AllAboutAlpha

• newOne Year Left to Run on Critical No-Action Letters for Investment Managers
  The Securities and Exchange Commission issued three no-action letters on the issue of research payments, in light of developments on that issue in Europe in 2017. Specifically, they dealt with the cross-border of Europe’s rules (MiFID II), which we…
  - 15 hours ago, 18 Jul 19, 8:00pm -
• Restrictions on Pension Plan Investments: A Global Survey
  A new report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development surveys the main quantitative investment restrictions to which pension funds and other pension providers are subject in both OECD countries and a selection of International O…
  - 3 days ago, 16 Jul 19, 8:00pm -
• Tick Size and High-Frequency Trading
  A lot of hopes have been placed on changes in market tick sizes. In the 1990s there was a big push to reduce the tick sizes of securities, allowing them to get down to one cent or fractions thereof. In the new millennium came a sense of regret. Obser…
  - 4 days ago, 15 Jul 19, 8:00pm -
• The Audacity of Opacity
  By Bill Kelly, CEO, CAIA Association Why are we still talking about this? No, it’s not the central bankers and their insatiable easing tendencies, trade wars with China, or even the Women’s World Cup football match (sorry Netherlands!). These sto…
  - 4 days ago, 15 Jul 19, 9:21am -
• ESG: WHAT’S UNDER THE HOOD?
  By Nicolas Rabener of FactorResearch (@FactorResearch) ESG INVESTING – SIMPLE OR COMPLEX? Investing is complicated as it is simple and complex at the same time. Common advice for new investors is to pursue a buy-and-hold approach for long-term weal…
  - 5 days ago, 14 Jul 19, 8:00pm -
• Quantum Computing Will Mess Up all Expectations
  There are reports that Google is preparing an announcement of “quantum supremacy” for later this year. If true, this is the biggest tech story since the transistor replaced vacuum tubes. It could be a disruptive development for just about every b…
  - 8 days ago, 11 Jul 19, 8:00pm -
• Private Equity and the Law in India
  A forthcoming article in the University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Law discusses the investor control rights typically negotiated in the private equity context in India. The article, by Arjya B. Majumdar, an associate professor at Jinda…
  - 10 days ago, 9 Jul 19, 8:00pm -
• Oil & Gas: Where is the Capital Flowing?
  The last two years have seen record low levels of mergers and acquisitions activity in the oil and gas sector in the United States. There are other signs of lassitude in the field: a record low volume of PE deals, (more of that in a moment), and only…
  - 12 days ago, 7 Jul 19, 8:00pm -
• The Dangers and Attractions of Infrastructure Investing
  An arm of Brookfield Asset Management, Brookfield Infrastructure, announced that it is leading a group of investors to buy Genesee & Wyoming for a cash payment of $112 per share, a premium of nearly 40% over the pre-announcement stock price. This is…
  - 15 days ago, 4 Jul 19, 8:00pm -
• Net Performance Reporting: Not Just Arithmetic
  Why can’t a fund manager simply subtract all fees and expenses from gross returns and present the arithmetical result to existing or potential investors? In a newly released paper, Donald Steinbrugge, the founder and CEO of Agecroft Partners, discu…
  - 17 days ago, 2 Jul 19, 8:00pm -

Alpha Global Investors

Calculated Risk

• newBLS: June Unemployment rates at New Series Lows in Alabama, Arkansas, New Jersey, and Texas

  

  From the BLS: Regional and State Employment and Unemployment SummaryUnemployment rates were lower in June in 6 states and stable in 44 states and the District of Columbia, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Three states had jobless r…
  - 20 mins ago, 19 Jul 19, 10:11am -
• newCalifornia Bay Area Home Sales Decline 4.7% YoY in Q2, Inventory up 11% YoY

  

  From Compass chief economist Selma Hepp: How did the spur of IPOs impact Bay Area housing markets?• Higher-end sales surged. While the total number of homes sold in the second quarter trended below last year by about 5 percent, higher-priced sales,…
  - 19 hours ago, 18 Jul 19, 3:33pm -
• newNMHC: Apartment Market Tightness Index Increased in July

  

  The National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) released their July report: July NMHC Quarterly Survey Finds Strong Ongoing DemandThe enduring strength of the apartment market was the main takeaway of the National Multifamily Housing Council’s Quar…
  - 23 hours ago, 18 Jul 19, 11:15am -
• newSacramento Housing in June: Sales Down 13.6% YoY, Active Inventory DOWN 11% YoY

