CTA Intelligence European Services Awards 2018 | Pageant Media Ltd | 27 July 2018 | Plaisterers' Hall, One London Wall, 1 London Wall, London EC2Y 5JU, UK

The CTA Intelligence European Services Awards aim to recognise and reward those CTA and managed futures service providers that have demonstrated exceptional customer service, innovative product development and business growth over the past 12 months.
Returning for a fourth year, this year's awards event will be a bigger and better celebration of excellence at a combined evening ceremony alongside the CTA Intelligence European Performance Awards.

Categories
Best administrator - over $50bn
• This award is designed to reward fund administration firms with more than $50bn in AuA, catering to CTAs and managed futures funds, that have shown true growth and innovation over the course of the last 12 months. Success in this category depends on a mixture of client and revenue growth, as well as new product or brand development that demonstrated new thinking and which can boast significant success.

Best administrator - under $50bn
• This award is designed to reward fund administration firms with less than $50bn in AuA, catering to CTAs and managed futures funds, that have shown true growth and innovation over the course of the last 12 months. Success in this category depends on a mixture of client and revenue growth, as well as new product or brand development that demonstrated new thinking and which can boast significant success.

Best exchange
• This award is designed to award exchanges that offer the widest range of products across all major asset classes, including futures and options based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities, metals, weather and real estate. As well as the exchange’s range of instruments, the judges will also consider the quality of each exchange’s technology platform, as well as its ability to innovate and meet customer need.

Best bank FCM
• This award is designed to honour a bank-owned FCM that has best demonstrated a consistent high-level of service and expertise across the whole of its organisation. Success in this category depends on illustrating strength across all of the FCM’s core areas of activity, as well as a commitment to innovation and excellent customer service.

Best independent FCM
• This award is designed to honour the best independent FCM. Success in this category depends on demonstrating how technical expertise, use of technology and excellent customer service have benefited clients and enabled the FCM to effectively compete against larger players in this field.

Best capital introduction service
• This award is designed to honour the FCM, third-party marketing organisation or platform that has shown the greatest commitment and aptitude in capital introduction and capital raising. Success in this category depends on demonstrating how, via investor contacts and cap intro events, the provider has been able to aid client attempts to meet relevant and active investors.

Best regulatory hosting platform
• This award is designed to platforms that have provided top quality service to their managed futures and CTA strategy clients in offering them regulatory and compliance support. Success in this category depends on a mixture of client and revenue growth, new products, tools or brand developments that demonstrated new thinking and have been well received by the sector and top-class client service standards.

Best compliance consultancy
• This award is designed to reward consultancy firms that have demonstrated expertise and innovation in providing CTAs/managed future fund clients with key regulatory compliance advice. Success in this category depends on a mixture of demonstrating customer and revenue growth, as well as detailing how new initiatives and compliance products have aided the business over the past 12 months.

Best cloud computing provider
• This award is designed to honour a firm that has provided an excellent service as a vendor of remote storage and cloud technology solutions for CTAs/managed futures funds. Success in this category depends on demonstrating both customer and revenue growth, as well as detailing examples of how service provision has been able to improve the data storage,back testing, disaster recovery and business continuity needs of the sector.

Best third-party algo trading solution
• This award is designed to honour a third-party algo trading solution or provider that demonstrated a strong track record in reducing trading costs for CTA and quant hedge fund clients through its execution strategies or platform.Success in this category depends on execution strategy enhancement and innovation, solutions to test and analyse trading costs, ease-of-use and integration with EMS/OMS providers and executing brokers.

Best IT infrastructure provider
• This award is designed to honour a firm that has provided a best-in-class IT infrastructure solution for the CTA/quant fund sector. Success in this category depends on demonstrating both customer and revenue growth, as well as detailing examples of how service provision has improved the business of clients.

Best CTA managed account platform
• This award is designed to honour a managed account or other distribution platform that has proved itself over the past 12 months via client growth and growing assets. Success in this category depends on demonstrating both customer and revenue growth, as well as detailing examples of innovation, diversification and solid performance.

Best CTA Ucits platform
• This award is designed to reward Ucits platforms which have excelled in the service they have provided their CTA clients over the past 12 months in terms of either their hosting of funds, distribution capabilities or both. Success in this category depends on a mixture of client and revenue growth, cost-effective pricing and top-class client service standards displayed through glowing client testimonials.

Best cyber-security solution
• This award is designed to honour a firm that has provided an excellent service as a provider of outsourced cyber-security solutions for the managed futures sector. Success in this category depends on demonstrating both customer and revenue growth, as well as detailing examples of how the service has been able to heighten the cyber-security of a client or clients.

