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.

The quest to unlock the secrets to becoming a successful investor and the science behind the theory of portfolio construction has a long and varied history. Over the last 60 years, the level of sophistication that has been applied to the topic has steadily increased. The Early Years of Modelling Stock Returns Central to that […]

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 […]

With almost a decade or more of next to zero interest rates since the Global Financial Crisis of 2008, none of us should be surprised by the amazing statistics that has gone hand-in-hand with the growth of the property market. 

by Paul Kelly, Chief Executive Officer, Linear Investments I have always been interested to read the FCA’s Perimeter Report, as, apart from providing guidance about what just the FCA are responsible for and perhaps as importantly what they are not, it also gives an overview of a really important part of the FCA’s role in […]

By Paul Kelly Due to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, food and energy prices have risen substantially. As a result, the inflation rate has reached a 40 year high of 9.4% in the UK and rates are similarly high in other Western economies. Given lower real incomes resulting from higher energy and food prices, […]

By Paul Kelly Since around the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, there has been a general price fall in the stock market, driven mostly by interest rate rises and falls in the technology and consumer products sectors, but expanding to most other cyclical sectors. This naturally presents a buying opportunity for stocks that […]

With inflation on the rise in many countries, there is currently talk in the news about further rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve, the Bank of England & the first-rate hike in Europe by the European Central Bank.

In May 2022, CityWire Selector reported news of Fidelity International launching into the direct lending space. The announcement detailed how the firm has expanded its private credit 12 through 12 new hires that include senior roles in direct lending.

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

In the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, EU countries are increasing their defence spending, adding to the order books of Western defence firms.

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 is a clearing, custody and execution house providing access to most global equity markets and all key financial instruments: Equities, ETF’s, Fixed Income, Futures, Options and all the structures needed to support these instruments

The ESG investment space continues to thrive, Bloomberg Intelligence forecasting global AUM could exceed $50 trillion by 2025 assuming 15% growth, half the rate of the last five years.

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 [...]

The global IPO space enjoyed a record-breaking 2021, Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) particularly experiencing phenomenal activity. There are multiple factors behind the surge and several considerations will influence whether such vibrancy can be repeated in 2022. Before clarifying SPACs, let’s consider the numbers. They’re certainly staggering. According to EY’s Global IPO Trends Report, 2,388 [...]

The UK’s financial services sector post-Brexit: To what extent have jobs and capital been forfeited to the EU? Few need reminding the UK left the EU in December 2020, the parties having failed to reach agreement over financial services industry protocols beforehand. Uncertainty surrounded the processes by which business would be conducted in the absence [...]

Human Brain Power and Artificial Intelligence aren’t mutually exclusive AI enhances the decisions only people can make "The organisations that strike this balance between person and machine will be the most successful in today’s increasingly digital landscape." Chris Doner, founder and CEO of Access Softek. As one of the modern world’s rapidly advancing technologies, analysts predict [...]

Will reverberations following Archegos’ collapse shake up the industry? In March this year Archegos Capital Management crashed spectacularly leaving a gaping $10 billion hole in the prime broking world. How and why did the failure, whose magnitude has been compared by some to 2008 Lehman Brothers’ devastation and its fallout, happen? What lessons can the [...]

As cases leap 70%, banks warn of a national security threat A total £753.9M was stolen online in the UK over the first six months of this year compared with 2020. What protection should the UK’s population expect and who should be responsible for its implementation? The constraints Covid imposed on us all has resulted [...]

Future-proofing is a must for all business, big and small By Paul Kelly Interest in Environmental, Social and Governance matters is intensifying ahead of November’s COP26. The spotlight’s on the specifics of each criteria, their relationship with business operations and the practicalities of assessment, reporting and auditing. However, headlines tend to focus on large corporations [...]

It’s estimated 76% of institutional investors with assets under $10bn have not yet outsourced their investment activities and, with competition intensifying and costs escalating, there is ample space and incentive for the market to expand.

