Are industry renowned ‘investment gurus’ really worth their weight in assets, asks Yuri Bender, or has ‘The Lang Approach’ had its hey-day?

Asset managers on both sides of Paris are turning to alternatives, but whose strategies will win the day in this tale of two cities, asks Yuri Bender.

Robeco’s outgoing captain, George Moller, scored big despite the crisis with some clever footwork, writes Yuri Bender.

Sharia-compliant financial services is fast becoming a fiercely competitive arena, writes Yuri Bender.

Asset managers don’t always think of the bigger picture when the end goal is simply to make money, but Gilles Glicenstein broke the mould, writes Yuri Bender.

The last ten years have seen dramatic developments in the investment landscape such as the huge expansion in the use of derivatives and the rise of the core-satellite model, but further changes are underway, writes Yuri Bender.

In offloading its long-only business to Aberdeen Asset Management in return for shares in the company, Credit Suisse has a vested interest in a successful takeover and will need to reassure clients to stay where they are, writes Yuri Bender.

Boutique fund houses need to make widespread changes if they are to adapt to the current climate, something that Martin Currie’s chief executive Willie Watt has not shied away from in the past, writes Yuri Bender.

It is not just the American market that is important to the future of Natixis but the success of its operations in the Middle East and Asia, writes Yuri Bender.

Gilles Glicenstein’s cautious approach as opposed to investment in the more exotic assets that were favoured by some rival groups has left him, at least temporarily, with the bragging rights, writes Yuri Bender.

Laurent Bertiau is tasked with reviving SocGen’s fund sales, but turning things around will be as tough as anything he faced during his time in Asia, writes Yuri Bender.

Schroders’ appointment to a Romanian mandate will attract the attention of asset managers searching for opportunities for growth, writes Yuri Bender.

Absolute return funds may be the key to success in the German investment industry, writes Yuri Bender.

Germany’s €540bn investment industry - servicing the needs of an 80m population - is already stifled by well-placed local groups including DWS, Cominvest, and the funds arm of Deka. Troubled markets, fixed income outflows of €30bn over 2 years and a raft of local and European regulations make it even tougher for foreign firms to prosper.

It seemed like a good idea at the time, but the single, integrated structure is now being questioned by many banking and investment groups.

The single, integrated, banking structure - trail-blazed by leading US bank Citigroup after its purchase of Sandy Weill’s Travelers insurance business ten years ago - has taken something of a battering in recent months.

F&C may be up for sale, but the three-year growth plan and geographical expansion of chief executive Alain Grisay shows a new maturity has arrived at company headquarters.

In much of Europe and the US, the fortunes of the life insurance and asset management industries have long been tied together, and dismantling them, as life stalwart Friends Provident is finding, is no easy matter.