Best data and information provider
• This accolade is designed to honour the firm that provides the most genuinely comprehensive, innovative and useful data to CTAs and managed futures funds. Success in this category depends on demonstrating how useful the information is to clients, how easy it is to leverage and render into bespoke reports and the efficiency of the delivery mechanism.

Best marketing and communications consultancy
• This award is designed to honour a firm that has demonstrated a genuine ability to manage the media and reputational profile of CTA/managed futures clients. Success in this category depends on demonstrating customer and revenue growth, as well as detailing how advice has represented the best interests of clients.

Best executive search – quant
• This award is designed to honour a search firm that has best demonstrated an ability to meet the needs of CTAs and managed futures funds in the recruitment of quantitative roles including data scientists, technologists, programmers, risk managers, researchers and analysts.

Best middle and back office
• This award is designed to reward administration firms who have made advances in providing middle and back office services to CTAs and managed futures clients. Success in this category depends on providing examples on how a middle/back-office service has grown in customers and revenue, innovated via product and ideas and helped to reduce operational risk.

Best tax and audit service
• This award is designed to reward CTA audit specialists that have shown growth and excellent customer service over the past 12 months. Success in this category depends on a mixture of customer and revenue growth, as well as product or brand development that demonstrated new thinking and which can boast significant success and positive customer feedback.

Best trading and execution technology
• This award is designed to reward trading platforms that have shown growth and innovation in providing traders, portfolio and risk managers with the ability to execute trades, manage their portfolio and make real-time decisions. Success in this category depends on a mixture of customer and revenue growth, as well as product or brand development that demonstrates new thinking and which can boast significant success and positive customer feedback.

Best law firm - overall
• This award is designed to honour the firm that has demonstrated a consistently high standard in providing legal services to the CTA sector. Success in this category depends on demonstrating both customer and revenue growth, as well as detailing examples of innovation and where the service has made a real difference to clients.

Best law firm - CTA start-up
• This award is designed to honour the firm that has developed a suite of effective services particularly aimed at CTA start-ups. Success in this category depends on demonstrating both client and revenue growth, as well as detailing examples of where client advice has made a real difference to the direction of a new management firm.

2017 Winners:

BEST IT INFRASTRUCTURE PROVIDER
• Avelacom

BEST ADMINISTRATOR - CLIENT SERVICE
• Quintillion

BEST EXCHANGE - CLIENT SERVICE
• CME Group

BEST DATA AND INFORMATION PROVIDER
• Thomson Reuters

BEST FCM - CLIENT SERVICE
• UBS

BEST CAPITAL INTRODUCTION SERVICE
• UBS

BEST COMPLIANCE FIRM
• Cordium

BEST ADMINISTRATOR - INNOVATION
• SEI

BEST CLOUD COMPUTTING PROVIDER
• Options Technology

BEST VALUATION SERVICE
• HedgeFacts

BEST CONSULTANCY FIRM
• Lawson Conner Services

BEST CTA MANAGED ACCOUNT PLATFORM
• Deutsche Bank Liquid Alternatives Platform

BEST FCM - INNOVATION
• ABN Amro Clearing

BEST CYBER - SECURITY SOLUTION
• RFA

BEST CTA UCITS PLATFORM
• Deutsche Bank Liquid Alternatives Platform

BEST EXCHANGE - INNOVATION
• LME

BEST MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS CONSULTANCY
• Teneo Blue Rubicon

BEST REGULATORY HOSTING PLATFORM
• Mirabella

BEST MIDDLE AND BACK OFFICE
• HedgeFacts

BEST LAW FIRM - CLIENT SERVICE
• Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld

BEST TAX AND AUDIT SERVICE
• KPMG

BEST FCM - TECHNOLOGY
• Interactive Brokers

BEST EXECUTIVE SEARCH - QUANT
• GQR Global Markets

BEST TRADING AND EXECUTION TECHNOLOGY
• Fidessa

BEST ADMINISTRATOR - TECHNOLOGY
• Citco

BEST BOUTIQUE LAW FIRM
• MJ Hudson

BEST ADMINISTRATOR - TECHNOLOGY
• SS&C Technologies

BEST EXCHANGE - OVERALL
• Eurex

BEST LAW FIRM - OVERALL
• Maples & Calder

BEST FCM - OVERALL
• Societe Generale

BEST TECHNOLOGY FIRM - OVERALL
• Options Technology