Latest news with #JanusHendersonGroupPlc
Time of India
a day ago
- Business
- Time of India
Insider trading siblings used lockdown to make £1 million
Before the market opened on Feb. 4, 2020, traders were watching Swiss testing company SGS SA, waiting for its shares to drop. Overnight it had been announced that the Von Finck family were going to sell 2.3 billion francs ($2.8 billion) of their holding. That's a huge chunk of stock for buyers to absorb, and the price fell the most in nearly five years. 'Stay ready,' Janus Henderson Group Plc analyst Redinel Korfuzi wrote in a message to his sister Oerta in their native Albanian, 55 seconds after the bell that day. Two minutes later, from the mutual fund giant's office in Bishopsgate, London, he messaged again: 'Stay ready because we have to close it if needed.' His sister was in the cramped living room of the flat they shared in Marylebone. The day before, she had opened two highly-leveraged short positions. With a little over £10,000 ($13,400) of equity, she had amassed a position with an initial notional volume of more than £150,000, wagering that SGS's stock would fall. Live Events With no answer from Oerta, her brother messaged again, and called her, finally getting through at 8:04 a.m. 'Open the platform and stay ready,' he said on WhatsApp shortly after an eight-second call. Finally, his sister responded: 'Gati Ikam' or, in English, 'I have them ready.' The exchange is just one of several that the UK's Financial Conduct Authority argued at a London trial was clear evidence of trading on insider information. On Thursday, a jury at Southwark Crown Court agreed, finding the two guilty of insider dealing and money laundering. Two others, Redinel's personal trainer Rogerio de Aquino, 63, and his partner Dema Almeziad, 40, were acquitted of all charges. At its heart, Redinel's plan was little different to countless other insider trading scandals. As part of his job, he had access to advance information on companies, in this case upcoming large share sales that often lead to price declines when announced. That's what happened with the SGS placing, which Redinel was informed about not long before his sister shorted it. The Korfuzis repeated this trick more than 10 times over the next year or so, continuing as the two worked from home during Covid lockdowns. With the SGS trade, Oerta and her brother made £7,747 in a little over 20 minutes. Before they were stopped by an FCA raid in March 2021, they had made almost £1 million. It was a 'trading club to cheat the market,' according to the prosecution's lawyer, Tom Forster. During the trial, 36-year-old Oerta said she made the trades based on her analysis, without knowing her brother had any insider knowledge. But the jury refused to believe that she was 'subconsciously' influenced by phone conversations across the living room, that she quickly analyzed charts and technical indicators for company names she overheard and placed profitable bets. Redinel, 38, denied involvement in the trades, at one point saying he was too busy saving what he called a 'dying fund' at Janus Henderson. Bloomberg In its case, the FCA presented evidence such as call records, data from phones and laptops, as well as a trove of WhatsApp and Telegram messages. 'Check out the app urgently. Check out the other app,' one of Redinel's translated WhatsApps to his sister said. That was sent less than a minute after he received market sensitive information about a proposed sale of £500 million worth of Hargreaves Lansdown Plc shares in February 2020. Redinel was at Janus Henderson's office at the time and referring to Telegram as the other app, according to the prosecutors. One minute after he got the Hargreaves information, Redinel called Oerta for eight seconds — when the prosecutors say he could've passed on the company's name. Within 15 minutes, Oerta moved money between accounts and began shorting the shares. Other companies traded included vehicle manufacturer Daimler Truck Holding AG, budget airline Jet2 Plc and pharmaceutical firm Dermapharm Holding SE. Janus Henderson wasn't accused of any wrongdoing. 'He was in truth the king of stocks. She the enthusiastic apprentice,' Forster said during the trial. 'Two Idiots' According to prosecutors, British national de Aquino and his Saudi fiance were 'secret proxies' for the trading syndicate and handled 'dirty cash.' Both had pleaded not guilty and maintained they didn't know Redinel had insider information. They didn't testify during the trial. To make the bets, Redinel helped de Aquino and Almeziad open trading accounts. De Aquino had told police that they were 'two idiots' who were hoodwinked by him. Oerta made about £430,000 from the trades, while de Aquino and his girlfriend raked in £135,000. Another trading account controlled by the siblings posted £408,000. The siblings claimed to have never discussed the trading or the massive profits with each other. The prosecution saw it differently. 'The truth is for the residents of Brunswick House there was never going to be enough money,' Forster said. 'Arrogance, pride, entitlement and greed drove them on – and it has ruined them.'