  

  From SacRealtor.org: June sales price inches towards August 2005 highJune closed with 1,527 total sales, a 6.3% [decrease] from the 1,630 sales of May. [Sales down 13.6% YoY] ...The Active Listing Inventory increased 2.1% from 2,314 to 2,362 units. T…
  - 24 hours ago, 18 Jul 19, 10:39am -
• Philly Fed Mfg "Current Manufacturing Indicators Suggest Continued Growth in July"

  

  From the Philly Fed: July 2019 Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey Manufacturing conditions in the region showed improvement this month, according to firms responding to the July Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey. The survey’s indexes for gen…
  - 1 day ago, 18 Jul 19, 8:44am -
• Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims increased to 216,000

  

  The DOL reported:In the week ending July 13, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 216,000, an increase of 8,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised down by 1,000 from 209,000 to 208,0…
  - 1 day ago, 18 Jul 19, 8:33am -
• Thursday: Unemployment Claims, Philly Fed Mfg Survey

  

  Thursday:• At 8:30 AM ET, The initial weekly unemployment claims report will be released.  The consensus is for 214 thousand initial claims, up from 209 thousand last week.• Also at 8:30 AM, the Philly Fed manufacturing survey for July. The con…
  - 2 days ago, 17 Jul 19, 7:52pm -
• Earlier Fed's Beige Book: Economic Growth "Modest", Labor Market "Tight"

  

  Fed's Beige Book "This report was prepared at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco based on information collected on or before July 8, 2019. "Economic activity continued to expand at a modest pace overall from mid-May through early July, with li…
  - 2 days ago, 17 Jul 19, 4:11pm -
• CAR on California: "California home sales retreat in June"

  

  The CAR reported: California home sales retreat in June, but 2019 housing market outlook revised upward, C.A.R. reportsAfter rebounding in May, California home sales fell below the benchmark 400,000 level in June as sales declined from both the previ…
  - 2 days ago, 17 Jul 19, 3:09pm -
• AIA: "Design services demand stalled in June, Project inquiry gains hit a 10-year low"

  

  Note: This index is a leading indicator primarily for new Commercial Real Estate (CRE) investment. From the AIA: Design services demand stalled in June, Project inquiry gains hit a 10-year lowDemand for design services at architecture firms decreased…
  - 2 days ago, 17 Jul 19, 11:24am -

Finanical Times Alphaville

• newOne week to Vaudeville!
  Wilton’s Music Hall awaits.
  - 4 hours ago, 19 Jul 19, 6:20am -
• newFurther reading
  Libra unites everyone against it; the Epstein case keeps growing and Trump was selectively right about the dollar; plus much more...
  - 7 hours ago, 19 Jul 19, 3:24am -
• newWeLiquid: Adam Neumann pockets $700m
  We did not see this coming.
  - 16 hours ago, 18 Jul 19, 6:04pm -
• Nouriel vs the “scammers”
  Cryptoland: a refuge for scammers or land of the brave?
  - 1 day ago, 18 Jul 19, 9:56am -
• Revolut’s growing pains rumble on 
  And this time, it’s our old friend Wirecard’s fault, apparently. 
  - 1 day ago, 18 Jul 19, 9:11am -
• N26 comes of age
  “In all honesty, profitability is not one of our core metrics”.
  - 1 day ago, 18 Jul 19, 5:25am -
• Further reading
  Tesla FUD; blockchain FUD; how to spot an underage woman; meth gators and much more...
  - 1 day ago, 18 Jul 19, 1:17am -
• Tesla’s latest security offering: cars
  Musk doubles down on “appreciating asset” line.
  - 2 days ago, 17 Jul 19, 10:05am -
• Zoom is nuts, when’s the crash?
  When enterprise value is more than half the total addressable market.
  - 2 days ago, 17 Jul 19, 7:02am -
• FT Alphaville ordered a Tesla Model 3
  Because, why not?
  - 2 days ago, 17 Jul 19, 1:00am -

Institutional Investor's alpha

• Alaska Retirement changes fund of funds roster

  

  Turmoil at Cadogan led the Alaska Retirement Management Board to shake up its whole portfolio.
  - 28 Feb 10, 7:00pm -
• Aksia's Jim Vos: "We don't simplify things"

  

