News and advice

The FCA continues to provide more granular guidance to regulated firms to mitigate operational risk that could otherwise prove extremely serious for both firms and for their clients.

Whilst the financial system runs for the most part safely and smoothly, it is still vulnerable to abuse by groups ranging from large money launderers to smaller-scale fraudsters.

Linear have been successfully providing top class service in the prime brokerage market for over 12 years, since the company was founded in 2010. The primary focus is to provide efficiently managed client centric solutions whilst also ensuring a smooth customer service  experience for all functions Linear provides.

Posted by Paul Kelly Boutique prime brokers continue to have a significant role in the PB market, focusing on small to mid-sized hedge funds who are less likely to find a home to transact their business with a Tier One bank. With recent reports of larger banks beginning to shut their prime brokerage businesses, there […]

Traditionally, hedge funds and other investment firms have maintained in-house trading staff to operate in financial markets.

In the financial sector, prime brokers offer a package of services to hedge funds and other large investors to enable them to engage in the financial market more effectively.

Easily scalable, outsourcing can be managed successfully as business expands and contracts, allowing work to be done so that it doesn’t disrupt the business flow.

Linear Investments focusses on operational excellence to maintain excellent client service says Paul Kelly, Chairman and CEO of Linear Investments. The key to Linear’s success is its operational processes and procedures. This means the service passed on to clients is efficient and cost effective. Kelly says “Linear is a great size business. We are big [...]

Linear Investments clients face multiple challenges in the current business environment around cost, efficiency, compliance, and regulatory requirements says Paul Kelly, Chairman and CEO of Linear Investments.

London, 09 February 2022: Jerry Lees has today announced his retirement from Linear Investments, the custody execution and clearing provider, to pursue some of his personal goals in other areas including his long term connections in the arts.  Jerry wished Paul Kelly every success at the helm of Linear going forward. Linear, celebrating 12 years [...]

To say that 2020 has been quite a year would be an understatement. However, alongside with the obvious challenges that have risen due to COVID-19, there have been highlights and successes too. We reflect back on the year that has passed and look ahead as to what we can expect for 2021. At the start [...]

Linear Investments provides a summative overview on the performance of Hedge Funds in October and the first three quarters of 2019. Hedge Funds posted the best performance this year since 2013. According to Bloomberg hedge funds are gaining momentum, surpassing uncertainties in markets and geo-politics having gained 4.9% on average in the first three quarters [...]

James Churchman, Head of Sales at Linear Investments, gives his thoughts on the one of the oldest running debates. Active funds or passive funds? Primarily we are talking about this within the context of creating and managing model portfolios as part of a broader managed service. Financial planners will have developed a personal view through [...]

“An outsourced trading desk does not just bring about cost benefits, but improves the quality of execution which is absolutely critical.”

Paul Walker-Duncalf, previously Global Head of Equity Trading at BlackRock, joins Linear Outsourced Trading as joint Managing Partner

Linear Outsourced Trading  Linear Outsourced Trading’s Paul Walker-Duncalf featured in Tim Cave’s Financial News article (May, 2016). The full article can be found on Financial News  “Paul Walker-Duncalf left as BlackRock’s global head of equity trading in May 2015 to move to an outsourced trading operation. He joined a team at prime broker Linear Investments […]

By – Colin Lloyd October was a mixed month for hedge funds and challenging once again for managed futures. The table below, from BarclayHedge, ranks the sub-indices by monthly performance:-  Index October No of funds YTD Barclay Hedge Fund Index -0.29% 1903 4.07% Distressed Securities Index 2.50% 28 11.11% Emerging Markets Index 0.96% 267 11.94% […]

By Colin Lloyd December marked the end of an extraordinary year for financial markets. Despite weakness during the latter half of 2016 for the major bond markets, JGBs, helped by the Bank of Japan’s (BoJ) “Yield Curve Control” policy, were among the best performers in absolute terms. The weakening of the GBP as a result […]

Hedge Fund Performance; A year in review – 2016  By Colin Lloyd  As we end 2016 I want to take the opportunity to look back over the past 12 months, but first I quick up-date on December’s performance:-   December No. of Funds YTD Barclay Hedge Fund Index 1.22% 2104 6.20% Global Macro Index 1.99% […]

Being an asset manager in today’s market can be a bruising experience. Margins are shrinking, fees are under pressure, while operating costs have grown out of proportion. This is happening in tandem with unpredictable markets, making alpha creation for clients exceptionally difficult. Cost saving opportunities have to be identified wherever possible in a way that […]

By Colin Lloyd As 2017 gets underway the performance patterns of last year remain evident, as this table from Barclay Hedge reveals:-  Barclay Hedge Fund Indices January No of Funds Barclay Hedge Fund Index 1.43% 2335 Emerging Markets Index 3.02% 325 Technology Index 2.79% 37 Healthcare & Biotechnology Index 2.33% 42 Event Driven Index 1.83% […]

By Colin Lloyd  The Trump correction of January appears to have run its course. This is evident in the rebound of the US$ Index. US stocks remain ascendant, reaching all-time highs at month end. US bond markets, meanwhile, remain range-bound, reluctant to give up the yield increases seen since the November election. In Germany, Bund […]

By Colin Lloyd  February was another positive month for hedge fund performance and saw Managed Futures reverse the majority of losses seen during January.   Hedge Funds The Barclayhedge Hedge Fund Index gained 1.03% in February, 2.42% YTD. The Technology and Healthcare & Biotech Indices were almost neck and neck in first place +2.59% and […]

By Colin Lloyd  March was another positive month for hedge fund performance. Managed futures strategies, by contrast struggled once again. Hedge Funds Barclay Hedge Fund Indices March No. of funds YTD Barclay Hedge Fund Index 0.46% 1857 2.91% Technology Index 2.47% 27 7.10% Healthcare & Biotechnology Index 1.97% 33 8.17% European Equities Index 0.92% 57 […]

Linear Investments are delighted with our success at the HFM European Service Awards 2018 where we beat strong competition by taking home the Best Outsourced Trading Solution award. This award pays tribute to the whole team at Linear who work constantly to offer the very best solution to all of our clients. Jerry Lees, Chairman […]