Another U.K. Banking Chief Forgoes His 2012 Bonus
29 Jun
Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive Stephen Hester will give up his bonus in 2012, after technical glitches in the last week left thousands of customers unable to access their accounts. It's not the first time Mr. Hester has forgone pay: He turned down a $1.5 million stock award for 2011, and a larger amount still in 2009.
News of Mr.
Financial advising service Nutmeg gets its own $5M investment
18 Jun
London-based investment management service Nutmeg has raised $5.3 million. Still in private beta, Nutmeg promises to help you reach your financial goals with personalized investments and long-term savings advice.
Nutmeg asks you a series of questions to figure out where you are financially and what you hope to achieve, such as buying a home, starting a business, or sending your kid to college.
Argentina's YPF soars most in three years after billionaire Slim gets 8.4% stake
15 Jun
Reblogged from Financial Post | Business:
YPF SA climbed the most in three years after Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim became the fourth-largest stakeholder in Argentina’s top oil producer.
Slim controls 32.9 million of YPF’s Class D shares, or an 8.4% stake worth US$345-million, according to a regulatory filing yesterday from the Buenos Aires-based company. A loan default prompted Argentina’s Eskenazi family to sell the shares to Slim.
Smallknot Helps You Invest In Local Businesses
14 Jun
What do you get when you put an AIDS activist, an actor and two technologists in a coffee shop? An idea to make the world a better place. Their project, part of this year's TechStars, is called Smallknot and it lets you invest a small amount into local businesses. When the business has made its improvements or bulked up its whiskey collection, you can request a gift or repayment in return.
U.K May Face A Lost Decade
6 Jun
Professor Joe Nellis expects sluggish growth and inflationary pressures, which will distance the UK from Europe’s core countries. Achieving the growth needed to accumulate tax revenues and income growth, will be a real challenge. Nellis concludes that the economy is facing the danger of a «lost decade», but at the same time he also warns of talking ourselves into a depression.
Krugman’s Greenspan Rant
23 Mar
«He’s no longer the Man Who Knows; he’s the man who presided over an economy careening to the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression — and who saw no evil, heard no evil, refused to do anything about subprime, insisted that derivatives made the financial system more stable, denied not only that there was a national housing bubble but that such a bubble was even possible.»
More via The Concience Of A Liberal.
The New American Civil War?
23 Mar
Buffett via Wikipedia
Latest statement from Warren Buffett:
«There’s class warfare, all right. But it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning. »
Critical commentary from MarketWatch, in contrast to Forbes’ more cheerful take on Reaganomics. Be sure to read this WSJ-article as well:
«The real class war today is between government and the people who pay for it. And the government’s been winning.»
More here.
Stock Market Returns Over Time
3 Jan
At the time, the average individual investor expected that the stock market would return about 10 percent a year over the next 10 to 20 years — or about 7 percent after inflation — according to surveys by the University of Michigan’s Survey Research Center, as well as UBS and Gallup.
From another aesthetical, yet informative visualiztion piece from NY Times on investing over time: In Investing, It’s When You Start And When You Finish.
[The Business Insider via NY Times]
Valuable Investment Advice On Twitter?
16 Nov
By JaulaDeArdilla via Flickr
Analysts Sprenger and Welpe looks at the effects of microblogging on stock prices:
“They compared the “sentiment, message volume, and level of agreement” of tweets with various market indicators. ”Users who provide above-average investment advice are retweeted (i.e., quoted) more often, have more followers and are thus given a greater share of voice in microblogging forums,” the authors write.”
Summary via Freakonomics.
Taleb Prefer Betting With Soros Rather Than Buffet
25 Sep
Soros has better investing skills than Buffet? via World Economic Forum via Flickr
If Nassim Taleb, author of The Black Swan, was confronted with a choice between investing with Warren Buffett and billionaire investor George Soros - he said to BusinessWeek that he would probably pick the latter:
“I am not saying Buffett isn’t as good as Soros,” he said. “I am saying that the probability Soros’s returns come from randomness is much smaller because he did almost everything: he bought currencies, he sold currencies, he did arbitrages. He made a lot more decisions. Buffett followed a strategy to buy companies that had a certain earnings profile, and it worked for him. There is a lot more luck involved in this strategy.”
Soros became famous in the 1990s when he reportedly made $1 billion while betting against the British pound. Get the details and the comments he made about Obamas economic strategy during a Montreal visit here.
