Regulation

We are happy to announce that Neal Pawar has been named Chief Operating Officer. Pawar most recently served as Group Chief Information Officer at Deutsche Bank and, before that, as a Partner and Chief Technology Officer at AQR Capital.

It appears onerous and sometimes confusing, but the European Union’s Sustainable Finance Disclosures Regulation (SFDR) that kicked in this week aims to enhance and protect participation in sustainable investments — a cause well worth the trouble.

The countdown has begun. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted the 18f-4 Derivatives Rule in October last year, which means most SEC-registered companies will now have to make sure they don’t fall foul of the rule by August 19, 2022. While it seems a long time away, it’ll be here before you know it. To that end, we’ve put together a few questions you should ask your existing – or potential – risk solutions provider.

Rule 18f-4 is likely the most significant change ever to the way the SEC regulates funds’ use of derivatives, and will have a large impact on how registered companies will need to manage their derivatives risk. We hosted a Risk.net webinar with Dechert LLP and Wellington Management to discuss what this important legislation entails, how firms are preparing for it and what risk measurements are required. The main message? Companies need to focus on this now to make the Aug. 19, 2022 deadline.

As a result of the derivatives rule SEC 18f-4 passed on October 28, 2020, all SEC-registered mutual funds, ETFs and Business Development Companies (BDCs) with derivative notional exceeding certain threshold are required to appoint a derivatives risk manager in charge of implementing a regulatory framework for its fund’s derivatives use. The necessary risk guidelines focus on reporting limits of fund leverage risk based on Value-at-Risk (VaR).

The SEC has adopted the 18-f Rule which will affect specific investment companies using derivatives. Reporting on stress tests, VaR measurements and backtests, are just some of the mandatory requirements – all of which can be accessed through the cloud-native Axioma RiskTM risk management platform.

Qontigo announced today the appointment of Brian McArthur-Muscroft as Chief Financial Officer. McArthur-Muscroft was formerly CFO of Micro Focus International plc, the British multinational software and information technology company, where he also served as a member of the board of directors since 2018.

Sustainability has moved from a tangential consideration to a crucial criterion in portfolio construction. A line-up of experts told this year’s Qontigo Investment Intelligence Summit how this evolution is re-shaping the entire investment landscape.

Qontigo announced today the appointment of Courtney Scharff as Global Head of Strategic Partnerships.

Yet another issue has recently cropped up, leading to unique challenges for investors in the current market environment — the impact of SEC diversification rules, which until now have not had a substantial portfolio impact.

Qontigo announced today the appointment of Ping Jiang as Head of Multi-Asset Solutions for the Americas within the Customer Experience Group, leading the pre-sales and product specialist team dedicated to Qontigo’s risk solutions.

Former FTSE Russell and MSCI executive brings extensive experience in index and analytics sales to Qontigo.