Trend following CTA scores 37.9% return

US-based CTA Drury Capital has delivered investors a 37.9% return over the past 12 months to February 2021 with its flagship Diversified Trend Following Program.

For the first two months of 2021, the Drury Diversified Trend Following Program delivered a 13% return for investors. Its annualized ROR since inception is 9.5%, in comparison to 6.4% for the S&P 500 for the same period.

Approximately 50% of the portfolio is invested in commodities, said the firm, and while corn and natural gas performed well, it was key trades in aluminium (up 5%), copper (up 5.5%) and cotton (up 2.7%) that delivered strong returns.

Half of the portfolio’s exposure comes from commodity markets including energy products, metals and agricultural commodities, while the remaining are in stock indices, fixed income and currency markets.                                                                       

Bill Miller, Global Head of Sales and Marketing for Drury, said: “Our biggest advantage undoubtedly is the diversification of our strategy. Whatever happens in the global financial markets, and changes in over views, we are still able to drill down and provide the diversification needed to bring investors strong returns.

“This approach has meant we have been able to outperform in an historic period of market crises and capture price movement.”

Drury also launched its Capital Multi-Strategy Futures Program in 2020, which gained 22% in its first year to February 2021 against an annual return target of 14% with 10% volatility.

This new fund provides investors with exposure to global equity and fixed income markets, blended with the uncorrelated benefits of trend following.

ZEDRA snaps up BIL’s fund services arm

Fund services company ZEDRA has acquired the fund and corporate services branch of Banque Internationale à Luxembourg (BIL).

The fund and corporate services arm, BFCS, was established more than 50 years ago and offers services and solutions in both the corporate and funds’ sector, including central administration for alternative investment funds, domiciliation, management, accounting, investor reporting and ESG services.

BFCS’ clients currently include high-net-worth individuals, asset managers, investment and real-estate fund professionals.

ZEDRA said the deal would boost its presence in Luxembourg. Upon regulatory approval of the deal, BFCS staff will move to ZEDRA’s existing Luxembourg offices.

ZEDRA already operates teams for regulated funds in Jersey, Guernsey, the Cayman Islands and Singapore.

Ivo Hemelraad, ZEDRA’s CEO, said: “We are delighted to welcome both staff and clients of BFCS business. We have a great relationship with BIL. As ZEDRA continues to expand its network and service capabilities, we are very much looking forward to meeting and working closely with BFCS’ existing clients, fulfilling their aspirations and unlocking opportunities as they grow and develop.”

The transaction is subject to regulatory approval from Luxembourg's financial regulator, the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (‘CSSF’).

U.S. Bank expands product offering to ILP funds

U.S. Bank has bolstered its service offering to include Irish Limited Partnership (ILP) funds, providing loan administration, fund and investor services, depositary, custody and account banking.  

“We’re presently meeting with current and prospective U.S. Bank clients about providing servicing solutions for ILP structures which they are currently forming,” said Linda Gorman, U.S. Bank Global Fund Services.

“The features of the ILP structure are comparable to those in other fund jurisdictions such as Luxembourg where we already provide services to partnership structures – allowing Ireland to become a jurisdiction of choice for private equity, infrastructure and closed-ended funds. We’ll help our ILP clients stay a step ahead and achieve speed to market with their fund launch as we collaborate with our teams around the globe.”

U.S. Bank’s Investment Services division holds more than $8.2trillion in assets under custody and administration.