Monday Money Memorandum
20 Sep
Barron’s: The Trillion-Dollar Challenge. Fear of taxation prevents U.S. companies from bringing in some of the $1 trillion-plus held overseas that could help fuel an economic rebound.
BBC: China rebuffs Geithner over yuan. In a speech in Beijing, Li Daokui said China “will not appreciate the yuan solely because of external pressure”.
Bloomberg: Gillard Dollar Is Peaking as Mining Tax Proves Aussie Is Overvalued by 27%. Australia’s dollar, this quarter’s best performing major currency, is now the most overvalued.
"A thin line separates the temperament of a promising entrepreneur from a person who could use, as they say in psychiatry, a little help." Via Wikipedia
BusinessWeek: As Market Pessimism Grows, Should You Buy Stocks?Investors are disenchanted with the market. To contrarians, that constitutes signs of a rally.
MarketWatch: 10 reasons to buy a home. Enough with the doom and gloom about homeownership, Brett Arends says. It’s a good time to jump into the market.
Reuters: Centre-right wins Swedish vote but short of majority.
The Business Insider: Here’s why Facebook is secretly building its own phone.
The Financial Times: Gordon Brown I am angrier than ever about African poverty.
The Guardian: Brazilian oil group Petrobras aims for largest share issue in history. The $64m offering well surpasses the $36bn raised by Japanese telecoms firm NTT in 1987.
The New York Times: Just Manic Enough: Seeking Perfect Entrepreneurs. Though they may have many quirks, intense leaders are a common thread in the world of entrepreneurship.
The Telegraph: 9,000 on public payroll paid more than PM. More than 9,000 public sector employees earn more than the Prime Minister, according to analysis of state pay levels.
The Wall Street Journal: Pros and Cons of Passion Investments. Wealthy investors are increasingly including unconventional investments — such as fine wine, art or vintage cars — into their portfolio.
Norway’s Oil Fund Embrace Market Volatility
14 Sep
Offshore oil plattform in the North Sea via Wikipedia
The world’s second largest sovereign wealth fund said it’s taking advantage of volatility to increase returns:
“If you look at what has happened during the financial crisis, a fund like ours actually came through it quite well and that to some extent increased our risk capacity and our risk willingness,” Yngve Slyngstad, head of Norges Bank Investment Management, said yesterday in a Bloomberg Television interview. “In a 30-year horizon you are actually paid for taking volatility; volatility for us is actually a good thing.”
Supplementary lessons from Norway’s Oil Fund on Bloomberg.
Hedge Funds World Africa: 1 – 4 November – 2010 | Programme
10 Sep
Image by Etrusia UK via Flickr
Image by Etrusia UK via Flickr
DAY ONE Tuesday, 2 November 2010
7.30am
Registration and refreshments
8.30am
Chairperson’s opening remarks
Managing Director, Peregrine Securities
The big picture
8.45am
International thought leader: Global economy and investment themes for 2011 and beyond
- Details from “Crisis Economics – A Crash Course in the Future of Finance“
- Global Economy – where we are and the possible road forward
- Financial System Reform
- Balance – trade
- Greece and PIIGS Contagion
- European Union Concerns
Chairman, Roubini Global Economics
9.45am
Keynote address: Africa – getting harder to write-off
- Opportunities, trends and challenges in emerging economies
- Exploring changes at the macro-economic level
- The business climate in SADC
- Exploring the repercussions of geo-political trends on financial markets
- What are the short and long term growth scenarios
- Africa – compared to other emerging markets
Chairperson and CEO, Financial and Fiscal Commission
10.30am
Interview & press conference – Professor Nouriel Roubini
Join us for this interactive session as Professor Nouriel Roubini gives fascinating insights on hedge funds and the emerging market outlook.
Submit your questions by 27 October and gain more
understanding from this global thinker.
11am
Morning refreshments and networking
Fund of Funds
11.45am
Where are international Fund of Funds allocating in 2011?
- The next generation of fund of funds models – the new benchmark
- The implications of more transparency
- Re-building the case for inclusion into institutional portfolios
- Determining the drivers behind the request for transparency from institutional investors
Research Analyst, Stenham Group Limited
12.30pm
Interactive debate: Uncovering the changing role of FOHFs – the shift from product to service providers
- Adapting to the needs of the client
- Which funds are investing in hedge funds and why?
