In defence of hedge funds: Institutional investors are giving a vote of confidence January 19, 2012 THE latest hedge fund performance figures show the average fund was down nearly 5 per cent in 2011, and have prompted some to say: “The hedge fund model is broken”. It is worth noting that global shares, according to the MSCI All-Country World Index, were down 9.4 per cent in 2011, but nobody is arguing [...]
Law firms jump the fences in a quest for capital January 19, 2012 EARLIER this week, law firm Irwin Mitchell hired Glyn Barker as its chairman designate. Barker, a 30-year veteran of PwC, built the accountancy giant’s private equity practice and was its vice chairman until the end of last month. In the corporate world, cross-hiring between industries is common – take Chris Grigg’s sideways jump from Barclays [...]
Deal for Endemol as lenders approve €2.8bn debt-for-equity restructuring January 19, 2012 THE TV production company behind Big Brother and Deal or No Deal yesterday announced “an important milestone” as its lenders agreed to overlook millions of euros of debt in exchange for equity. Endemol received more than the required two thirds support from its creditors – including Barclays, RBS, Apollo and Centrebridge – who will hold [...]
Bank stocks lead the way as the FTSE continues its climb January 19, 2012 BRITAIN’S top share index closed higher yesterday, led by banks after bullish earnings from their US peers and with hopes building that the recent coordinated action by central banks and the IMF would be enough to avoid an economic crisis. The FTSE 100 index rose 38.78 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 5,741.15, after breaking [...]
Bank stocks up as Eurozone fears ease January 19, 2012 The FTSE 100 today opened with a strong performance in the banking sector with investor confidence being buoyed by efforts to bring the Eurozone back in line after months of damaging instability. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is seeking to raise up to $600bn (£388.8bn) which would help ease worries about funding in the Eurozone. [...]
Gove pleased by Barclays’ move to back academies January 18, 2012 BARCLAYS yesterday launched an initiative to support independent state-funded schools across the country, in a move which was welcomed by education secretary Michael Gove. The scheme – which focuses on academies, free schools, university technical colleges and studio schools – encourages senior staff at Barclays to become school governors, provides free financial advice to the [...]
BANKERS NET £1.2M IN EIGHT MINUTES January 18, 2012 THERE WAS some rapid number crunching at last night’s IFR Awards for the investment banking community at Grosvenor House. The multimillion-pound question: could the 1,000 assembled investment bankers between them find £1.2m to take the total raised for Save the Children over the event’s 17-year history to £20m? And all in eight minutes, which was [...]
Lansdowne fund hit by 2011 slump January 17, 2012 HEDGE fund Lansdowne Partners has emerged as the latest casualty of a dire 2011 for the industry with a slump of more than a fifth at a key British fund. The Lansdowne UK Fund lost 20.07 per cent last year, its first annual loss since it was launched 10 years ago. The $1.7 trillion (£1.1 [...]
Irish Life picks new bank boss January 16, 2012 Irish Life & Permanent has hired Jeremy Masding as the new chief executive of its banking business, Permanent TSB. The bailed-out bank, which is splitting its business in late March, said its current chief executive David Guinane will leave the firm when Masding joins in February. Masding spend 23 years at Barclays, after which he [...]
FTSE rises as investors shift gaze from Eurozone to China January 16, 2012 BRITAIN’S top shares rose yesterday, led by miners, as investors’ attention shifted from the Euro zone debt crisis towards economic data from China. Mining stocks tracked metals prices higher as markets eyed a batch of Chinese data due today, including GDP and industrial production, for further clues on the outlook for demand. “There’s a perception [...]