The Alternative Investment Management Association has released a paper detailing ways alternative asset managers can address diversity, equity and inclusion issues within their firms. The release of the paper comes as London-based think tank New Financial claimed women will only achieve gender parity on UK hedge fund executive committees early next century at the current rate of progress. "[DEI] has to be embedded in the culture of our industry at every level, from the reception desk to the executive office," said AIMA's DEI steering group chair Robyn Grew.

Total hedge fund assets edged toward $4 trillion during the first half of this year as investors sought a safe haven from inflationary risk, data from the Vidrio Financial Allocator Market Survey shows. "Many large institutional investors have made shifts to their portfolios on the margin to counteract potential near-term inflationary issues with alternatives benefiting," said Vidrio research chief Gygmy Gonnot.

Much of the leveraged-loan market runs about the same way today as it did in the 1990s, but there are signs that market participants are becoming more receptive to embracing technology. About 80% of US institutional loan investors believe technology would improve the quality and efficiency of the markets, according to a survey from research firm Coalition Greenwich.

A number of hedge funds have spotted an opportunity to cash in on efforts by the Chinese government to rein in the "excessively rapid rise" in the price of commodities such as reinforced steel and pork. The success of the bets has helped to raise the profile of western hedge funds, which only recently gained access to the Chinese market.

Market participants say that the lack of mandatory clearing and on-venue execution regulations have not hindered clearing of SOFR swaps and trading on swap execution facilities. Some experts say regulators pushing for an early clearing mandate for SOFR could slow its adoption as the preferred successor to Libor.

Moves by European governments to prevent hedge funds from placing outsize orders for their debt issuances appear to be delivering results, a number of banking sources close to the issue say. The effect of the hard line has been most apparent with French sovereign debt, where bids on a 30-year issuance early this month stood at €28 billion compared to €75 billion in January on a 50-year tranche.

The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the development of a secondary market in private real-estate investment funds, writes Julie Segal. The trend has emerged as investors adjust their holdings to reflect the post-pandemic reality of where people will live and work in future.

Platforms offering cryptoasset tokens or other products with prices derived from securities need to report to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Chair Gary Gensler says. Gensler also notes a plan to write registration and regulation rules for security-based swap execution facilities, and he wants to harmonize security-based derivatives market rules with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's derivatives framework.

National financial regulators in the EU quadrupled the value of sanctions and penalties imposed for violations of the revised Markets in Financial Instruments Directive in 2020 compared with 2019, according to the European Securities and Markets Authority. Last year, national regulators initiated 613 actions for MiFID II violations, with a value of €8.4 million, ESMA says.

The UK finance ministry has released a public consultation until Oct. 14 on its plans to implement the Financial Action Task Force's cryptocurrency transaction travel rule. The consultation says that the government is aware of "technological developments, such as the development of common data standards and the progress of a large number of software solutions, and considers that the time is now right to begin planning for the implementation of the travel rule."