Archives » 2007 » November

Right now, China’s Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor (QDII) scheme seems like a licence to print money. The four QDII funds launched by asset managers since September have attracted a headline-grabbing total of $40.65bn in subscriptions from Chinese retail investors, before being capped at $4bn each.

— Tony Worth, Avon Pension Fund

Many of the 90-plus local authority pension funds which have yet to allocate to hedge funds are waiting for Avon’s fund of funds investment to fail, according to Tony Worth, investments officer at the £2.2bn (€3.2bn) Avon Pension Fund.

— Toby Nangle, Barings'

Baring Asset Management is pushing the 130/30 portfolio management concept into the fixed income space with a pioneering mandate from CalPERS and the first white paper on the subject, 130/30 Fixed Income Investing: Relaxing the long-only constraint.

Mumbai-based fund management group, Ask Investment Managers, is to set up operations in the UK in a bid to capitalise on institutional opportunities in the Europe.

— Aoifinn Devitt, Clontarf Capital

Further to the explosion of interest in commodities, Clontarf Capital’s Aoifinn Devittlooks at enhanced index products.

Following the sale of non-core assets by its parent, Cominvest plans to grow its business both in and outside Germany.

— Jerome Booth, Ashmore Investment Management

The countries in the emerging world with fiscal and current account imbalances are a combination of a few making little progress, those coming from much worse imbalances (such as Turkey) and some of those which are becoming developed through having joined the EU, in particular Hungary and Romania.

— Francois Moute, ABN Amro Funds

US equity markets have enjoyed a substantial rebound in recent weeks, pushing indices to all-time highs. But the evidence of an economic slowdown has yet to recede: growth projections have been revised downwards, the US housing market continues to decline and credit markets have not recovered.

— Gonzalo Pangaro, T. Rowe Price

Following a steep downturn sparked by this summer’s global credit crunch, Latin American stocks have staged a strong comeback.

— Kyu Eun Jeong, Atlantis Korea Opportunities Fund

Emerging markets have continued to see strong inflows from overseas investors in 2007 in spite of this summer’s credit crunch. However, one market that appears to have been overlooked by these foreign investors is Korea.

— Arne Lindman, CEO of ABN Amro Asset Management Asia

In the face of a consortium takeover, Arne Lindman, CEO of ABN Amro Asset Management Asia tells Henry Smith that his priority remains to provide clients with a high-quality service with a minimum of disruption.

The news that a consortium comprising Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Fortis and Banco Santander had won the battle with Barclays to take over ABN Amro marks just the end of the beginning of this long-running saga.

— Klaus Jäntti

Scandinavia’s most venerable hedge fund boutique is reviewing its distribution strategy. But is the ship setting sail just as the waters are getting choppy? Martin Steward reports.

Tucked above a chic boutique in Norrmalmstorg, Brummer & Partners finds itself at the heart of “Stockholm’s Mayfair”, among up-market hotels, shops and restaurants, hedge fund managers and private equity partnerships.

— Tian Rencan, Fortis Haitong Investment Management

International asset managers are looking to capitalise on China’s Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor scheme which enables Chinese investors to buy foreign assets. Henry Smith reports.

— Penny Green, Superannuation Arrangements of the University of London Trustee Company (Saul)

Four major institutional investors discuss how alternatives have been worked into their portfolios. All agree that the boundaries between alternatives and traditional asset classes should be broken down, while acknowledging the risk-management problems that implies.

Martin Steward reports.

— Maurice Hoo, private equity specialist with Paul Hastings

One year into China’s new mergers and acquisitions regime, how is the private equity industry coping with the reality? Martin Steward reports.

— Jon Mills, KPMG

Major new research reveals “convergence” driving several key trends in investment management – but it also uncovers resistance points and miscommunication between asset managers and clients. Martin Steward investigates.

— Tim Skeet, Merrill Lynch

Spain’s capital markets are demonstrating admirable resilience to recent market turbulence with its flagship covered (cédulas) bonds expected to end the year strongly, despite a deal drought this autumn. Nat Mankelow investigates.

— Eric Obersteiner, Raiffeisen Bank

Emerging Europe is providing plenty of opportunities for investors with an ever increasing number of initial public offerings. Nat Mankelow reports.

Nat Mankelow talks to Dr Fritz Janda, managing director of Fachverband der Pensionskassen, the driving force behind Austria’s second pillar revolution.

— says John Gripton, Capital Dynamics

Both funds of hedge funds and private equity funds of funds are proving increasingly popular, although fees can be a performance drag. Gerry O’Kane reports

Against the backdrop of the late summer financial market volatility, punctuated to some extent by concerns about the performance of quantitative strategies, the hedge fund industry has continued to grow, with capital under management increasing by over $345bn for 2007 through the end of the third quarter.

— Christophe Cordonnier, Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking

Christophe Cordonnier, director, commodities structured products at Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking, explains commodities backwardation and contango: how to read the shape of the curve and arbitrage investing in commodities via indices or forwards.

— Matt Moran,CBOE

Because volatility trading is inversely correlated with equity movements it can deliver enormous diversification benefits. Ceri Jones reports.

With the recent retrenchment of equity markets, many investors are refocusing their attention towards investment strategies that seek to provide stable returns independent of market direction.

— Andrew Lo, MIT

A new paper by MIT academics attempts to unravel the reasons for the dramatic and unexpected fall in quantitative funds in August. Peter Guest investigates.

— Clare Vincent-Silk, Investit, MiFid

The challenges of moving to direct market access should be rewarded with later cost savings and improved trading performance. Elizabeth Cripps reports.

— Jerry Lees, Cheuvreux

Rumours of the demise of direct market access at the hands of algometric trading are greatly exaggerated says Jerry Lees, head of Cheuvreux’s Electronic Execution Services.

Our US dollar global bonds top 20 shows huge performance dispersion as the best make good bets away from the benchmarks. That means diverse choice for investors, especially as roiling credit markets throw up more alpha opportunities. Martin Steward reports.

The T-Charter is generally seen as a welcome initiative but some transition managers feel it doesn’t go far enough to protect clients. Peter Guest investigates.

As the CBRC pushes for reform of risk management practices in China, lack of historical data means that it remains hard to quantify risk. Peter Guest reports.

The reasons for June’s launch of a new real estate investment structure in France were twofold. Firstly, there was the need for a vehicle that took full advantage of the risk diversification properties of real estate investment, which is strongly uncorrelated with the financial markets and has predictability in its cash flows.