Inconsistent data and definitions make doing your homework essential. Public awareness of global social injustice and the effects of climate change have increased significantly since Covid first wrought its chaos on the world, bringing with them a growing appetite for and availability of ESG-labelled investment products.

By Paul Kelly Bank of England seeks clarity over cloud service providers’ resilience Cloud services allow users to store files and applications on remote servers run by third parties in a virtual space or cloud and then to access the data via the internet. They remove reliance on physical equipment and data centres. Like many [...]

By Paul Kelly Covid continues to influence so much of our world; its impact is clear in the very language we use. Lockdown, track and trace, self-isolation. Not to mention unprecedented…The transformation of our working lives is reflected in this evolving vocabulary: flexible, blended, hybrid. Many welcome the mix, convinced full-time office working with its [...]

By Paul Kelly The first and best-known cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, emerged in 2009 but interest in it and alternative digital assets (altcoins) like Ethereum and Tether has recently exploded. Critics of digital money raise concerns about its volatility and call for controls to protect public interest. Cryptocurrency fans view such demands cautiously, claiming strict rules will [...]

By Paul Kelly London has for decades been a world leader in the financial education and training of young people, its universities and business schools equipping them with the skills needed for a successful financial services career. Preserving the capital’s status as Europe’s leading financial centre demanded a guaranteed supply of talent which was duly [...]

The Financial Services Bill was introduced in the Commons on 21st October 2020 and, having received Royal Assent on 29th April, is now law.

Covid and its aftermath stirred up global economic turbulence on such a dramatic scale some predicted the investment world would struggle for years to overcome its consequences.

Emblazoned across the title of an article within The Wall Street International magazines are the words ‘the future is green’. The next frontier within the bonds market will see efforts to minimise pollution and energy consumption, whilst taking steps towards building and participating in the circular economy. The article goes on to explain that green [...]

March 26th newspaper headlines announced the signing of a UK-EU post-Brexit agreement for financial services ahead of the specified March 31st deadline. Three months after the UK’s tense departure from the union, amidst the frustration of a no-deal Brexit for financial services, is this positive news for the industry and what does it mean for [...]

Blockchain has been hailed as a radical technology that will forever disrupt the way we share data to buy, sell and verify the authenticity of everything in the world, from property titles to carbon credits. Combining the openness of the internet with the security of encoded information, enthusiasts praise its potential cost savings, efficiency and [...]

Over the last few weeks, we have been exploring ESG investments, breaking down each element to get a better understanding of the whole. This time, we are exploring the role of G (governance). So what is governance? Governance includes a broad range of corporate activities. This includes company policies, information disclosure, compliance and auditing, as [...]

Covid-19 laid bare the inadequacy of organisations’ strategies for managing crisis-driven change overnight. In some cases, incompetence rather than readiness was uncovered. Once the immediate battle for survival was over, however, the critical need for businesses to change the way they change became apparent. What does this transformation involve? Will there be a business-as-usual after [...]

The use of cash plummeted in the days after the pandemic’s outbreak and has remained lower since then, but what is the longer-term outlook for physical banknotes and coins? As public health precautions in response to Covid restricted travel and movement outdoors, the need for cash dropped off dramatically. Retailers and service providers who traditionally [...]

ESG is evolving into a commanding force set to grow exponentially. In partnership with The Financial Times, TrackInsight published data showing that AUM in ESG ETFs skyrocketed three-fold

Covid-19 disrupted workplaces worldwide. For many organisations, remote work had been a possibility or an occasional option. However, this all changed and became the only viable option when the pandemic hit.

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Investing has grown rapidly over the last ten years and the number of professionally managed portfolios that have integrated key elements of ESG assessments exceeds USD 17.5 trillion globally (OECD).

By definition, a hedge fund is an investment fund that trades in relatively liquid assets. They are able to profit from complex trading, risk management techniques and portfolio-construction.

Linear Investments recently launched its own ICAV fund. Here, we take a look at what an ICAV is, how it works and its benefits

Jerry Lees, Chairman of Linear Investments, on the professional financial services markets and his view of the year ahead.

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 [...]

