BlueCrest Capital Management
BlueCrest Capital | Hedge Fund Notes
The following piece on BlueCrest Capital and Michael Platt is being published as part of our daily effort to track hedge funds in the industry. To review other hedge fund research notes please see our Hedge Fund Tracker Tool.Resource #1: (5.10.09) BlueCrest Capital Management and Merrill Lynch have announced the launch of the BlueTrend Ucits Fund, a Ucits compliant version of the trend-following BlueTrend CTA strategy run by BlueCrest since April 2004.
BlueCrest has been appointed as the investment manager to the fund with Merrill Lynch International acting as sponsor. The BlueTrend Ucits Fund is part of Merrill Lynch's Ucits compliant Luxembourg Sicav, Merrill Lynch Investment Solutions.
BlueTrend CTA strategy is a systematic, diversified trend-following programme with approximately USD7bn under management and trading 150+ markets around the globe on a 24-hour cycle. The investment team combines model development, technology and execution functions and will leverage BlueCrest's expertise to achieve a competitive edge in the sector. BlueTrend Ucits Fund has a return objective of 15-20 per cent per annum and a Sharpe Ratio objective of 1+. source
Resource #2: BlueCrest Capital Management LLP (“BCMLLP”) is an alternative asset management company based in London, managing significant institutional assets across a number of diversified strategies. The two founders of BCMLLP, Michael Platt and William Reeves, were both managing Directors and senior proprietary traders at JP Morgan, who left to establish Blue Crest in 2000.
BCMLLP is 25% owned by Man Group Holdings, which is Ultimately owned by Man Group plc, with the balance owned by its principals.
Since its inception, BlueCrest’s objective has been to construct a trading infrastructure of investment bank quality, upon which trading teams can be built and new strategies developed. BlueCrest believes in a specialist model. It employs teams of market specialist across numerous disciplines, all-operating with state-of-the-art proprietary analytical technology. This specialist structure encourages broader overall portfolios with significantly less concentrated risk and can allow the portfolio managers to focus on smaller, more esoteric anomalies that are often overlooked. source
Resource #3 (1.9.08) Kajeet, the operator of a pay-as-you-go cell phone service aimed at kids ages 8-14, said that it has received $10 million in debt financing from Chicago-based BlueCrest Capital Finance. source
Resource #4 (8.14.08) London-based alternative asset manager BlueCrest Capital Management has implemented the Algo Risk Service, an outsourced portfolio construction and risk management service from Algorithmics, part of the Fitch credit ratings group, for its risk management practice.
'Our portfolio has experienced substantial growth in assets under management, and we were looking for a vendor who could provide a high level of service and support to enable us to rapidly deploy new instruments into our risk management service,' says BlueCrest head of risk Jonathan Martin.
'Algorithmics has the capability to respond to our changing requirements in a timely way, introducing additional instruments and supporting the service with experienced customer support professionals. We have a risk system in production that is configured to our unique requirements, can grow with our business, and includes responsive support from people dedicated to addressing our needs.' source
Resource #5 (9.19.07) Chicago, IL - September 19, 2007 - BlueCrest Capital Finance, L.P. has provided $5 million in new debt financing to Solazyme, Inc., a leading biotechnology company that manufactures algal-derived biofuel and health/wellness products.
“Solazyme has a well developed IP portfolio coupled with a current capability to produce quantities of next generation biofuels at a scale we have not seen elsewhere in the sector” said Gail Fitzpatrick, Managing Director of BlueCrest Capital Finance. “The company’s biodiesel and biocrude products address an immensely large and expanding market need for clean energy solutions, and we are impressed with the team’s ability to leverage their algae expertise into industrial chemicals, cosmetics and nutraceuticals.” source
Resource #6 (3.3.08) Mzinga, which markets social media software to businesses, has secured $32.5 million in a new round of funding, and, in related news, has acquired Prospero Technologies LLC, the company said on Monday.
