Hedge fund managers, once preoccupied only with performance, are now just as concerned about the impact that infrastructure, and risk management issues can have on their business.

Investors’ growing appetite for real estate is being translated into more investment vehicles being launched in the market. Demand for greater liquidity and more transparent investment products has resulted in more assets going into property vehicles such as real estate investment trusts (REITs), a sector that at the end of last year had $425bn (€358.3bn) under management.

Short-term measurement of fund managers’ performance is resulting in fear of taking longer investment positions. As a result, potential longer-term investment opportunities are being left unexplored.

The Icelandic Stock Exchange (Icex) has launched a new market catering for mid- and small-caps. Known as isec, the segment is broadly based on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM.

Despite the share price of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) riding 15 per cent higher than when Deutsche Boerse made its proposed 530p-a-share offer a year ago, time might be running out for any deal involving the LSE.

The emergence of enhanced cash funds – otherwise known as liquidity-plus or cash-plus funds – has significantly boosted growth in the cash management industry in Europe alongside traditional money market funds, but has further to go before catching up with the US, new research says.

Andrew Tong, president of SYWG BNP Paribas in Shanghai, believes his fund house can offer a competitive advantage by focusing on its speciality of equities. He is also eagerly anticipating regulatory reform to open the doors to foreign markets. Henry Smith reports.

The Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Trust has been forced into a reshuffle of its portfolio due to increased liabilities. Paula Garrido reports on the move to alternatives.

As foreign investors remain as hungry for US assets as ever, it is surprising to see the account deficit still rising. Neil Mellor investigates.

It’s time for pension funds to utilise their managers’ skills and change from the traditional approach to portfolio construction. Instead they should embrace an alternative route that uses both alpha and beta, says Kevin Carter.

Institutions have been slow to adopt absolute return strategies. But with the high returns and versatility offered, they are soon likely to catch up. Tim Cooper reports.

Absolute return strategies are a rising trend among institutional investors. But will this fad’s flame disappear in a puff of smoke or grow into a roaring bonfire?

An absolute return strategy seeks to achieve positive returns in both up and down markets. This is in contrast with a relative return strategy, which measures a fund manager’s performance against a market benchmark or index.

Pascal Blanqué, of Crédit Agricole Asset Management, outlines how the firm has long developed and implemented diversified strategies within the absolute return universe.

The absolute return market is booming.

Currency management was developed some years ago and is now a source of added value on its own. Nicolas Boitout, London-based specialist answers the tough questions.

Long/short equity, is an innovative process. Mathieu Ullman, a Paris-based specialist, gets to grips with the issues.

With less volatility and low correlation to other asset classes, bank loans make for an exceptional absolute return strategy, writes Kevin Perry.

Bank loans are actual loans (not structured instruments) made by commercial or investment banks to medium and large, generally non-investment grade companies, primarily in the US and increasingly in Europe.

European equities have performed well since 2003 with small- and mid-caps outperforming blue chip stocks to the extent that they now have a 10 per cent to 15 per cent premium, according to Dow Jones.

With Ben Bernanke’s nomination to succeed Alan Greenspan as Federal Reserve chairman proving to be one of the rare non-controversial ones for the Bush administration, we expect to see continuity by the Fed following Mr Greenspan’s retirement on 30 January.

Latin American equities have been the best performing region in emerging markets for the year to date, rising nearly twice as much in dollar terms as the benchmark MSCI Emerging Markets Free Index.

This year has been an extremely good one for investing in the Korean stock market. Year-to-date, the Kospi index is up 45 per cent as local liquidity has flooded into equity-type installment funds.

Both bottom-up and top-down pressure on Hong Kong’s Mandatory Provident Fund to improve performance has prompted fund managers to bring in third-party help. Henry Smith reports.

Increasing job mobility among contributors to Hong Kong’s Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) is leading to bottom-up pressure on investment product providers to improve performance.

According to Dr Mark Konyn, chief executive officer of Allianz Global Investors in China’s Special Administrative Region, as MPF members change jobs, they are becoming more aware of the differential fund performance being delivered by asset managers.

As China’s state banks enter the fund management arena, it is up to the smaller managers to prove their worth with good, consistent performance and client support, writes Henry Smith.

China’s A-share market was premature in its negative reaction to government stock reform, as it will increase flexibility for foreign investors and restore market confidence, writes Tan Kong Yam.

The appeal of real estate is growing in Europe and the US and is reaching beyond traditional backers in larger public pension funds to smaller corporate schemes. Christine Senior reports.

Paula Garrido reports on the various requirements and concerns institutional and private investors face when considering hedge funds as a component in their portfolios.

Hedge funds and cross-border funds have failed to implement straight-through-processing in any significant form and lag behind other areas in the financial industry. Ana Miro investigates.

An explosion of algorithmic trading is expected in 2006, but can it deal with the increasingly complex demands? Roger Aitken tracks how it is infiltrating new asset classes and the prospect of customisation.

Electronic algorithmic trading platforms are becoming more and more commonplace, with every provider claiming to offer the best product. Dr Tom Middleton sifts the wheat from the chaff.

FT Mandate talks to Joseph Wald, chief executive officer of EdgeTrade Inc, an independent, agency-only broker-dealer and software developer, about its overarching mission to empower traders.

John Wightkin, managing partner at Quantitative Services Group LLC, discusses some current issues in the algorithmic trading landscape with FT Mandate.

As the foreign exchange market becomes steadily larger, Lee Ratner outlines the various, and increasingly sophisticated, technological solutions on offer to investors.

The PF-Asian Equities (ex Japan) fund has managed impressive returns by investing in undervalued firms in South Korea. It now has its sights on the currently underperforming Taiwanese technology sector. Paula Garrido reports.

The decision by Hermes Pensions Management, a £60bn (€49.9bn) UK-based asset manager, to select the Bank of New York (BNY) to participate in exclusive due diligence with a view to providing investment outsourcing services in the UK comes at the end of another buoyant business year for the bank.

As Omgeo, a provider of post-trade, pre-settlement trade management services, surpassed the $10,000bn mark in processed US fixed income trades via the Oasys trade allocation and acceptance service in the first three quarters of 2005, an increased appetite for automation and efficiency in fixed-income back offices seems to be emerging.

Roger Aitken reports on Société Générale Global Securities Services for Investors’ move out of safe investment banking territory and into the provision of outsourcing services.

There are many routes for institutions who wish to get involved with securities lending to take. Paul Wilson from JPMorgan outlines the options on offer.