Rod Barker to lead new private investment firm January 11, 2011 ROD Barker, partner at International Standard Asset Management, is leaving the firm to head up a new hedge fund business at Pacific Investments, the private investment vehicle of Sir John Beckwith. The business, which will be launched early next month, has attracted the backing of ICAP founder Michael Spencer’s private investment fund IPGL and Jim [...]
MySpace cuts staff by near half January 11, 2011 News Corporation’s MySpace is slashing its staff by nearly half, as the former internet social networking leader recalibrates its operations as an entertainment website. The restructuring will affect about 500 employees, or 47 per cent of the company, across all divisions and regions, chief executive Mike Jones said yesterday. Once the top Internet social networking [...]
Charlemagne sees fortunes rise January 11, 2011 Emerging markets equity manager Charlemagne Capital has seen a 14.1 per cent increase in assets under management (AUM) to $3.5bn (£2.3bn). The rise comes as investors rallied to pour money into mutual and hedge funds to tap growth in developing markets. Revenues at the firm grew to $28.3m, up 18.9 per cent on 2009, leaving [...]
Real unappreciative – Brazil pulls out the plug January 11, 2011 SINCE last summer, when the Federal Reserve turned back on the liquidity taps, the flow has been largely to developing economies. Rather like financial bathtubs, popular emerging markets in South America, Asia and even Africa have been attracting vast amounts of frothy hot money, and developing world currencies have appreciated immensely. With the money still [...]
Unions won’t risk royal day strike action January 11, 2011 TRADE UNIONS have downplayed the threat of potential strike action on the day of the royal wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton. Threats to ruin celebrations on 29 April incensed the city, after fears unions could bring London to a grinding halt, as millions the world over turn their focus on the capital for [...]
THE AUSSIE, FX DARLING NO MORE January 11, 2011 DIRECTOR OF CURRENCY RESEARCH, GFT AFTER hitting a post-float high of Au$1.0250 to close out the year, the Aussie has suddenly lost its lustre, tumbling through the Au$0.9900 figure at the start of this week’s trade as the unit carved out an ugly double top formation on the charts. The devastating floods that have affected [...]
Santander customer rating: from hero to zero January 11, 2011 AS Stephen Hester contemplates accepting his bonus we’ve looked at how successfully he has improved consumer perceptions of his bank in 2010. Last January RBS was poorly perceived and was clearly the last of the big five banks on every BrandIndex indicator. Take the key measure of recommendation; at -14.9 RBS was 13.3 points worse [...]
RBS and its NatWest division is fined £2.8m for poor handling of complaints January 11, 2011 BRITAIN’S financial watchdog fined Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and its NatWest division £2.8m yesterday for poor customer complaints handling. The Financial Services Authority (FSA) said its investigation found an unacceptably high risk that customers may not have been treated fairly due to multiple failings in 2009 in the banks’ approach to routine complaint handling. [...]
Interserve shares gain on positive outlook for 2011 January 11, 2011 BRITISH maintenance and outsourcing firm Interserve said it expected a stable 2011 on a strong order book and better margins, sending its shares up 14.7 per cent to 268.5p. “The consensus that is emerging for 2011 is very much stable in terms of revenue, which should be somewhere around the £1.8-1.9bn level,” said chief executive [...]
Tokyo to the EU rescue… but, only for a day or two January 11, 2011 THE cure for obsession, they say, is getting a new one. And that has certainly been true of the bond market’s approach to debt-ridden Eurozone countries. The market’s focus has swung like a searchlight from troubled country to country, sending the euro plummeting until its finance ministers ask for a bailout. On Monday, the market’s [...]