Bloomberg
10-04-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Ex-Janus Henderson Analyst Denies WFH Insider Trading at Trial
An ex- Janus Henderson Group Plc analyst denied having anything to do with the bets that made £1 million in profits at the heart of allegations that he ran an insider trading ring during Covid-19 lockdowns. Redinel Korfuzi is on trial for conspiracy to insider trade and handle criminal property along with his sister, Oerta Korfuzi and his personal trainer. He is alleged to have orchestrated the trades from a flat in Marylebone, central London, and used the other defendants' accounts to place short bets on listed companies that were preparing to issue new shares.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Janus Henderson Starts ETF Giving Global Access to US CLOs
(Bloomberg) -- The firm behind the largest ETF in the US's $816 billion market for collateralized loan obligations is launching a European-regulated fund, aimed at giving global investors tax-efficient access to the US securities. They Built a Secret Apartment in a Mall. Now the Mall Is Dying. Why Did the Government Declare War on My Adorable Tiny Truck? How SUVs Are Making Traffic Worse Trump Slashed International Aid. Geneva Is Feeling the Impact. These US Bridges Face High Risk of Catastrophic Ship Strikes Janus Henderson Group Plc is following in the footsteps of Invesco Ltd., which launched a similar dollar-denominated vehicle in February, alongside a product priced in euros. Interest in CLO ETFs, an asset class that's only been around since 2018, is picking up, with the number of funds doubling since August to a total of 24, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Funds governed by the European Union's regulatory framework, known as UCITS, recently gained the ability to invest in these pools of leveraged loans sliced and diced into bonds of various risk and reward. Crucially, they also offer non-US investors a route into the US asset class without hitting them with a punitive withholding tax — typically amounting to 30%. The new fund will invest in US CLOs that are compliant with European regulation — currently around 20% market. That's roughly equivalent to the $233 billion size of the European CLO market, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. 'There is appetite for a UCITS ETF investing in US CLOs and we think this new fund can reach up to a few billions' in assets under management, said John Kerschner, head of US securitized products at Janus Henderson. The safest, or triple A, tranches of CLOs appeal to a large number of investors due to their floating rate nature that frequently offers a pick-up in yield relative to other fixed-income assets, particularly during periods of elevated interest rates. 'People are looking at an alternative to two-year sovereign debt at 2%,' Roger Coyle, partner at Fair Oaks Capital, said. Exchange-traded funds that invest in US CLOs have attracted just under $8 billion in capital so far this year. Nevertheless they have suffered — along with other US asset classes — in recent days as investors grow increasingly worried about the outlook for the economy. Janus Henderson's $21 billion CLO ETF, the industry's top fund with 70% market share in the US in terms of assets, saw its largest daily outflow on record — of $450 million — last week. On Monday PGIM AAA CLO ETF, the second biggest, recorded $205 million of outflows, its biggest to date. Laila Kollmorgen, portfolio manager, CLO tranche at PineBridge Investments, notes that UCITS-compliant US CLO ETFs in Europe differ significantly from their US equivalents. Notably, they're only available to advanced retail investors. Still, managers of the investment vehicles are confident there's appetite from global institutional investors. 'The US and European products are not directly comparable,' Kollmorgen said. 'In Europe these are not true ETFs, because of their limited distribution to only institutional investors and limitation to most senior tranches.' Fair Oaks Capital introduced the first European CLO ETF in Europe in September, while Janus Henderson followed in December. This year, Invesco brought two of the vehicles to market, one focusing on euro-denominated securities and the other on dollar tranches. Palmer Square Capital Management plans three more of the funds. To broaden the appeal of its European vehicles, Janus Henderson and Fair Oaks Capital have recently added share classes in other currencies, including sterling and dollar. (Updates with new chart and size of UCTIS-compliant US CLO market in fourth paragraph) Business Schools Are Back Google Is Searching for an Answer to ChatGPT A New 'China Shock' Is Destroying Jobs Around the World The Richest Americans Kept the Economy Booming. What Happens When They Stop Spending? Israel Aims to Be the World's Arms Dealer ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
