovered evidence of fraudulent marketing at Nikola Corporation that was resulting in artificially inflated share prices. It seems somewhat ironic that an investment research firm with such a name would have launched this investigation into a company that is developing a hydrogen cell powered truck. While…
PE fund managers’ cash management objectives are, generally, to call capital on a ‘just in time’ (JIT) basis as needed for new and follow-on investments, fund expenses and management fees, and to disburse capital distributions back to investors as timely as possible. Easy enough, right? The devil is in the details and complexity exists across…
The current Coronavirus pandemic has produced many confusing signals for the investment community. Apart from the obvious restaurant, airline and hotel industry dynamics, there has been a large focus on RV and camping activities. As many proponents say, you do not need to sit next to anyone you do not know in an RV, you…
When global regulators were writing the rules for UMR, there was general agreement that those rules should not necessarily require a small volume of uncleared OTC derivative trades to trigger a requirement to post collateral. The regulators eventually settled on an IM threshold of $50 million in the US, and €50 million in the EU,…
The concept of the duty of ‘Best Execution’ has been around for many years especially when applied to the broker dealer community and their fiduciary responsibility to their clients. All stakeholders in the Securities Finance eco-system are feeling this pressure. Through industry regulation like MiFid II (https://www.esma.europa.eu/databases-library/interactive-single-rulebook/mifir/article-27), emanating from the EU, the concept is being…
In the midst of historical volatility, investment managers are looking for every edge to improve returns while simultaneously managing liquidity and overall counterparty and market risks. It isn’t easy – this is particularly evident as managers seek to identify differentiated, data-driven, alpha-generating trade ideas. These ideas are set against a backdrop of costly and time-consuming…
The current coronavirus crisis has been seen as the reason behind significant increases in short positions in various industry sectors. The onset signaled the usual reaction from regulatory authorities around the world, particularly in Europe, to introduce short sale bans. While these bans have now been generally lifted, it is helpful to look to the…
Marshall Saffer, vice president and head of Americas sales at Hazeltree, joins Anthony Malakian, Editor-in-Chief of WatersTechnology.com, for a podcast to talk about software development issues that have arisen since the start of coronavirus and controversies around Microsoft Excel. Listen to the podcast. Listen to ‘Working Through Covid-19’ podcast: https://bit.ly/3d3BpEd
The news last month of a delay to the onset of UMR for phases 5 and 6 was a welcome relief during a time of crisis. Even if a pandemic hadn’t altered our reality, many parties who would have been in-scope for phase 5 in September of this year were not prepared and had found themselves…
As firms grow and counterparties multiply, the job of tracking and managing cash, collateral and other aspects of treasury becomes increasingly challenging – and critical. Paul Calderone, the Chief Operating Officer at Hazeltree, joins this week’s episode to discuss treasury management for alternative investment firms. With over 30 years of experience in the alternative space,…
The outbreak of COVID-19 continues to impact the investment management ecosystem. Hedge fund managers are endeavoring to stay well ahead of potential demands on their treasury operations with sudden shifts in trading patterns, likely increased redemptions, and a re-doubling of efforts to protect assets and ensure liquidity. Managers continue to broadly deleverage and build-up cash…
In these unprecedented times, everyone’s first concern, as it should be, is for the health and safety of our colleagues and loved ones. We felt it was important to continue our monthly ritual and provide you with our insights and updates on the collateral market. Phase 5 & 6 of UMR delayed BCBS/IOSCO issued today…
Hazeltree and HedgeLegal, the emerging leader in trading document negotiation for the buy side developed a comprehensive guide “Clearing up the Uncleared Margin Rules” for Hedge Funds and Asset Managers. The guide is intended to assist hedge funds and asset managers in gaining a better understanding of their obligations under Phases 5 and 6 of…
We thought you would find the following article issued last Monday by our partners at BNY Mellon both timely and relevant, coming hot on the heels of the Fed’s latest rate cuts. The piece, which includes excerpts of interviews with liquidity experts at BNY Mellon, Goldman Sachs Asset Management and J.P. Morgan Asset Management, details…
Check what’s new at Hazeltree and read the complete newsletter by clicking here. Some of the topics covered are: Hazeltree and ENSO become one! Hazeltree Mobile App: Approve your transactions on the go! Data Aggregation Made Easy Hamilton Lane Goes Fully Operational on Hazeltree And more… Read full newsletter
Hazeltree Data Service ™ is now available as a licensed subscription service. Hazeltree currently processes about 5,000 unique feeds from a multitude of counterparties around the world with daily volume of around 100,000 files. Data Services provides a comprehensive, source of unique and reliable data that covers the following areas: securities, collateral, margin, cash, and…
New York, London and Hong Kong, March 9, 2020 – Hazeltree, the leading provider of integrated treasury and portfolio finance solutions, today announced the appointment of industry veteran, Marshall Saffer, as Vice President and Head of Americas Sales, to support Hazeltree’s expansion plans post the acquisition of ENSO Financial Analytics. Mr. Saffer comes to Hazeltree…
Cash and capital management challenges are abundant in the private markets investment sector – for both the investor and fund sponsor alike. This whitepaper examines cash management from the fund sponsor perspective along the dimension of capital activity administration, which is fundamental to the goal of delivering optimal IRR. Spreadsheets and manual processes are pervasive…
New York, London and Hong Kong, February 25, 2020 – Hazeltree, the leading provider of integrated buy-side treasury management and portfolio finance solutions, is pleased to announce that Artemis Investment Management LLP, a leading UK-based fund manager, has successfully implemented Hazeltree solutions – Collateral Manager and Securities Finance – to enhance oversight of its collateral operations and…
