Bubble fears overdone in emerging markets April 27, 2010 IN SPITE of emerging markets’ strong rebound from the financial crisis and their rosy growth prospects, 41 per cent of European pension plans still have no exposure at all to this sector, according to an annual asset allocation report released earlier this month by Mercer, a consultancy. But this is changing in the wake of [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING April 26, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES FISHMEAL PRICES SCALE ALL-TIME HIGH The price of fishmeal, the key feedstuff for salmon and shrimp aquaculture, has surged to an all-time high after an earthquake wiped out processing plants in Chile, the world’s second-biggest exporter of the commodity, this year. The blow comes as the industry is already battling a supply squeeze [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING April 25, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES TOSCAFUND HAS EYE ON £500M OF MORTGAGES Toscafund, the London-based hedge fund founded by ex-Credit Lyonnais star analyst Martin Hughes, is raising capital to acquire up to £500m of UK residential mortgages. The group has already closed a £250m fund of UK sub-prime mortgages, launched late last year, sources told the Financial Times. [...]
Ericsson profits down 30pc as market shrinks April 23, 2010 SWEDISH mobile giant Ericsson has reported a drop of almost a third in first-quarter profit with sales also dipping. The telecom equipment market contracted sharply in 2009 as the global downturn crimped operator spending. Its sales fell nine per cent year-on-year while operating profit, excluding joint ventures and restructuring costs, was 4.5bn Swedish crowns (£403m). [...]
With a global fund, the world is your oyster April 20, 2010 TRADITIONALLY, British institutional investors have been interested mostly in regional funds, leveraging local knowledge to bring returns. But there are signs that global funds – which cover all sectors and regions – are growing in popularity. Data from Lipper, the fund management research firm, shows that 16 and 20 global equity funds available to UK [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING April 18, 2010 THE SUNDAYS The Sunday Telegraph BARCAP TO RAID ECM BANKERS Barclays Capital, the investment banking arm of barclays bank, is creating a bold plan to catapult its equity capital markets (ECM) business into a global top-three player in under five years. The ambitious strategy just 18 months after its $1.85bn (£1.2bn) acquisition of Lehman Brothers’ [...]
Sovereign risks mean gold retains some of its sparkle April 18, 2010 HAD you bought gold back in 2000, you would have paid around just under $300 an ounce. Even taking into account the effect of inflation, this seems an absolute bargain compared to the current price of $1,138. But this decade-long bull run in gold may be coming to an end, says Philip Klapwijk, chairman of [...]
CITY VIEWS: WHAT DO YOU THINK ARE THE RISKS, IF ANY, TO CHINA’S SOARING ECONOMIC GROWTH? April 15, 2010 DUNCAN JUDD | MEDITATION “I really don’t think there are any great risks. But we’ll have to see how China continues to develop, and if there is enough manpower and financial backing to develop resources. It’s up to individuals to see that the Chinese economy continues to grow.” ALAN SAUNDERS | RBS “You have to [...]
Smartphone sales hit 180m April 13, 2010 A staggering 180m smartphones were shipped worldwide last year as the market continued to evolve at a blistering pace. Sales are expected to leap to almost 400m units a year by 2014, according to the research from Parks Associates. By then smartphones will be the industry standard, the market researcher says. The number of smartphone [...]
Opportunities for growth in green Asia April 13, 2010 TAKE a trip around emerging Asia these days and you won’t just see skyscrapers and coal-fired power plants growing out of places where there were once nothing but fields. Wind turbines, solar energy plants, incinerator manufacturers, water treatment plants and microirrigation developments are just as likely to spring up before your eyes. There is now [...]