Burlington, Mass.-based Mzinga plans to use the cash to accelerate product development and bolster sales and marketing.
Mzinga also put a portion of the cash towards the acquisition of Littleton, Mass.-based Prospero Technologies, a social media software provider, the company said.
Mzinga's funding round was led by W Capital Partners. Other investors include Bluecrest Capital Finance and GE Capital. source
Resource #7 (4.2.07) Austin-based Molecular Imprints Inc., a nano-imprint lithography manufacturer, has received $8.5 million from BlueCrest Capital Finance LP.
The funding will go toward technology and product development, customer support and product commercialization.
"We continue to make excellent progress in all phases of our business including a growing level of customer interest and engagement," says Molecular Imprints CEO Mark Melliar-Smith. "The additional financing secured through BlueCrest...will help support our efforts to capitalize on that opportunity."
Molecular Imprints also received $3 million from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund in May 2006 to help develop the commercialization of one of its nanotechnology systems.source
Resource #8 (4.22.08) BlueCrest Capital Finance, L.P. financed
$10 million for Lagan's growth as the company continues its expansion into
North America and broadens its product offering. Lagan is an enterprise case
management software provider dedicated to the government marketplace.
"It was a pleasure to work with BlueCrest Capital Finance who clearly
recognized Lagan's leadership position as well as the growth opportunity
presented by our momentum in the North American market," said Des Speed, Chief
Executive Officer of Lagan. "They were able to structure a financial
arrangement that meets our needs and allows us to more quickly bring products
to market which exploit the potential of the North American government
market."
Headquartered in Belfast, Northern Ireland with North American
headquarters in Washington, DC, Lagan sells enterprise case management (ECM)
software and support products that are transforming the business of service
delivery across government. Solutions for optimizing citizen-government
interaction and a true enterprise approach to case management have made Lagan
the market leader in their sector in the UK and continues to fuel Lagan's
rapid growth in North America in the areas of human services, 311 non-
emergency call centers, and public works.
"Lagan holds the largest marketshare in automated citizen interaction and
public service delivery within local government entities in the UK and is
gaining significant traction in North America," said Farhaan Hassan, Managing
Director of BlueCrest Capital Finance. "Enterprise software continues to
attract venture investment especially in instances where there is clear
technology differentiation, market leadership, and a large market opportunity
as with government enterprise case management."
About Lagan
Lagan specializes in delivering world-class solutions that effectively and
efficiently connect governments and people. More than 160 government agencies
on five continents rely on Lagan's innovative, cost-effective enterprise case
management (ECM) solutions for customer relationship management (CRM), 311
non-emergency call centers, and human services. Lagan has received the
Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Award each of the last six years in recognition of
superior revenue growth. Today, Lagan's award-winning software is the choice
for governments seeking a low-risk solution that delivers real value in record
time. Founded in 1994, Lagan is privately held and employs more than 250
people worldwide. For more information about Lagan, please visit
www.lagan.com .
About BlueCrest Capital Finance, L.P.
BlueCrest Capital Finance, L.P., a US based commercial finance company,
provides debt financing solutions to development stage companies in a broad
range of industry sectors including IT, Communications, Hardware, Software,
Semi-Conductor, Electronics, Energy, Medical Device and Life Science. The
team, which has been together continuously since 1998, pursues debt
transactions in the $1-25 million range and has consummated approximately 900
transactions with total commitments in excess of $1.9 billion. source
Resource #8 (7.27.07) BlueCrest Capital Finance, L.P. and GTESS Corporation today announced the completion of $6 Million in new debt financing for GTESS, a leading provider of claims automation software services to the healthcare industry.
"BlueCrest's growth financing will help us continue successful sales and implementations of claims automation technology to the healthcare market," said Deborah M. Gage, GTESS President and CEO. "BlueCrest's team understood our need to maintain status as a top software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider and they structured a deal to match our strategic goals." source
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