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 [...]
Position yourself now for a yuan revaluation April 13, 2010 CHINA’S premier Hu Jintao might have upheld his steely resistance to any pressure from the US to revalue the yuan yesterday, but there is little doubt that it is a question of when Beijing will revalue, not if. Although Chinese officials have always been very clear that any move would be gradual, an appreciation of [...]
China is setting the stage now for a yuan revaluation this summer April 12, 2010 THERE had been speculation that the Chinese authorities would use this weekend’s Bo’ao Forum – billed as China’s Davos – to announce a revaluation of the yuan. While observers hoping for a move were disappointed, there have been signs over recent weeks that Beijing is laying the groundwork, both in the financial markets and in [...]
European stocks are worth a long position April 12, 2010 IN THE next few weeks we should get a better idea of how far the economic recovery has boosted profits at Europe’s largest companies as they report first quarter earnings. So far consensus estimates for earnings growth this year is a whopping 39 per cent up on last year. This week French luxury goods group [...]
Institutions cool on Bolton fund April 11, 2010 Fidelity investment veteran Anthony Bolton has failed to reach the £650m fundraising target for his new China vehicle, having garnered £460m from institutional investors by the end of last week. Pensions funds are said to have been concerned at Bolton’s lack of knowledge of Asian markets, together with his inability to speak the language. The [...]