Emma Boyde
FTfm on AV
Some highlights from Monday’s FTfm.
Jittery fund buyers go for brands
Confused fund buyers are looking to trusted brands rather than performance – recent poor performance and the increasing complexity
FTfm on AV
Some highlights from Monday’s FTfm.
Europe’s pensions flee hedge funds
In North America pension funds poured a net $9.8bn into hedge funds and absolute return vehicles during 2011 and $4bn into multi-asset and global tactical asset allocation funds,
FTfm on AV
Some highlights from Monday’s FTfm.
The pros and cons of binning benchmarks
A Fidelity paper on unconstrained investing is convincing – if you truly believe in the skill of your manager you should give him the power to act – but given what we know about the success of active managers,
FTfm on AV
Some highlights from Monday’s FTfm.
Banks’ dual role in ETFs in jeopardy
Banks running exchange traded funds in Europe face potential challenges to the profitability and even viability of their businesses if regulators adopt proposals for limiting conflicts of interest.
FTfm on AV
Some highlights from Monday’s FTfm.
Call for inquiry after losses at Arch Cru
Industry figures and members of parliament are calling for a crackdown on complex fund structures, as details emerge of
FTfm on AV
Some highlights from Monday’s FTfm.
iShares sees huge jump in inflows
BlackRock’s iShares, which provides physical, rather than synthetic ETFs, is obviously benefiting from regulatory concerns. It grabbed more than three-quarters of total new inflows into European listed ETFs in 2011 compared to only about a quarter in 2010.
FTfm on AV
Some highlights from Monday’s FTfm.
Slowdown in new fund launches
The European fund industry is running out of steam, with new fund launches dropping to their lowest level in nearly a decade. The decline reflects concerns about the eurozone crisis and the outlook for equities.
FTfm on AV
Some highlights from Monday’s FTfm.
Volcker rule dismays managers
Under one interpretation of the Volcker rule it may become illegal for bank-owned managers to run money for European or Asian investors
Hedgies’ average return is ‘zero’
Performance data is biased because hedge funds choose whether to report – when the returns of hedge funds that do not report to databases are factored in,
FTfm on AV
Some highlights from Monday’s FTfm.
Active managers spark row
The new DC Investment Forum claims passive funds may damage savers’ interests, but its views have been attacked as ill-conceived belly-aching
Managers warn of windfall targets
Managers are warning of the dangers of investing in defensive sectors,
FTfm on AV
Some highlights from Monday’s FTfm.
Chairmen fail in governance duty
Chairmen of FTSE 350 companies are failing to take responsibility for corporate governance, with half making no mention of the issue in their annual report statements,
FTfm on AV
Some highlights from Monday’s FTfm.
European real estate meltdown
Many smaller real estate fund managers are forecast to hit the wall in the next two years as a freeze in fundraising and the deepening crisis in the eurozone hits struggling boutiques
Hedgies gain from prop trade fall-off
A severe contraction in investment banks’ proprietary trading activities is “democratising”
FTfm on AV
Some highlights from Monday’s FTfm.
Swaps tactic threatens Ucits brand
Concerns are growing that the runaway global success of the Ucits fund brand could be jeopardised by the use of increasingly contentious fund structures.
FTfm on AV
Some highlights from Monday’s FTfm.
Europe’s DC sector set to grow
Europe’s defined contribution pension industry could be set for rapid growth as increasingly unaffordable state provision is scaled back
Greek crisis causes panic in art salesroom
You would think the established,
FTfm on AV
Some highlights from Monday’s FTfm.
UAE may force pensions on expats
The UAE is hoping to set up a pensions scheme for expatriates who make up more than 90 per cent of its 8m-plus population. The scheme would represent a huge opportunity for international asset managers and local stock exchanges.
FTfm on AV
Some highlights from Monday’s FTfm.
EU creates loophole on kickbacks to financial advisers
The European Commission’s Mifid II directive proposes a commission ban for IFAs, leaving a loophole for
FTfm on AV
Some highlights from Monday’s FTfm.
Few FoHFs yield value
As yet unpublished academic research has found that only about 5% of funds of hedge funds deliver value and investors would do just as well
FTfm on AV
Some highlights from Monday’s FTfm.
Banks dash to deal with volatility
Investment banks are reported to be scrambling to create complex volatility-based vehicles to help shield investors from the risk of big market falls
Call for property price falls
Real estate prices in peripheral eurozone countries need to fall to reflect the possibility of a break-up of the currency union,
FTfm on AV
Some highlights from Monday’s FTfm.
Critics slam fee denial of trade body
Efama claims economies of scale account for lower US fees, but critics say this argument obscures the fact that fees are still
FTfm on AV
Some highlights from Monday’s FTfm.
ETF sector braces for draconian clampdown
Providers of synthetic ETFs are bracing themselves for a draconian clampdown by regulators following reports that an ETF trader was allegedly involved in a $2.3bn trading scandal at UBS
Enquiry starting into ‘empty voting’
The practice of borrowing shares to vote at AGMs is becoming a governance issue,
FTfm on AV
Some highlights from Monday’s FTfm.
Cash pipeline to aid bank funding
A new electronic trading platform could help funnel more wholesale funding to Europe’s beleaguered banking sector and provide higher returns to lenders such as companies and asset managers.
FTfm on AV
Some highlights from Monday’s FTfm.
Shareholder dissent is on the rise
Companies based in Europe’s most troubled peripheral nations are seeing a sharp rise in shareholder dissent as investors increasingly rebel against boardroom pay schemes and proposals for rights issues
CDS:
FTfm on AV
Some highlights from Monday’s FTfm.
US managers are winning fight for European market share
US managers accounted for 70% of estimated net sales in the first six months of the year in Europe compared to just 40% in 2010.
FTfm on AV
Some highlights from Monday’s FTfm.
Investors declare optimism for equities
Institutional investors are betting on equities for investment returns over the next 12 months according to a poll by MHP.
FTfm on AV
Some highlights from Monday’s FTfm.
Asia drives mutual fund sales
Asian investors have rediscovered their waning appetite for equity and bond funds, kicking off a fledgling recovery in mutual fund sales across the region,
FTfm on AV
Investors snap up real estate
Those fleeing the volatile bond markets are pushing up the price of real estate so high that yields are barely keeping up with inflation
LDI out of favour with firms
The pool of UK investment houses offering liability-driven investment strategies has fallen sharply in the last two years
Thorsten Michalik:
FTfm on AV
Some highlights from Monday’s FTfm
Greek rescue plan worries hedge funds
Hedge fund managers are seeking legal advice about the worth of their holdings of Greek credit default swap contracts amid
FTfm on AV
Some highlights from Monday’s FTfm
‘Best-ideas’ funds come out on top
Highly concentrated “best-ideas” funds may be able to consistently outperform traditional, highly diversified active funds,
FTfm on AV
Some highlights from Monday’s FTfm
Focused firms lose market share
Bank and insurance-owned asset managers lost market share in the UK last year, with independent fund managers elbowing the more
FTfm on AV
Some highlights from Monday’s FTfm
Private banks make lukewarm recovery
Europe’s private banks made a tepid recovery last year but the industry’s fragile profitability will come under new pressure from pending regulation,
FTfm on AV
Some highlights from Monday’s FTfm.
Low cost ETFs reap fat profits
FTfm interprets two sets of data and discovers exchange traded fund providers in Europe are generating profit margins more than four times higher than the mutual funds industry.