Whilst the main virus we have all been concerned about this year is COVID19, the financial services industry has also been targeted by viruses from hackers trying to compromise security of data, especially since companies with trading services have been required to ask their employees to work from home, creating its own challenges. In light [...]

This year has been a lesson to us all in learning to expect the unexpected. While engaging with clients in a different way has become part of our daily life at Linear, it hasn’t affected the services and solutions that we offer our clients or in fact the quality of our offering. We have worked [...]

OCTOBER 29, 2020 STERLING TRADING TECH ANNOUNCES INTEGRATION WITH LINEAR INVESTMENTS CHICAGO – October 29, 2020 – Sterling Trading Tech (STT), a leader in compliance, risk and infrastructure solutions for equity, options and futures trading, announced today that it completed integration with Linear Investments, a global trading firm and full-service prime broker with offices in London, [...]

According to the International Monetary Fund, COVID19 has inspired the ambition of creating a ‘green recovery’ in response to the economic crisis induced by the pandemic. Back in mind July, the IMF reported that finance ministers and central bank governors of the G-20 met to explore how to navigate the next stage of the crisis, [...]

At the start of the year, governments globally delayed unprecedented measures to support both people and businesses during the pandemic. The implications of these policy measures are likely still to be felt once the pandemic has receded and accelerated already established trends including sustainability and de-globalisation. In terms of the acceleration of the de-globalisation trend, [...]

Kate Horne, Director at Linear Media recently sat down with Callan Boyle, Vice President of Fund Investments at Linear Investments to explore thematic responses to the current economic climate and the impact of the pandemic on the main asset classes.  To begin their discussion, Callan explains how fixed income and equities have responded to the [...]

Following the pandemic, prices and the valuation of real estate deals have decreased. Working sites have been closed and no new properties were released. Both sellers and buyers have been cautious. Thus, the spring property market got side-tracked. It’s now the height of summer and in this climate, Linear has chosen to expand their property [...]

Onboarding is a vital link in the chain at Linear Investments, and a process all our clients must go through before they can start doing business with the team. James Churchman, Head of Sales at Linear Investments and Hugo Peterson, Head of Account Management, explain how it works “it isn’t just about whether a new [...]

ESG is the acronym of the moment. Here Linear explains how they establish an ESG rating for their DFM portfolios ESG is an umbrella term for investments that seek to achieve positive returns alongside creating long-term lasting change and impact on the environment, society and the performance of business.  The term itself stands for environmental, [...]

“David Michael, Head of Trading for Linear Investments, answers our questions on his approach and strategy around venue selection and preferences” What is your general strategy / approach around venue selection? Venue selection strategy requires us to ensure our clients receive best execution on a consistent basis. Where we are executing client orders directly, the [...]

What is Saffron Asset Finance? James Churchman, Head of Sales for Linear Investments, talked to David Craven, incoming CEO of Saffron Asset Finance to find out more High street banks are known for preferring to fund larger business loans than to facilitate small business loans. This is mostly due to the fact that SME’s tend [...]

Linear Investments offers an alternative solution to investment companies who have funds that may require a new lease of life. A major effect of the current surge in popularity of passive investments, particularly ETFs has been to reduce fees and therefore profitability in the investment vehicle industry. This, at a time when more traditional actively [...]

Fundamentally, regardless of the sector, your business is in or the size of the company you work for, businesses are run by people. Employees, clients, suppliers and partners are one co-dependent community, and we rely on each other to carry us through the good times and bad. People are the eco-system that enable businesses to [...]

Jerry Lees is Chairman of Linear Investments and sits on the advisory board of Saffron Asset Finance. He talked to Kate Horne about how Saffron can support SME’s with a current loan requirement “Saffron Asset Finance is a direct to market SME lending solution, set up in response to the lack of cost effective and [...]

What does the future look like for business? The phrase ‘new normal’ has been trending on LinkedIn as a consequence of the current worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. A crisis is a great revealer and is starting to learn a lot about people, companies and communities. Leadership teams and C-suites executives are being put to the test. [...]

