Aspect Core UCITS Fund launches

Aspect Capital has unveiled its third UCITS compliant fund, launching with more than $40m of external capital.

The London-based systematic manager, which manages around $8.8bn in total AUM, said the Aspect Core UCITS Fund was designed to provide investors with access to the Aspect Core Diversified Programme via a daily-liquid, UCITS-compliant investment vehicle.

The Aspect Core Diversified Programme, which has assets of around $1.5bn, deploys a systematic trend following strategy, seeking to generate alpha from the capture of medium-term trend opportunities across over 100 highly liquid financial and commodity markets. 

The new fund will be the third UCITS-compliant fund managed by Aspect, joining the Aspect Diversified Trends Fund and the Aspect Systematic Global Macro Fund, launched in 2010 and 2018 respectively.

Aspect’s Core UCITs fund has been authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland and will be administered by US Bank Global Fund Services (Ireland) Limited. Targeting 12% volatility, it has daily liquidity and, initially, USD, Euro, GBP and JPY share classes.

“With uncertainty over the sustainability of current equity market valuations, declining bond yields and the looming threat of inflation, investors are increasingly seeking diversifying, uncorrelated yet liquid investment solutions to add balance to their portfolios,” said Rosie Reynolds, Chief Commercial Officer, Aspect Capital.

“This launch reinforces Aspect’s commitment to meeting investors’ requirements, providing them with much-needed diversification in the form of a robust, liquid, UCITS-compliant vehicle.”

Private credit investment set to rise in H2 2021

Over a third of LPs investing in private credit plan to commit further capital to the strategy in H2 2021, according to research compiled by Private Credit Fund Intelligence and Aima’s Alternative Credit Council (ACC).

Satisfaction among investors in private credit strategies has dropped slightly over the past six months, but remains high at 84%, added the Investor Intentions H2 2021 report. Additionally, nearly half of those LPs increasing their private credit allocation in H2 will explore co-investments in coming months, revealed the report.

Based on surveys and interviews conducted with 108 investors in alternatives during the second quarter of 2021, investors said they planned to meet an average of two new private credit managers in the second half of the year, despite ongoing global travel disruptions.

“Demand for private credit strategies is set to remain high in H2 2021, with specialty finance funds and more traditional direct lending strategies most likely to attract inflows,” said James Sivyer, Senior Research at HFM Insights.

“Private credit GPs can expect to see particular interest from institutional investors, 41% of whom plan to increase their allocation to the asset class in the second half of the year. All in all, with investors below target allocations to private credit, the industry retains considerable scope for growth this year and beyond.”

The Investor Intentions H2 2021 report features responses from over 100 investors, 57% of whom reside in the US, 22% in Europe, and 14% in APAC. The combined total of their investor assets amounts to $7.6trn. 

People moves: BNP Paribas, Invesco and Crestbridge

BNP Paribas Global Markets has lured Ashley Wilson away from Deutsche Bank, to take on the role of Global Head of Prime Services. At BNP, Wilson will be globally responsible for prime brokerage, inventory management and electronic execution activities. He is based in London and reports to Raphael Masgnaux, Global Head of Prime Solutions and Financing (PS&F) & G10 Rates, and to Nicolas Marque, Global Head of Equity Derivatives and Head of Global Markets for Continental Europe. BNP Paribas has also increased the scope of John Gallo’s role; in addition to his position as Co-Head of Global Markets Americas, he will also act as Global Head of Institutional Sales.

Matthew Henly has left Aberdeen Asset Management to join Invesco’s Fixed Income team as Portfolio Manager. Henly, who has 10 years’ experience in credit strategies, will primarily focus on managing Buy and Maintain strategies for insurance and pensions clients. Prior to his new role, Henly was with Aberdeen for seven years, most recently serving as lead portfolio manager on a range of strategies, including Buy and Maintain, Sterling/Euro aggregate and investment grade credit across both segregated and pooled vehicles.

Global administration and corporate governance solutions business Crestbridge has appointed Dean Hodcroft as Chief Executive. Hodcroft joins the organisation from real estate investment firm, Cale Street Partners LLP. Prior to this he spent 26 years at Ernst & Young, making partner in 2001, leading their Real Estate Tax group. Hodcroft’s recruitment comes as the business recently opened two new offices, in New Jersey, US and Ireland.