Alternative investment fund

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Alternative investment fund ( English alternative investment fund , abbreviation: AIF) is an investment fund whose investment assets or special assets do not consist of securities .

General

The investment or special assets of classic investment funds contain all or the majority of securities ( stocks , bonds or third-party investment certificates ). In order to distinguish these classic investment funds from funds whose fund assets do not consist of securities, the legislature has decided to name them alternative investment funds (AIF). An investor can choose to purchase alternative investments directly or from an alternative investment company, which in turn puts together a mix of different alternative investments for its investment or special assets. The main advantage of the alternative investment fund is its risk diversification .

Hedge funds, real estate funds, private equity funds or venture capital funds have been identified as potential risks for the financial system , so that particular need for regulation arose for this market segment . All EU member states had to transpose the EU directives, which came into force in May 2011, into national law, which dealt with this matter. Since alternative investment funds generally do not have an economic life of their own, the fund managers of these funds have been identified as a unit to be regulated. These are called alternative investment fund managers (short AIFM , of English Alternative Investment Managers ), respectively. Alternative mutual fund managers are legal entities whose job it is to manage alternative mutual funds.

Legal issues

The legal basis for alternative investment funds is the Capital Investment Code (KAGB), which does not speak of investment funds, but in Section 1 of the KAGB of investment or special funds. It only uses the term investment fund in connection with alternative investment funds (AIF) and protection of names. Designations such as " capital management company ", "investment fund", "investment fund" or " investment company " or a designation containing these terms may be used in the company , as an addition to the company, to designate the business purpose or in accordance with Section 3 (1) KAGB for advertising purposes only by management companies within the meaning of the KAGB.

In § 1 para. 3 KAGB that alternative investment funds (AIF) is briefly defined, all investment funds are neither present UCITS - so from effects existing investment funds - are. Finally, Section 1 (4) and (5) of the KAGB stipulate that alternative investment funds may be either open-ended investment funds or closed-end funds . All closed-end funds are always AIFs, open-ended funds only if they are not UCITS. Investment certificates from so-called special AIFs may not be acquired by private investors in accordance with Section 1 (6) of the KAGB ; all other investment funds are public funds (“public AIFs”). Directive 2011/61 / EU on the managers of alternative investment funds , which provides for a single depositary for each AIF (Art. 21 (1) of the Directive), is decisive for the depositaries of the AIF . According to Art. 27 (7) of the Directive, the depositary ensures that the AIF's cash flows are properly monitored and, in particular, ensures that all payments by investors when subscribing for units of an AIF have been made and that all of the AIF's funds are in a cash account that exists for the account of the AIF or in the name of the depositary acting for the account of the AIF.

The AIFs require special authorization from BaFin in accordance with Section 22 of the KAGB; they are subject to a special reporting requirement in accordance with Section 35 of the KAGB. A custodian must be appointed for each investment fund in accordance with Section 80 of the KAGB. Open public AIFs must be invested in accordance with Section 214 of the KAGB in accordance with the principle of risk diversification.

The Investment Tax Act (InvStG) also applies to alternative investment funds in accordance with Section 1 (2) No. 3 InvStG.

economic aspects

Among the AIF include film funds , guarantee funds , money market funds , hedge funds , real estate funds and real estate funds , property funds , index funds , infrastructure funds , media funds , balanced funds , private equity funds , ship funds , special funds or forest fund . Their designation reveals which financial instruments or special financing mainly comprise the fund assets. For example, film funds finance film and television productions , ship funds operate ship financing .

Investment or special assets of the alternative investment fund are congruently refinanced by the investment certificates issued . The fund managers carry out the portfolio management of investment or special assets . They perform the tasks of market observation, in particular of the financial markets , market analysis and asset allocation , which leads to buying, selling or holding individual financial instruments based on a benchmark . When allocating investments, care must be taken to ensure that there is good risk diversification with an acceptable risk mix due to a high level of granularity with an acceptable concentration of risk . They observe the existing investment strategy , analyze the leverage effect of the investment fund and the extent to which this leverage is secured ( Section 29 (4) KAGB). The fund managers are obliged to monitor the overall performance in order to ensure sustainable performance of the investment fund.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jürgen Baur / Falko Tappen (eds.), Großkommentar KAGB , 2015, p. 544
  2. ^ Nico B. Rottke / Michael Voigtländer (eds.), Immobilienwirtschaftslehre - Ökonomie , 2017, p. 626
  3. ↑ Article 3 of the directive
  4. ↑ Volker Braunberger / Oliver Everling / Uwe Rieken (eds.), Rating from Custodian Bank and Master-KAG , 2011, p. 36