Callan Boyle, VP in Linear Investment’s DFM team talked to Kate Horne about how both Active and Passive portfolios might behave and function in the current environment. We are living through unprecedented times and policy makers are creating global asset purchasing programmes and implementing fiscal stimulus in the crisis that has no apparent villain.

Hugo Peterson, Head of Account Management at Linear Investments, recently chatted to James Churchman, Head of Sales at Linear Investments about their working from home strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic

In these difficult times, Linear Investments Ltd is committed to continuing to provide the highest level of service to all our clients and fulfilling all of our obligations to the market as an FCA regulated firm. Our priority is to protect our staff and our clients and as such, we have invoked our BCP Working-From-Home [...]

By simple definition, risk alludes to the possibility of a number of different outcomes that arise as a consequence to a given action. Often, investment academics will usually associate risk with the volatility associated with the costs and returns of an investment.  Volatility is measured as a standard deviation – how far something moves from [...]

Hugo Peterson, Head of Account Management at Linear Investments, follows his recent interview by sharing Linear’s view on the Prime Broker market and why this is still a vital part of Linear’s overall business model

 Outsourcing Discretionary Fund Management: Linear looks at the benefits of an outsourced DFM solution Due to the increasing demand for model portfolios, the trend for financial advisors to use discretionary wealth managers to manage client’s investments has skyrocketed.  A study by Defaqto, a research firm of financial products, reported that 43% of UK financial advisors [...]

Allan Lane explains how passive portfolios are becoming ‘smarter, faster and lower cost’. Kate Horne: It is the start of 2020. We are in January. Let’s look back at 2019. Allan Lane: What a year 2019 was. We all live quite a few years where things don’t quite turn out the way we would hope. [...]

There is no denying that Fintech dominated our industry landscape in the 2010’s. New technologies emerged: AI, peer-to-peer lending, digital investment platforms, block-chain and machine learning techniques to name but a few.

Linear Investments interviews Irene about ETFs and how these drive the decisions she makes when she constructs Model Portfolios.

The boom of bond releases in 2019 has been widespread. In Q3 of this year, The Economist published an article stating that a wide spectrum of originators, from both emerging and developed markets, were issuing global bonds in an economic environment marked by interest rates that have stayed low for an unexpectedly long time. This [...]

Last year, UK hotel investment totalled £7.4 billion, with overseas investors representing 78% of total investment. Institutional investment grew by 42%, equating to over £2.1 billion investment in hotel property according to a report from Knight Frank. As this market proves to be opportune for investors, Tim Harrison, Chairman of Linear Wealth Management, discusses the [...]

Why Active Portfolios are ripe for ESG investments Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) investments have received notable attention across the financial media recently and empirical studies tend to agree on the benefits of ESG within investments. Friede et al (2015) aggregated evidence from more than 2,000 studies to find the base case for ESG to [...]

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 [...]

Linear Investments Limited are a fully licensed Prime Broker with a tier one offering. The firm also acts as a global custodian with access to GCC markets. Linear offers multi-asset execution covering Equities; Fixed Income; Funds; Futures & Options alongside ETF’s & Structured products. In our video studio at Grosvenor Gardens, London, Kate Horne, Director [...]

In the digital era, the finance industry has been subjected to major changes. Technology has disrupted the landscape. Payments are more convenient than ever. Clients have access to greater transparency surrounding products. Services have never been as personalised. Often at the touch of a button, or click, professional investors today have more choice and control [...]

This is custom heading element Gender-lens investing has been gaining momentum. Falling under the umbrella of ‘sustainable investing’, it is a segment that seeks to achieve a financial return while championing gender equality through measurable means. It involves investing in businesses that have services that empower women or are gender diverse. This includes having women [...]

This is custom heading element Sustainable investing is becoming the new norm in portfolio management. According to Ernst & Young, the investment category has grown by 107.4% since 2012. Seven years on, Morningstar published research that illustrated that dozens of ESG funds dominated the market in first half of 2019. In addition to this, JP [...]