New York, London and Hong Kong, February 20, 2020 – Hazeltree, the leading provider of integrated treasury management and portfolio finance solutions, today announced the expansion of Hazeltree Collateral Manager™ to include Standard Initial Margin Model (SIMM) calculations in partnership with AcadiaSoft. This new partnership helps clients to meet their obligations under Phases 5 and 6 of…
Hazeltree released today ‘The Evolving Treasury and Securities Finance Ecosystem’ whitepaper. This paper provides an overview of the evolving securities finance market and value chain mostly driven by greater access to data and transparency. For asset managers, hedge funds, asset owners and other investors, embracing transparency, gaining an edge, and actively managing the treasury function…
Read this special HFM report which outlines how managed accounts have become the accepted face of alternative investing and how platform providers have a new role to play: assisting institutional investors execute their hedge fund strategies in a socially responsible way. * Please note that Hazeltree acquired Enso Financial Analytics, a company previously owned by…
Specialist treasury technology has been the domain of the world’s largest hedge funds and asset managers in the past, allowing them a competitive edge in reporting, analysis and optimizing work flow management and cost savings. Today, sophisticated treasury technology capabilities are accessible to the full spectrum of institutional investors, from two-person boutique organizations through to…
NEW YORK, LONDON AND HONG KONG, Oct. 3, 2019 – Hazeltree, the leading provider of integrated treasury management and portfolio finance solutions, announced today that it has acquired ENSO Financial Analytics (ENSO), a leading provider of portfolio analytics for hedge funds and prime brokers, previously owned by CME Group Inc. (Nasdaq: CME). This acquisition solidifies Hazeltree’s…
Check out What’s new at Hazeltree. We launched new products and enhanced existing features. Hazeltree released “Hazeltree Private Markets™” A modular, cloud-based integrated cash and liquidity management solution that helps private equity, private credit, real estate and infrastructure fund sponsors transform their treasury operations into performance. The key features are: Cashboard view and analysis of…
Clients met in New York on June 4, 2019 and in London on April 30, 2019 to discuss the strategic importance of active treasury management and how it creates sought-after treasury P&L while reducing counterparty risk exposure. Those events were in partnership with Federated Investors in New York and Simmons & Simmons in London. …
Hazeltree Securities Finance™ Version 7 is a comprehensive portfolio finance solution integrated with new market color, benchmark and intra-day rates, and utilization trends. It enables hedge funds, asset managers and beneficial owners to: identify and monitor treasury market inefficiencies and opportunities, obtain demonstrable best-execution financing rates, attribute and record financing accruals on a portfolio or…
New York, London and Hong Kong, May 21, 2019 – Hazeltree, the leading provider of integrated buy-side treasury management solutions, and Bain Capital Credit today announced the successful implementation of Hazeltree Collateral Manager™ to streamline collateral management across ISDA counterparties. A major driver for Bain Capital Credit’s evaluation and selection of Hazeltree Collateral Manager is…
Over the past two years, Hazeltree Cloud has become a standard in bringing our global clients from North America, Europe, and AsiaPac into a Hazeltree cloud community . In partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS), Hazeltree Cloud offers a highly scalable infrastructure that includes the latest security tools and various levels of compliance certifications. The…
A primary objective of treasury managers in the investment management industry is effective counterparty management – the ability to systematically measure and manage liquidity while minimizing the associated funding and counterparty concentration risks. The ability to quickly and accurately identify counterparty related threats to funding costs, stability and asset safety can be the difference between…
New York, London and Hong Kong, February 26, 2019 – Hazeltree, the leading provider of integrated buy-side treasury management solutions, and Oasis Management Company, an international investment manager focused on investing in equity and debt markets, announced the successful implementation of Hazeltree’s cash and collateral management product suite. Hazeltree helps Oasis’ finance and treasury team…
Triparty Vs Third-Party The uncleared margin rules provide requirements that in-scope firms segregate their regulatory IM at an unaffiliated third-party custodian. This means: opening pledgor accounts for every trading relationship, executing extensive documentation, and establishing connectivity with custodians offering UMR-compliant custodial services. Since both parties to a trading relationship will be a collateral pledgor, each…
New York, London and Hong Kong, and Bala Cynwyd, Penn. January 14, 2020 – Hazeltree, the leading provider of integrated treasury management and portfolio finance solutions for alternative asset investment firms, is pleased to announce that leading private markets asset management firm Hamilton Lane (NASDAQ: HLNE) has successfully implemented Hazeltree Private Markets. Hamilton Lane is increasingly…
While there has clearly been an effort among global regulators to align on the principles behind uncleared OTC derivative margin regulation, some differences in the scope and implementation remain from one regulatory jurisdiction to the next. On August 8, 2019, ISDA published a summary document, click here to view summary, detailing a comparison between jurisdictional rules and scope…
Many asset managers consider treasury part of their operations unit and manage this function through manual, spreadsheet-oriented processes and support staff. Forward-looking asset managers, however, have recognized the importance of treasury, not only in reducing operational risks and protecting assets but also in generating significant potential alpha — sometimes referred to as “treasury P&L”. These…
Institutional investors continue to demand consistent returns from their fund managers, but additionally, they are expecting operational excellence, across various middle- and back-office functions. This whitepaper examines some of the questions that institutional investors are (or should consider) asking their fund managers during operational due diligence processes around running an optimized treasury function. Institutional Investors…