  Aksia's reputation soared when a warning not to invest in Madoff became public last year, and the firm has taken off. The consultant talks about the next red flags, how fees are changing and how Aksia's due diligence process works.
  - 28 Feb 10, 7:00pm -
• AC shutters emerging-manager FoF

  

  The fund invested in small emerging managers and was not limited to the commodities sector.
  - 1 Feb 10, 7:00pm -
• Sandalwood taps Robert Wood Johnson Exec. Mihir Meswani for institutional push (Magazine Version)

  

  
  - 31 Jan 10, 7:00pm -
• San Joaquin County preps hedge fund portfolio

  

  The new 7% portfolio is the pension fund's first formal allocation to hedge funds.
  - 31 Jan 10, 7:00pm -
• The Allocator: FRM's Patric de Gentile-Williams

  

  FRM plans to invest between $700 million and $1 billion, with an average allocation of around $50 million to each manager.
  - 26 Jan 10, 7:00pm -
• South Carolina goes the direct route

  

  CIO Borden says trimming funds of funds should boost returns, cut costs.
  - 17 Dec 09, 7:00pm -
• Philadelphia finds more control and lower fees with hedge funds

  

  Philadelphia puts its money into single-manager funds to get more control, better access & lower fees.
  - 28 Oct 09, 8:00pm -
• Portable Alpha Pothole: Colorado Fire and Police moves into absolute return vehicles

  

  Instead of controlling risk, portable alpha added to it, largely because of the leverage involved.
  - 22 Sep 09, 8:00pm -
• The Calpers challenge

  

  The biggest U.S. pension plan is dumping celebrated names, demanding more power and making plans to run money itself.
  - 24 Aug 09, 8:00pm -

Risk.net

• newFintech, regtech and the role of compliance – How do you compare?
  
  - 56 mins ago, 19 Jul 19, 9:35am -
• newSpotlight analysis – Cost of compliance for firms in the UK and Europe
  
  - 56 mins ago, 19 Jul 19, 9:35am -
• newTime travel with Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence
  
  - 56 mins ago, 19 Jul 19, 9:35am -
• newVideo Q&A – Stacey English and Susannah Hammond, Thomson Reuters
  
  - 56 mins ago, 19 Jul 19, 9:35am -
• newFinra plans machine learning push against market rigging
  ML trained to find spoofing and layering
  - 1 hour ago, 19 Jul 19, 9:28am -
• newMorgan Stanley’s RWAs skip higher as lending grows
  Loans in the institutional securities and wealth management units rose 3% and 4% quarter-on-quarter
  - 3 hours ago, 19 Jul 19, 7:57am -
• newPanAgora uses NLP to cut through Chinese cyber speak
  
  - 22 hours ago, 18 Jul 19, 12:04pm -
• newDanske’s profits drop 22% as impairment charges surge
  Corporates & institutions unit incurred loan impairments of DKK520 million
  - 22 hours ago, 18 Jul 19, 12:01pm -
• How the New York Fed produces SOFR in a contingency
  There was no mystery about the use of a contingency methodology to calculate SOFR for May 31
  - 1 day ago, 18 Jul 19, 10:19am -
• Nordea’s CVA charge drops 34%
  CVA requirements are at their lowest level since Q3 2018
  - 1 day ago, 18 Jul 19, 8:44am -

Intrinsic Alpha

• Intrinsic Alpha April 2014 - Told you I'm never going back...
  Intrinsic Alpha April 2014
  - 5 Apr 14, 3:42pm -
• Intrinsic Alpha February 2014 - Fancy a Punt?
  Intrinsic Alpha January 2013 - Fancy a Punt? by The Actuary
  - 28 Jan 14, 6:07pm -
• Portable Smart Beta

  

  Portable Smart BetaThe rise of smart beta raises an interesting question: “Why don’t you extract the smart beta as “alpha”?”  If a smart beta strategy consistently out performs an index tracker then it should be simple enough to constru…
  - 22 Dec 13, 8:36am -
• Intrinsic Alpha November 2013 Note - We All Want to Go To Hell
  PDF download hereIntrinsic Alpha Nov 2013 We All Want to Go To Hell
  - 7 Dec 13, 6:13am -
• Intrinsic Alpha - June 2013 Note - A Reflexive Admission
  Intrinsic Alpha June 2013 by The Actuary
  - 26 Nov 13, 4:32pm -