Best of the Brokers for 13 November 2013 November 12, 2013 WH SMITH UBS keeps its neutral rating on the retailer but has hiked its target from 750p to 1,000p, which it says still represents a 15 per cent discount to the rest of the sector to reflect the chain’s uncertain future. The broker raises questions about the firm’s long-term strategy beyond cutting costs. F&C ASSET [...]
Bigger capital buffer for HSBC November 12, 2013 HSBC and JP Morgan were yesterday told to hold bigger capital buffers to reflect their importance to the banking system. They topped the list of systemically important lenders put together by the Basel Committee, an international authority which monitors risks. The pair must hold an extra 2.5 per cent of loss absorbing capital. In the [...]
Top funds grow assets by eight per cent in 2012 November 12, 2013 THE PILE of cash managed by the world’s biggest fund managers rose to near a pre-financial crisis peak last year, underscoring rapid change unfolding across the UK’s investing landscape. The world’s 500 biggest managers looked after $68.3 trillion (£42.7 trillion) of other people’s money at the end of last year, a rise of over eight [...]
Big banks run cyber attack simulation test November 12, 2013 THE BIGGEST investment banks in the City are today meeting to run a mock-up of a cyber attack, to see how they would react in a major crisis. The simulation, dubbed Waking Shark 2, puts over 100 senior bankers, regulators and other financial staff in a single room to see how they work together. In this [...]
Retailers predict Mega Monday rush November 12, 2013 UK retailers are bracing themselves for a leap in online traffic this Christmas, with 2 December predicted to be the busiest internet shopping day of the year. According to research by Barclays bank nearly two thirds of high street retailers (63 per cent) surveyed expect website traffic to increase by 11 per cent on 2 [...]
Prime broker veteran to take reins at hedge fund trade body November 12, 2013 EUROPE’S leading hedge fund trade body yesterday named one of investment banking’s top prime brokerage veterans as head of the organisation. The Alternative Investment Management Association, which represents 1,300 hedge funds and investment firms, said former Barclays and Morgan Stanley man Jack Inglis would be made chief executive in the new year. Inglis takes the [...]
KKR snaps up US landscaper Brickman Group in £1bn deal November 12, 2013 US PRIVATE equity titan KKR yesterday won the race to buy US landscaper The Brickman Group in a deal worth $1.6bn (£1bn). The firm, managed by Wall Street raider Henry Kravis and his cousin George Roberts, beat off a host of rivals – thought to include Blackstone, TPG Capital and UK private equity stalwarts CVC [...]
3i inks Barclays deal November 12, 2013 The UK’s oldest private equity fund 3i yesterday said it had finally completed a deal to buy Barclays infrastructure arm. Barclays Infrastructure Funds Management, which includes 22 staff, will be renamed 3i BIFM and merged into 3i’s existing infrastructure offering. The deal was originally announced in May. The Barclays arm currently has assets under management [...]
Caravan park operator sold by private equity owners for £170m November 12, 2013 THE SOUTH east’s largest operator of caravan parks, Park Holidays, was sold by its private equity backers yesterday to London-listed fund Caledonia Investments. Graphite Capital, which owns London’s Hawksmoor restaurant chain, sold the company for £172m, after overseeing it for seven years following a purchase in 2006. The deal is notable because Caledonia’s buy is [...]
Bank capital rules are holding back a credit binge – but also our recovery November 11, 2013 THE RECENT run of better-than-expected economic data and the government’s Help to Buy scheme have sparked talk of a return to credit-fuelled boom and bust. Some have joined renowned monetary policy hawk Andrew Sentance, a former member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee, in calling for interest rates to rise sooner rather than [...]