This is custom heading element Historically speaking, the price of gold increases amidst geopolitical tensions. With the UK’s new prime minister, the looming of a Halloween departure from the European Union and US currency wars, there is no shortage of international pressures. In June, China added gold to its foreign reserves. The news comes from [...]

This is custom heading element At the start of the month, the UK government declared it will impose a mandatory obligation for pension funds and listed companies to publish climate-related risks by 2022.  Central banks are following the movement as well, with Bloomberg reporting that ‘almost $31 billion has flowed into investment funds strategies that emphasise [...]

Asia Pacific now accounts for 25% of the global private equity market, with $833 billion now under management in the region. The market share has grown considerably since 2007, whereby the region occupied just 5% of the global PE share. By consequence, Asia Pacific is drawing attention from companies across the globe, looking to invest [...]

Kate Horne, Director at Linear Media, reveals the benefits your business can gain through the set-up ofa successful Pay-per-Click advertising campaign. Firstly, what is Pay-Per-Click advertising? It is often referred to as Google advertising, search engine advertising or paid search. The idea is that your business pays Google to show up at the top of […]

I think it’s fair to say that pretty much all businesses have a website these days. However, a lot of people aren’t quite sure why their company needs one and what they should use it for. It seems to have become part of the process of setting up a business but only a few are truly capitalising on this effective and some would argue the most effective, means of advertisement.

Jerry Lees, chairman of Linear Investments, explains why outsourcing is the solution for your business. While Mifid II was designed to offer greater protection and transparency for investors, it has created significant additional cost and operational burdens across an industry already struggling in tough economic conditions. Outsourcing operations and trading functions is already commonplace in […]

Linear Investments can now provide its client base with the same level of service and functionality for FX that it already offers for equities, derivatives, and fixed income. London, England (November 7, 2018) –  Paul Kelly, CEO of Linear Investments, a Prime Broker based in London’s West End, has today announced an agreement with Integral […]

Paul Kelly, CEO of Linear Investments, introduces Linear International Payments – a deliverable foreign exchange trading platform. Understanding our clients and their business requirements has always been at the heart of what Linear Investments does. The world, in trading terms, has never been smaller and deliverable foreign exchange has never been more widely used. With […]

Linear investments Limited entered into a Focused Resolution Agreement (FRA) with the FCA.  This was subject to a public notification on the 27/09/2018. The FRA concerned an agreement between Linear Investment Limited and the FCA regarding a failure to operate an adequate system of market surveillance during the material period.  Whilst the facts were not [...]

Kate Horne, Director of Linear Media, discusses the benefits of optimising your business to appear on search engine results pages. SEO focuses on growing visibility in organic (non-paid) search engine results such as Google. It involves both technical and creative elements to improve rankings, drive traffic and increase awareness in search engines.   1. A […]

Georgia Shiels, Marketing Executive at Linear Media, explains why creating content consistently is important and how it benefits your business. Content is one of the biggest components to modern marketing. Any good marketing strategy relies on effective content and the tools used around content to enhance your online presence. Stay ahead of your competition and […]

Your business’ online platforms can be a powerful marketing tool and a vital part of your marketing strategy. In this article, we explain why businesses all use social media and why you should be too – whether that be on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or a website. Build Brand Awareness In simple terms, building brand […]

“The changing nature of the prime broker-hedge fund relationship is going to have a significant impact on the boutique prime brokerage market.”

“How does a start-up find a suitable PB who understands their needs and will nurture the fund in it’s early days?”

“Investors however still require, as you would expect, business cases to be presented in well-structured business plans.”

“This vacuum in the market creates a problem for many and an opportunity for those ready to fill the void.”

“Many of the key components of running a start-up fund can and should be more effectively outsourced to allow focus on the core investment decisions.”

“Because the company doesn’t have big-bank overheads, it is able to deal with smaller clients generating combined revenue in the hundreds of thousands rather than millions, as required by banks.”

“The days when a hedge fund could launch with $5 million in capital and minimal infrastructure are long gone.”

“The challenges facing emerging hedge fund managers are well-documented. The sheer volume of regulation following the financial crisis has had a significant impact on the hedge fund operating model.”