- Structures that appeal to investors right now
- Can investors drive down fee structures?
- Altering the terms of an investment, when is it appropriate?
- What can investors do if they suspect their interests are not being utilised?
Participants
Investment director, Caveo Fund Solutions
Investment Manager and Chief Dealer, Eskom Pension and Provident Fund
Chief Executive Officer, Hermes BPK Partners
Research Analyst, Stenham Group Limited
MD-Global Wealth Management, Ermitage Absolute Investment Talent
Ruth Forssman,
Prime Services, Peregrine Securities
1.15pm
Networking lunch
Hedge edge I
2.15pm
If a man who cannot count finds a four-leaf clover, is he still lucky?
“Reflections in the active investment space on the piquant, the surprising and the downright spurious”
- Introduction to relationship problems
- Spurious Visualization – Sasol and Brent Crude
- Flawed Analysis – Equity and Currencies
- Misspecified Variability – Pairs trading
- Conclusions
Professor, Brait SA and The Institute of Applied Statistics
2.55pm
Insight session: Adapting investment styles for Africa
- Exploring international interest in Africa’s hedge fund market
- How investors view the African countries – South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, Ghana in comparison to similar Emerging Markets
- The adapted investment styles for this market
- How increased regulation in developed markets will affect interest in Africa
Moderator:
Thomson Reuters
Participants:
Ronald Chabvonga,
Fund Manager, Gondo Capital
Investment director, Bifm Capital
Manager, Edge Capital- Iconic Matador
Simone Lowe,
Fund Manager, Thames River Capital LLP
3.40pm
Speed networking and afternoon refreshments
Speed networking is an exciting, quick and non-pressured way to meet fellow conference delegates and industry peers in one 30-minute session. This is where long-lasting and profitable relationships begin.
New products and analysis
4pm
Has the Hedge Fund ETF strategy been working?
- Understanding the underlying – what drives the performance of the ETF
- Using ETFs to short the market, rather than futures or specific shares
- Using ETFs to achieve style or sector tilts in a portfolio
- Contrasting ETFs and ETNs
- What about Hedge fund ETFs?
Head of Beta Solutions, Nedbank Capital
4.30pm
Market-Neutral Equity Funds: Making them work
- The only secret:consistently picking outperformers and underperformers. But how?
- You can only predict what you can explain:valuing stocks not companies, and how markets set prices.
- The efficient market conundrum:even Fama doesn’t know!
- The missing links:capital gain expectations, and workable estimates of risk in market pricing.
- How this approach has worked in the Australian market, and has strong potential in Asia, Europe and the US
Peter Rice,
Chief Investment Officer, Titanium Asset Management
5pm
Chairperson’s closing remarks and end of day one
5.30pm
Cocktail and networking
DAY TWO Wednesday, 3 November 2010
8.30am
Chairperson’s opening remarks
Managing Director, Sanlam Investment Management
Next generation of hedge fund investing
8.45am
Opening keynote: Investment opportunities in Africa
- “Breaking the Code of History“ – a geopolitical model
- African Geopolitics using BTCOH
- The African investment demographics
- Investment opportunities
The emergence of the “Geopolitical Model” as a tangible indicator of market opportunities and threats has gained considerable interest industry-wide. David Murrin’s “Breaking the Code of History: The Past, Present and Future” written on the subject of this model is set within a framework informed by
analysis of the geopolitical strategy and commodity theory.
His final argument is that we can save ourselves, as long as we take the necessary first steps towards consciousness – this is your opportunity to understand how his thoughts and predictions are linked to your portfolio
CIO, Emergent Asset Management
9.45am
Algorithmic trading – selecting the right strategy
- New ways of trading complex structures
- Exploring schedule / time, volume based and price based trading
- Effective implementation – what can you do?
