Hedge IT Blog

In honor of the mobile phone turning 40 years old this week, today’s post is on the BlackBerry Z10.  (BTW: did you know the first mobile phone weighed 2.5 pounds and took 10 hours to charge?!)
 
Back to the topic at hand.  In January, when the BlackBerry Z10 was just officially unveiled, we took a look at the bells and whistles available on the device (Read: BlackBerry’s Reinvention: A look at BlackBerry Z10).  And now that the BlackBerry Z10 is available in over 35 countries, by all accounts it is just what the company needs if they have any hope of taking back market share from iPhone and Android makers. 

As part of its promotional push, BlackBerry is even letting iPhone and Android users test drive the new operating system by pointing their mobile browsers to BlackBerry.com/glimpse.    

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Last week, we hosted a webinar covering AIFMD’s impact on US based hedge funds. The event featured Bill Prew, Founder of INDOS Financial Limited, and provided a high level overview of the changes that AIFMD will potentially bring to the alternative investment industry. Prew specifically focused on how US based managers will be impacted by this legislation. Read on for a summary of the main topics covered during the event, including an overview of AIFMD and the considerations and upcoming changes for US managers.  

About the Expert
Bill Prew is the founder of INDOS Financial Limited. Before founding INDOS, he was the chief operating officer at James Caird Asset Management, a hedge fund with offices in London and New York. He has also served in various senior roles at Barclays Global Investors and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Following a summary of the information presented by Mr. Prew during our recent webinar.

 

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Recently, we’ve been hearing more and more questions from our hedge fund clients on the topic of global networking and – more importantly – its value in the investment management industry.

So, as we often like to do here on the Hedge IT blog, we turned to the experts.
 
Mike Abbey is the vice president of network services here at Eze Castle Integration. He joined the company in 1999 and is currently responsible for ECINet, our global carrier class network platform. Mike also provides design consulting and best practice audits on fault tolerance and scalable optical, Ethernet, and IP-based networks, from single and multi-site domestic networks to multi-site, global deployments. He is a graduate of Binghamton University.
 
Q. Mike, what are you hearing from clients regarding networking and Internet services?
A. To be honest, most hedge fund managers don’t have the time – and don’t necessarily want – to grapple with the complicated intricacies of securing and maintaining an enterprise-class network or Internet service. That’s where my team and I come in. We help simplify this process for our clients using Eze Castle’s ECINet global private network.

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It’s that time of year again: time to take a look ahead and make predictions for the top technology trends of 2013. I don’t think any of these trends will come as a surprise to you, but let’s take a closer look.
 
Mobility
I know - we had this topic on last year’s list, too. But it’s so important, it deserves another nod. Smartphones and tablets have invaded the enterprise world like never before, and we’re seeing companies work more diligently to manage the use of these devices. Strategies such as Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) give firms the ability to allow employees to use personal devices for work purposes. While this provides employees with flexibility in terms of which devices they can use (and eliminates the need to carry more than one), it also highlights the importance of enhancing security measures to protect sensitive company information from getting into the wrong hands. Speaking of security…

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With the BYOD trend invading financial services firms (and companies of all kinds), the need for mobile device management solutions is at an all-time high. While hedge funds once seemed like a BlackBerry-only industry, the emergence of high-powered smartphones has prompted a shift in corporate communications. But security remains a top concern for all funds.
 
"Unlike BlackBerry, platforms like iOS and Android are not built with the enterprise in mind," said Phil Redman, an analyst at Gartner. "They are simply not as secure as BlackBerry, and to make them secure, companies have to spend some money."
 
There are a number of mobile device management solutions in the marketplace, including AirWatch, Zenprise, Fiberlink Communications, SAP (formerly Sybase) and Symantec. Let’s take a closer look at three such solutions we’re seeing used frequently: Good Technology, MobileIron and BlackBerry Mobile Fusion.

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Last week, we revealed the results of our 2012 Hedge Fund Operations & Technology Benchmark Study, which surveyed over 300 buy-side firms about their front, middle and back office technology and vendor preferences. This year’s findings underscore the need for investment firms to employ robust systems to support trading operations and meeting increasing regulatory and investor demands.
 