Bloomberg
27-03-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Janus Henderson Starts ETF That Gives Global Access to US CLOs
The firm behind the largest ETF in the US's $816 billion market for collateralized loan obligations is launching a European-regulated fund, aimed at giving global investors tax-efficient access to the US securities. Janus Henderson Group Plc is following in the footsteps of Invesco Ltd., which launched a similar dollar-denominated vehicle in February, alongside a product priced in euros. Interest in CLO ETFs, an asset class that's only been around since 2018, is picking up, with the number of funds doubling since August to a total of 24, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Yahoo
17-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Janus Henderson Eyes Saudi Arabia for Middle East Expansion
(Bloomberg) -- Janus Henderson Group Plc is pursuing opportunities in Saudi Arabia as it looks to grow its footprint in the Middle East and boost regional investment. Progressive Portland Plots a Comeback Why Barcelona Bought the Building That Symbolizes Its Housing Crisis Why American Mobility Ground to a Halt A Filmmaker's Surreal Journey Into His Own Private Winnipeg How to Build a Neurodiverse City Opening an office in the kingdom is a 'likely outcome' for the global asset manager, though no official decision has been taken, according to Chief Executive Officer Ali Dibadj. Saudi national Baraa Amir was recently appointed as executive director for the Middle East and Africa and will help to 'start laying the groundwork' for more investment in the region, he said. 'We're looking to expand for sure because we see a lot of opportunity,' Dibadj said in an interview in the Saudi capital of Riyadh on Sunday. 'We are very focused on investing locally.' Saudi Arabia has drawn increasing interest from Wall Street giants and investment titans over the past year as the kingdom embarks on a massive investment spree to back its economic diversification plans. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and BlackRock Inc. are among those that have moved to establish regional headquarters in Riyadh and State Street Corp. aims to launch more Saudi bond ETFs to give investors greater access to local debt. Janus Henderson already manages assets in the 'low double digit billions of dollars' on behalf of clients in the Middle East, including sovereign wealth funds and family offices, according to Dibadj. The global asset manager has offices in the UAE and last year launched a private capital division focused on emerging markets after it acquired the private investments team of Kuwait's largest bank. Janus has been benefiting from the wave of institutional investors that are looking for easy ways to invest in both European and US collateralized loan obligations, an asset class that now totals over $1 trillion globally. Last year, rival Fair Oaks Capital was first to launch an exchange-traded fund in Europe that tracks CLOs after years of chatter in the market. Janus Henderson followed suit last month and Invesco Ltd. has now entered the arena. Dibadj said the Middle East should also be able to benefit from the frenzy of interest from investors. 'The beauty of that structure is that it is quite transportable,' Dibadj said. 'This region can certainly get the benefit. Asia can get the benefit. So absolutely, yes, there will be more.' Clients generally are becoming more interested in fixed income and seeking more exposure to those assets, he said. 'That is a shift that we've seen among our clients, which are looking much more for yield,' Dibadj said. 'There is cash on the sidelines. People are looking for opportunities to enter the fixed income marketplaces.' The Undocumented Workers Who Helped Build Elon Musk's Texas Gigafactory The Unicorn Boom Is Over, and Startups Are Getting Desperate Japan Perfected 7-Eleven. Why Can't the US Get It Right? The NBA Has Fallen Into an Efficiency Trap How Silicon Valley Swung From Obama to Trump ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Sign in to access your portfolio