- Relative value trading
Andrew Baker,
Head of Algorithmic Trading, ABSA Capital
10.15am
The future of long/short strategies: less active-returnmanagement and more active-risk-management
- Why alpha and absolute return are rapidly becoming less important than the ‘overall portfolio payoff’
- International overview of the latest long-short benchmarking techniques
- Delivering desirable long-short strategies without the need for alpha
- New remuneration models for long-short investing
- The increasing shift towards top-down vs. bottom-up longshort strategies
Independent Researcher, A-DEX
10.45am
Morning refreshments and networking
11.30am
Rethinking pair trading: conceptual and statistical issues in the construction of pair trades
- Identifying and trading strongly mean-reverting pairs (or paired baskets)
- Weakly mean-reverting pairs and the potential illusions of Bollinger Band analysis
- Trading weakly mean-reverting pairs
- The right and wrong way of trading non-reverting “pairs”
- Portfolio construction issues in pair trading
Participants
Hedge Fund Analytics, Peregrine Securities
Anthony Seymour,
Senior Quantitative Analyst, Peregrine Securities
12pm
Fund of hedge funds: a new model
“Fund of hedge funds continue to have appeal but the
universe is bifurcating between the old model focused on
asset gathering and the new model focused on investment
investor alignment.” This presentation examines the two and
explores the implementation and success of the new model.
- Achieving alignment in the new market
- Attaining smart transparency
- Delivering Alpha
Chief Executive Officer, Hermes BPK Partners
12.30pm
Exploring the success of funds investing in Africa
- African stock market indices relative to other market indices
- Tracking down well-managed and undervalued African companies
- Promising themes in Africa and how they might be played
- Getting African exposure by investing in both African and external companies
- Watching out for systemic rigidities
Chief Executive Officer/Chief Investment Officer, Cartica Capital
1pm
Networking lunch
Hedge edge II
2pm
Fund managers forum: Which styles can generate the largest returns in the current environment?
- How the allocation flows changed across the various strategies
- What works best – single vs. multi manager strategy?
- Quantitative versus qualitative approaches
- Implementing tactical allocation shifts
Participants
CFA, Praesidium Capital Management
Hedge Fund Analytics, Peregrine Securities
Chief Dealer, Sanlam Investment Management
Eugene Van Rensburg,
(Moderator)
Head: Prime Broking, Nedbank Capital Global Markets
Stephen Brierley,
Head of Hedge Funds, Symmetry Multi Managers
2.45pm
Investment debate: Market neutral vs. fixed income investing
- Choosing the best asset classes
- Balancing the beta on the long and the short side
- Hedging out residual risks
- Portfolio total return performance vs. the agreed upon benchmark
Participants
Managing Director, TriAlpha Asset Management
Malungelo Zilimbola,
Fund Manager, Mazi Capital
Risk and regulatory frameworks
3.15pm
Living through crisis: South Africa in a changing regulatory world
- The international response to financial crisis
- G20 Four Pillar framework
- Is more regulation better regulation?
- Referencing South Africa’s starting point and circumstances in designing a regulatory response
Head of Economic Policy International, National Treasury, South Africa
3.45pm
Afternoon refreshments and networking
4.15pm
Regulatory Q & A – CISCA, UCITS III: The impact on your hedge fund
- What does this framework mean for managers and investors in Africa?
- What is the role of managed account platforms?
- Exploring the restrictions of regulated funds
Participants
Head of Economic Policy International, National Treasury, South Africa
Patrick Ward,
Head: Collective Investment Schemes, Financial Services Board
5pm
The rise in investor use of managed accounts
- The big debate – managed accounts vs. fund of funds
- What do managed accounts actually solve?
- How can managed accounts effectively address institutional investor concerns?