Below is a summary, but you can download the full report here.

Respondent Profile

 
Within the financial services industry, Eze Castle surveyed 320 firms including hedge funds (61%), investment managers or investment banks (12%), private equity firms (7%), fund of hedge funds (4%), broker/dealers (2%), and venture capital firms (1%). Additional firms included in an ‘Other’ category include family office, legal, real estate, endowment, quant, biotech and insurance brokerage.

Firms surveyed fell into three asset classes: 30 percent reported their AUM as $100 million and under; 32 percent fell between $101 and $500 million; and 38 percent reported over $500 million in assets under management.

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Earlier this week, Tim Cook led Apple's latest keynote and announced product upgrades across the board. New additions here and spec upgrades there are prompting users around the globe to update their holiday shopping lists and hope for steep discounts on Black Friday. And in-between what were many foreseeable announcements, Apple also threw in a few surprises. Here are the big ones:
 
The new new iPad. In what might have been the biggest surprise, Apple announced it is phasing out the new iPad (released only a few months ago) and replacing it with a newer one (due out next month). Same look. Same price. Less issues. In simplest terms, they fixed all the complaints. Theres’ now more LTE support (including Sprint in the US and local providers in the UK), a faster processor faster WiFi and some better camera features. Oh and with the help of a new power adapter, quicker charging too. No major changes, but it does help to know you are getting your money’s worth and that the company you are buying from really listens to users’ input.

The iPad mini. Users want small. Technology has always been about making devices smaller; even the iPhone 5, with its bigger screen, has smaller components and a smaller weight. And now your iPad can be smaller too. Just as powerful as the current $399 model, the iPad mini has more features (Siri and LTE just to list a few) and a lower price (starts at $329). At over $250, many users might not make the jump away from their Kindle Fire HD or Nexus 7, but for users considering Apple and for users who want small, I wish them short lines in the store and quick initial shipments.

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The new iPhone 5 – what do you think?

Anyone who has picked up a newspaper or read the Internet over the past two weeks since the iPhone 5's much anticipated release knows it has issues. The black model scuffs too much. Pictures look too purple. The Maps app is horrible. Everyone seems to have an issue with at least some new feature of the iPhone 5.

But in my observations, there is one thing that stands out among all those articles and negative reviews - everyone has an iPhone 5, and nobody can stop talking about it. And that's rightfully so!

The iPhone 5 comes preloaded with all the new features of the latest iOS, and it rocks. Below I've highlighted a few that you may find most intriguing. I know I've left a lot out (a review of 200 features would keep you here all weekend!), but I’ve tried to highlight some of the most significant changes.

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Five a.m. on September 21, 2012. Do you remember where you were? (C’mon, it was only last week!)
 
For millions around the world, they were eagerly anticipating the new iPhone 5. Be it in line outside a store (like yours truly) or at their doorstep waiting for the UPS/FedEx drop-off (like those who plan ahead), over 2 million people anxiously waited for the next iPhone to hit the streets. And they didn't just do it because the Kool-Aid tastes good.
 
The iPhone 5 is bigger and faster. The screen is bigger, yet the entire phone weighs less - big perk. And its tech specs, for my fellow geeks out there, are faster across the board. Everything from the processor to memory to cellular connection is a step up. Pretty much the same phone we've all come to love but faster.  No down side there!

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On Tuesday, we began our webinar recap by looking at Form PF requirements and recommendations and other essentials for maintaining an effective compliance program. The second half of our webinar focused on technology compliance, specifically around message archiving, email security and mobile device management. Let’s take a closer look at some of the content that was covered. If video is more your style, you can watch a replay of the webinar here.
 
Record Retention & Message Archiving
The SEC currently requires investment advisers to retain all internal and external electronic business communications. Rule 204-2 mentions the following specific measures:

• In order to meet the requirements of the SEC, firms must retain and archive more than just email. Instant messages, Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters messages and other electronic communications are also considered required archival material.

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