Briefly: ‘Aston Hill buying Navina’ and more news

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Aston Hill Financial has announced it will acquire Navina Asset Management in a cash and stock deal worth up to $6 million. The deal consists of base consideration of $4.2 million, and is and subject to potential additional earn-outs of up to $1.8 million.

Navina shareholders may elect to receive an aggregate of up to $4,200,000 of the base consideration in Aston Hill Shares issued at a deemed price of $1.20 per share.

The earn-out, if any, will be paid to Navina shareholders in cash, Aston Hill Shares or a combination of both, with the Aston Hill Shares being issued at a deemed price equal to the 30 day weighted average trading price for the 30 trading day period ended on the trading day immediately prior to the date which is one year from the closing date.

Navina is a Toronto-based asset management firm specializing in the development, sales and management of numerous closed-end mutual funds, open-ended mutual funds and hedge funds. The majority of the Navina funds are managed by Ravi Sood, who will be joining Aston Hill as part of the deal. Navina’s assets under management and advisory are about $225 million.

Aston Hill says the primary benefits of the deal are the addition of Sood to its roster, a 10% increase in AUM, and operational synergies that are expected to enhance Aston Hill’s profitability. The deal also makes Aston Hill a fully licensed portfolio manager able to create and manage a wider range of financial products.

The Acquisition is subject to a number of customary conditions, including the approval of the TSXV and the Ontario Securities Commission.

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Omega ramps up trade matching speed

Omega ATS has introduced a new trade matching engine offering order execution in micro-seconds. The speed of the new system, dubbed ThymeX, makes Omega one of the lowest latency trading venues in Canada.

“Speed, reliability and price are key to the success of any ATS. Omega has been known as the smallest ATS in Canada but our daily transaction and share volumes recently put us ahead of some of our closest competitors,” said Eric Stoop, chairman, Omega ATS.

“We’ve already been offering the most aggressive pricing structure, and by combining that with a matching engine that delivers industry-leading performance, reliability and features, Omega is positioned to leave the competition behind.”

Omega touts ThymeX as being developed, maintained and hosted entirely in Canada.

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Schulich School teams up with CFA Institute

CFA Institute and Toronto CFA Society have joined forces with York University’s Schulich School of Business, making it the 118th school to team up with the administrator of the CFA designation.

“We are proud to have been recognized as one of an elite group of CFA Institute’s global university program partners,” said Dezsö J. Horvath, dean of Schulich. “Our Master of Finance program is already one of a kind, with its emphasis on the broader aspects of business such as governance, ethics and legal and regulatory frameworks. Partnership with CFA Institute makes it a must-have degree for those seeking careers in investment banking and asset management, as well as finance careers working with private equity firms, hedge funds, consulting firms and government agencies.”

As part of the partnership, students are entitled to scholarships, access to CFA Institute curriculum, journals, webcasts, and other educational resources, and each student will have access to a specially prepared online Level I sample exam.

“The CFA is a prestigious designation that is academically rigorous and globally recognized. It is the industry standard for finance professionals,” .” said Pauline Shum, director, Master of Finance program, Schulich School of Business, York University. “The Schulich Master of Finance program covers an estimated 90 percent of the knowledge required for CFA exam preparation. It builds on and complements this knowledge with training in research methods, analysis of the latest financial products, and exposure to legal and regulatory frameworks.”

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S&P launches S&P/TSX 60 Equal Weight index

Standard & Poor’s has launched an equal weighted version of the S&P/TSX 60, dubbed the S&P/TSX 60 Equal Weight Index.

This new index has the same constituents as the market capitalization weighted S&P/TSX 60, but each company in the equally weighted version is allocated an equal weight at each quarterly rebalancing. This gives the new index a greater exposure to relatively smaller companies within the group and therefore a different risk/return profile from the cap-weighted index.

“By design, equal weighted indices give greater importance to smaller-cap companies than traditional market-cap weighted indices,” says Steve Rive, managing director at S&P Indices. “As a result, equal weighted indices will have different risk/return profiles and different sector exposures than their market-cap brethren.”

The new index has been S&P Indices also announced today that it has licensed by BetaPro Management which will list an ETF based upon it.

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Dundee to open office in Dubai Financial Centre

Dundee Corporation has announced its 60% controlled subsidiary, Arabia-Asia Capital Alliance, has been awarded a license by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) to operate in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).

“We are excited about creating a presence in the Middle East and North African (MENA) region which services over 318 million people representing an aggregate of approximately US$3 trillion of capital assets,” said Ned Goodman, president and CEO of Dundee Corp. “Dundee’s intention is to bring the highest quality investment opportunities to the region, increasing our access to capital for unique and major projects.”

By opening an office in the DIFC, Dundee will be able to provide asset management products to sovereign funds, institutional funds, family offices and high net-worth individuals throughout the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

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Franklin Templeton streamlining fund line-up

Franklin Templeton Investments is streamlining its fund line-up, following security-holder votes approaching several fund changes.

The Templeton European Corporate Class will be merged into the Templeton International Stock Corporate Class, which invests substantially all of its assets in units of Templeton International Stock Fund. The merger will take effect on or about the close of business on June 11, 2010.

Security-holders of the Franklin Japan Corporate Class voted against the merger of the fund into Templeton International Stock Corporate Class. As a result Franklin Templeton will terminate that mandate, no later than July 31, 2010.

Any shareholders who hold the Japan fund in a Franklin Templeton registered account will have their holdings switched into Franklin Templeton Money Market Corporate Class upon termination. On or about July 21, the company will liquidate the holdings of the Japan class at fair market value, make a final distribution of any income and capital gains, and distribute the net assets to shareholders.

(06/08/10)