“Domiciling in Malta offers an array of benefits. It is one of the more cost-efficient onshore jurisdictions to establish in, something which undoubtedly appeals to small managers.”

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

A piece published on HedgeWeek.com, focusing on the expected growth of hedge fund managed accounts.

Paul Walker-Duncalf features in The Telegraph on his move to Linear Outsourced Trading from BlackRock

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 […]

Colin Lloyd provides his Macro Roundup

Colin Lloyd reviews fund performance in May.

Colin Lloyd reviews the effect of Brexit.

Paul Walker-Duncalf and Richard Lilley, Joint Managing Partners of Linear Outsourced Trading, explain the merits of a fully outsourced solution.  Posted by: Best Execution– July 11, 2016   Is the empowerment of the buyside a new development? From a trading perspective, the buyside has been empowered for some time. Most medium to large managers have […]

London, 14 July, 2016:  Linear Investments, a specialist prime broker and an award winning hedge fund incubator, has selected RSRCHXchange, the online marketplace for institutional research, to enable their hedge fund clientele to access and track research consumption in a MiFID II compliant way.   Linear Investments provides tailored prime brokerage services to start-up, small […]

Colin Lloyd reviews hedge fund performance.

Macro Roundup: Markets and Stress Tests Colin Lloyd – featured on Linear Talk Colin Lloyd is the author of macroeconomic investment letter service ‘In the Long Run‘. Serving as Linear Talk’s co-presenter along with Linear’s Chairman, Jerry Lees, Colin regularly reviews the markets, hedge fund performance, and prevalent macro events in his macro roundup.  Markets […]

Colin Lloyd – featured on Linear Talk Colin Lloyd is the author of macroeconomic investment letter service ‘In the Long Run‘. Serving as Linear Talk’s co-presenter along with Linear’s Chairman, Jerry Lees, Colin regularly reviews the markets, hedge fund performance, and prevalent macro events in his macro roundup.  Hedge Fund Performance, Trades and Industry Trends […]

Jerry Lees, Chairman of Linear Investments, writes in the latest special report from HFMWeek: How to start a hedge fund in the EU in 2016.  “A PIVOTAL PART OF YOUR SUCCESS WILL BE FINDING IN-HOUSE SEEDER FUND CAPACITY COMBINED WITH A CAP INTRO TEAM SPECIFICALLY FOCUSED ON EMERGING FUNDS AND WORKING ON A RESULTS BASIS” […]

Colin Lloyd – featured on Linear Talk Colin Lloyd is the author of macroeconomic investment letter service ‘In the Long Run‘. Serving as Linear Talk’s co-presenter along with Linear’s Chairman, Jerry Lees, Colin regularly reviews the markets, hedge fund performance, and prevalent macro events in his macro roundup.  Financial Markets August is generally a quiet […]

Hedge Fund Performance, Trades and Industry Trends – September 2016 Author – Colin Lloyd   Performance and Trades September saw a bifurcation between the performance of hedge funds and managed futures with the former rising while the latter mostly declined. Hedge Funds Barclay Hedge Fund Indices Sept No. of Funds YTD Barclay Hedge Fund Index […]

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% […]

Colin Lloyd provides his commentary on recent macro events.

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 […]

Hot on the heels of MiFID II, Asset Managers are now facing the next wave of regulation; GDPR. GDPR is a European directive with worldwide reach. No matter where in the world you are transacting business, GDPR will affect you should you be coming in to contact with personal data from any European client. It’s […]

Linear Investments Chairman, Jerry Lees, investigates the advances in technology designed to ease the research burden for UK corporates, fund managers and investors under MIFID II. In September 2017, the FCA made it clear that corporate access was not research and could therefore not be paid for out of investors assets. It would be considered […]

The inception of MiFID II substantially expands the regulatory reporting requirements placed upon investment firms. Additionally, under the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) all counterparties are required to report details of derivative contracts they have concluded. These regulations take the basis set out in MiFID I and expand them with the idea to increase investor […]