Head of Risk, Momentum Group Ltd
5.30pm
Chairperson’s closing remarks and end of conference
Oslo Stock Exchange: Financial Calendar (week 34)
22 Aug
| 23/08/2010 | Olav Thon Eiendomsselskap ASA | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 23/08/2010 | Artumas Group Inc. | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 23/08/2010 | Marine Harvest ASA | Extraordinary general meeting 2010 |
| 24/08/2010 | Farstad Shipping ASA | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 24/08/2010 | Rocksource ASA | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 24/08/2010 | Eidesvik Offshore ASA | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 24/08/2010 | Green Reefers ASA | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 24/08/2010 | Goodtech ASA | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 24/08/2010 | Domstein ASA | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 24/08/2010 | Medi-Stim ASA | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 25/08/2010 | Infratek ASA | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 25/08/2010 | Northern Offshore, Ltd. | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 25/08/2010 | Clavis Pharma ASA | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 25/08/2010 | Sevan Marine ASA | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 25/08/2010 | Byggma ASA | Results 2nd quarter 2009 |
| 25/08/2010 | Solvang ASA | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 25/08/2010 | Norse Energy Corp. ASA | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 25/08/2010 | Opera Software ASA | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 25/08/2010 | Polaris Media ASA | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 25/08/2010 | Axis-Shield plc | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 25/08/2010 | Dannemora Mineral AB | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 26/08/2010 | BWG Homes ASA | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 26/08/2010 | NorDiag ASA | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 26/08/2010 | Navamedic ASA | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 26/08/2010 | Electromagnetic Geoservices ASA | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 26/08/2010 | Codfarmers ASA | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 26/08/2010 | Prosafe SE | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 26/08/2010 | ORIGIO a/s | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 26/08/2010 | Neas ASA | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 26/08/2010 | Oceanteam ASA | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 26/08/2010 | Funcom N.V. | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 26/08/2010 | Mamut ASA | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 26/08/2010 | Bergen Group ASA | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 26/08/2010 | Camillo Eitzen & Co ASA | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 26/08/2010 | Faktor Eiendom ASA | Results 1st quarter 2010 |
| 26/08/2010 | Inmeta ASA | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 26/08/2010 | International Gold Exploration IGE AB | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 26/08/2010 | Petrojack ASA | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 26/08/2010 | Bjørge ASA | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 26/08/2010 | Dolphin Interconnect Solutions ASA | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 27/08/2010 | Fornebu Utvikling ASA | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 27/08/2010 | Posten Norge AS | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 27/08/2010 | Rem Offshore ASA | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 27/08/2010 | Hjellegjerde ASA | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 27/08/2010 | Norwegian Car Carriers ASA | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 27/08/2010 | Gyldendal ASA | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 27/08/2010 | Hexagon Composites ASA | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 27/08/2010 | Aqua Bio Technology ASA | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 27/08/2010 | Kverneland ASA | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 27/08/2010 | Intex Resources ASA | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 27/08/2010 | Namsos Trafikkselskap ASA | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 27/08/2010 | Nio Security, Inc. | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 27/08/2010 | TECO Maritime ASA | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 27/08/2010 | Panoro Energy ASA | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
| 27/08/2010 | GTB Invest ASA | Results 2nd quarter 2010 |
[via Oslo Stock Exchange & Bakkafrost]
U.S. Condos: Cheaper Than Cars
12 Aug
“What about a 1BR, 1.5 bath condo in the complex in Deerfield Beach, Florida (near Ft. Lauderdale) for just $25k (details here)? About the same price as a Toyota Camry LE ($26k MSRP) – choose from 25 other Deerfield Beach condos for $28k or less; starting at $19,5k.
Or check here for 33 Las Vegas condos for only $20k or less, starting at $10k; and here you’ll find 31 condos in the Phoenix area (Glendale) for $28k or less, starting at $12,5k.
- You’ll probably never get a better deal on U.S. real estate than right now, especially with mortgage rates at historical lows. So if you’ve been thinking about a Florida condo, vacation home, rental property, or a first home, now’s the time – everything’s on sale.” HT: Mark J. Perry @Carpe Diem.
Norway: The World’s Safest Country
14 JulInvestment bankers say Julian Roberts message is still valid:
“Several observers say foreign investors, especially those in Asia, also are looking for other ways to invest in Europe, given worries about the structural weaknesses of the euro shown by Europe’s debt crisis.
In a nutshell: If you want safety, look to Scandinavia or the old British Commonwealth. “Sweden, Norway, Canada, Australia, New Zealand—these are the countries where the financial balances are better,” says Erik Weisman, a bond manager at MFS Investment Management in Boston. “Their debt issues are not nearly as problematic.”
Missed the articles? Read the full stories in The Wall Street Journal - here and here and in Forbes.com – here.
WSJ Markets
- Gold's Fall Stings Universities' EndowmentGold's slump has saddled the second-largest U.S. college endowment with more than $300 million in paper losses.
- Apple CEO, Lawmakers Square Off Over TaxesApple's tax strategies came under harsh scrutiny Tuesday in the Senate, where lawmakers are finding it far easier to call for a simpler tax code than to produce one.
- Tech Oldie H-P Might Still Be a GoodyBeleaguered Hewlett-Packard is a notable beneficiary of this year's reversal, with its shares having beaten once-highflying Apple's by 66 percentage points so far.
- Labor Woes Jolt South African AssetsSouth Africa's currency stumbled to a four-year low and the country's bonds sold off, signs that escalating labor unrest is starting to outweigh the lure of high yields for many investors.
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