Henry Smith and Yuri Bender speak with Credit Suisse veteran Bob Parker about hedge fund product and distribution trends and the firms recent internal re-shuffle.

Following the recent re-branding of Credit Suisse as “one bank” and the simultaneous restructure, with the asset management division now a fully-fledged unit, rather than a sub-section of investment banking, Bob Parker has been talking to clients about products and distribution channels.

The institutionalisation of the hedge fund sector is changing the face of the asset management industry as a whole, as large firms try to compete with the flexible and innovative nature of boutiques.

As trading costs have come down, portfolio trading volumes have risen with the result that investment performance has worsened, according to Bill Miller, chairman and chief investment officer of Legg Mason Capital Management.

Insight CIO Abdallah Nauphal was prophetic in his assertion that the asset management industry would undergo significant changes and was largely behind the firm’s push towards a liability-based,solution-driven approach. He talks to Paula Garrido.

Paula Garrido speaks to Oyak Group’s CIO Caner Öner, about the Turkish pension fund’s strategy to expand beyond its remit into an insurance company, a credit union and a holding firm with investments in more than 60 companies across different industrial sectors.

Global reflation is becoming the dominant factor driving bond yields up. Those investors who expected disinflationary conditions (which have been positive for bonds) to persist got caught on the wrong foot. Economic growth around the world has picked up and rising commodity prices have led to increased inflation expectations.

After posting gains in five of the six past calendar years, while outperforming stocks by a substantial margin, commodities have recently encountered turbulence, falling about 10 per cent between mid-May and mid-June.

During the 1980s and 1990s, the reputation of South America as a place to invest in was arguably at a historic low. Today, the economic fortunes of the region have turned around so much; investors now see Latin America as an integral part of their investment strategies.

For the first time in the recent history of the bull run in the Indian markets, we have witnessed a sharp correction, with the Mumbai Sensex falling by 30.55 per cent after touching a high of 12,671 on 11 May to a low of 8799 on 14 June.

It may be too early to suggest that we will see a resumption of the dollar’s long-term downtrend, but Neil Mellor suspects this to be the case.

A pension scheme’s asset allocation is dependent on the level of underfunding in the scheme and the path back to parity will alter course as the gap narrows, says Ronnie Bowie.

Although GTAA first emerged in the 1990s, at a time when the investment climate was wrong and knowledge was patchy, the time now seems right for the strategy, writes Gerry O’Kane.

Wojtek Nabialek assesses how structured products can optimise the asset and liability management of pension funds.

Hybrids combine long-only and long-short worlds to provide negatively correlated investments and a wider choice of products to suit investors’ risk/return profiles, writes Paula Garrido.

Hybrid investment strategies aim to bring investors the best of both worlds and their popularity has been growing rapidly. According to Sunil Chadda, head of the hedge fund and derivatives practice at investment management consulting firm Citisoft the hybrids territory is “where the long-only and long/short worlds are meeting”.

As the use of transition managers increases exponentially, many talk of low volatility, rising costs and the need for professional standards. Tim Cooper assesses the current market environment.

Mark Dwyer and Wim de Ruijter of Mellon Transition Management Services speak to FT Mandate about the growing trend among institutional investors of hiring transition managers.

Alex Johnstone, managing director at BNY Global Transition Management outlines the different types of transitions to manage, the benefits of transition management and new players in the market.

Lachlan French, head of transition management in Europe for State Street outlines the various principles on offer to to avoid a conflict of interest with your transition manager.

Jody Windmiller, head of transition management at UBS Investment Bank, outlines exactly what qualities a plan sponsor should be looking for in its transition manager and some practical ways of finding the right service to achieve a smooth, cost-effective transfer.

Despite being several decades behind their US counterparts, European money market funds are increasingly being taken up by institutions looking to park cash deposits, writes Christine Senior.

Managers are convinced that the latest equities slump is merely a blip, emerging markets have fallen from grace while prospects for the US remain pessimistic. Elizabeth Cripps reports.

A diversified portfolio managed with a prudent risk-averse approach has proven successful within the Axa Rosenberg Equity Alpha fund range, but none more so than its Europe ex-UK product as Paula Garrido reports.

With the ever-changing markets, managers are continually reviewing their investment approaches. John Mayr examines how a seamless processing platform can make life easier.

There seems to be a discrepancy between the buy-side and sell-side use of algorithms, and perhaps it is time to realise what they can be used for and tailor the product to client needs, writes Roger Aitken.

Roger Aitken looks at the reasons for the recent clamour for direct market access as Europe readies itself for an explosion of interest and the new-found freedom offered to the buy-side.

Richard Hills, head of electronic services for Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking, speaks to FT Mandate about the evolution and anticipated uptake of direct market access in Europe among buyside institutions.

FT Mandate discusses developments and the anticipated rapid uptake of direct market access (DMA) in Europe with Jerry Lees, head of Cheuvreux’s Electronic Execution Services.

Many argue that demutualisation of stock exchanges has lead to greater innovation and investment, but are they looking out for stockholders over users? Roger Aitken reports.

Despite regular stories of the record $800bn deficit run by the US administration, there are various reasons why the dollar will continue to be strong, writes Neil Record.

Despite steps taken by Wall Street banks to reduce backlogs in the processing of complex credit derivatives under the regulatory glare of the Federal Reserve, continued growth in derivative volumes still poses serious operational risks for buy-side participants.

Despite the expense of switching from legacy systems to new platforms, the flexibility of the new products could have large implications for custodians, writes Ceri Jones.