National Bank of Canada and BNP Paribas join forces in hedge fund managed accounts |
Date: Wednesday, May 2, 2007
Author: Press Release
announced today that they have
formed a joint venture offering hedge fund managed
accounts, a vehicle of choice for
retail and institutional investors who wish to invest in hedge
funds while controlling operational
and market risks. BNP Paribas has acquired a stake in
Innocap Investment Management Inc.,
a subsidiary of National Bank of
specializes in hedge fund managed
accounts. National Bank of
intend to make Innocap the leading
provider of managed accounts for investors worldwide.
Innocap, which has been in
operation since 1996, has developed a broad product offering
which provides full transparency
and security of investment management, key elements
increasingly demanded by
institutional investors. BNP Paribas brings to Innocap its unique
structuring and commercial
capacities, together with an international reach and breadth of
distribution capabilities.
Innocap currently advises on over
USD 2 billion of assets. It provides active daily monitoring
of alternative funds with complete
transparency on the underlying positions and on the
setting of adequate risk limits and
investment guidelines. Additionally, it monitors operational
risk, and advises on, along with
third party service providers, all the key operations for the
funds.
“I’m delighted by the creation of
this partnership,” said Yann Gerardin, Global Head of BNP
Paribas Equities and Derivatives. “Innocap
offers a powerful platform with full-fledged hightech
risk monitoring, control, liquidity
and transparency to investors. These capabilities will
enable us to create a new
generation of structured products, which we expect will have
broad appeal to an international
client base.”
This joint venture will allow BNP
Paribas, recently awarded “Equity Derivatives House of the
Year” by Risk Magazine, to strengthen its capabilities in
structuring fund derivatives products,
while completing its global
alternative fund offering.
“With the participation of BNP
Paribas, we are bringing Innocap’s world class offering to the
world wide market,” said Ricardo
Pascoe, Co-President and Co-CEO of National Bank
Financial Group. “National Bank of
all-inclusive risk management
solutions in
types of solutions to the
international market.
Innocap has already attracted a
great roster of fund managers, institutional investors in
significantly in the years to come.”
“I am proud that Innocap is based
on the values of transparency, security, openness and
equality of service for all
investors,” said Stéphane Liot, Global Head of BNP Paribas Fund
Derivatives. “Innocap is made up of
seasoned and highly talented experts in the field of
hedge fund selection and due
diligence, risk monitoring and legal analysis, quantitative
research and portfolio management.”
Martin Gagnon and Denis Parisien,
co-CEOs of Innocap added: “BNP Paribas and National
Bank of Canada are complementary,
well-established institutions sharing the same business
vision and ambition. We are
confident in this joint venture and look forward to its success.”
About Innocap
Innocap is the end result of 11
years of investments in hedge fund strategies for the National Bank of
investment activities and is
currently investment advisor for over USD 2 billion in hedge fund
mandates. Innocap's managed account
offering increases the user's control over assets since all
accounts at the prime brokers,
future clearers, counterparties and bank accounts are opened in the
name of Innocap's clients. This
structure allows for the complete ownership of positions; no money is
invested directly in the managers'
hedge funds. For more information, go to www.innocap.com.
About National Bank of
National Bank of
consumers, small and medium-sized
enterprises and large corporations in its core market, while
offering specialized services to its
clients elsewhere in the world. The National Bank offers a full array
of banking services, including
retail, corporate and investment banking. It is an active player on
international capital markets and,
through its subsidiaries, is involved in securities brokerage,
insurance and wealth management as
well as mutual fund and retirement plan management. National
Bank of Canada has more than $120
billion in assets and, together with its subsidiaries, employs
16,908 people. The Bank’s securities
are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (NA: TSX). For more
information, visit the Bank’s
website at www.nbc.ca.
About BNP Paribas
BNP Paribas (www.bnpparibas.com) is
a European leader in banking and financial services, and ranks
among the world's top 15 banks by
market capitalization. It has around 140 000 employees, 110 000
of whom are based in
activity: Corporate and Investment
Banking, Asset Management & Services and Retail Banking. It is
present in 85 countries and has a
strong presence in all the key financial centres. Present throughout
Europe, in all its business lines,
Paribas enjoys a significant and
growing presence in the
and in emerging markets.
Press Contacts:
National Bank of
Denis Dubé, Director – Public Relations,
Tel.: (514) 394-8644
BNP Paribas
Hélène Delannoy, Corporate Communications,
helene.delannoy@bnpparibas.com /
Tel: 33 1 40 14 65 14
Edwina Frawley, Corporate
Communications,
edwina.frawley@americas.bnpparibas.com
/ Tel 212
841 3719
Celeste Matta Brown, Corporate
Communications,
celeste.matta-brown@uk.bnpparibas.com
/ Tel : +44 (0) 20 7595 4653