Offshore Capitalist

Skandia survey suggests continued confidence in offshore products

November 15, 2009 in Offshore Industry by Roy

In a recent survey conducted by Skandia International of nearly 700 advisers – 300 overseas and 400 in the UK – around 80 per cent agree that consumer confidence in offshore products remains high. Some 79 per cent of advisers in the UK believe investors remain confident in offshore investment or are unaffected by the [...]

FSA to get powers to curb UK banker bonuses – Darling

November 15, 2009 in Banking by Roy

LONDON, Nov 14 (Reuters) – City regulators are to be given new powers to stop bankers receiving bonuses that “would cause instability” to the financial system, British finance minister Alistair Darling said in a newspaper interview on Sunday.
Speaking to the Sunday Telegraph he said banking needed to change and that financiers had to see themselves [...]

China rounds on U.S. rates as global economic risk

November 15, 2009 in Currencies, Economics by Roy

BEIJING (Reuters) – Ultra-low interest rates in the United States are fuelling speculation in overseas asset markets and threatening the global economic recovery, a senior Chinese official said on Sunday.
In unusually blunt criticism of U.S. monetary policy on the day that President Barack Obama arrives in China for a visit, Chinese banking regulator Liu Mingkang [...]

Research tells me something I already knew

November 15, 2009 in Theory, Theory & Academic Papers by Roy

A significant number of my clients are couples, who make investment decisions as a team. It is common for each partner to have a different attitude towards investment risk. I have long felt that couples often make more ‘well rounded’ balanced and structured investment decisions than individuals. Some research just out seems pertinent.
Abstract from the [...]

Ron Paul: Be Prepared for the Worst

November 15, 2009 in Economics by Roy

Any number of pundits claim that we have now passed the worst of the recession. Green shoots of recovery are supposedly popping up all around the country, and the economy is expected to resume growing soon at an annual rate of 3% to 4%. Many of these are the same people who insisted that the [...]

Eurozone emerges from recession

November 15, 2009 in Economics by Roy

The eurozone economy has emerged from recession after growing between July and September, figures have shown.
The 16 nations that use the euro collectively grew 0.4%, after shrinking by 0.2% between April and June.
The French and German economies both grew for a second consecutive quarter, confirming the eurozone’s two largest economies are out of recession.
However, both [...]

US trade gap widens unexpectedly

November 15, 2009 in Economics by Roy

The US trade deficit unexpectedly widened in September by the largest amount in 10 years, figures show.
The trade gap, the difference between US imports and exports, grew 18.2% to $36.5bn (£21.9bn) from August.
Imports rose 5.8%, the biggest jump since 1993 and an indication that consumer spending is recovering.
Separately, US consumer confidence figures unexpectedly fell. The [...]

Nestlé chief hits at ‘well-fed activists’

November 15, 2009 in Agriculturals by Roy

FT.com — The chairman of Nestlé, the world’s biggest food company, has hit out at “well-fed activists” whose hostility to new food technologies was exacerbating a global food crisis by holding back agricultural productivity.
Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, who is a high-profile critic of the European Union’s common agricultural policy, said that since 1990 the rate of global [...]

APEC Wary of Withdrawing Stimulus Too Early, Too Late

November 15, 2009 in Asia-Pacific, Economics by Roy

Nov. 14 (Bloomberg) — Asia-Pacific leaders said the withdrawal of economic stimulus packages is all about timing: too early and the recovery stalls, too late and resultant stock and property bubbles may trigger a fresh financial crisis.
“It is premature to talk about recovery of the global economy,” Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev said in a speech [...]

Global recovery faces ’serious hurdles’ next year – World Bank

November 15, 2009 in Economics by Roy

The global economy faces serious hurdles next year including “large-scale” unemployment in rich nations, asset bubbles, and backsliding towards protectionism, the World Bank chief said on Friday.
In a sobering assessment of the fragile status of the economic recovery, Robert Zoellick outlined a list of potential pitfalls to a business forum on the sidelines of an [...]

An index-tracker for European high yield stocks

November 11, 2009 in ETFs, Funds by Roy

The investment objective of iShares DJ Euro STOXX Select Dividend is to provide investors with a total return, taking into account both capital and income returns, which reflects the return on the high dividend paying equity securities of the EMU.
iShares DJ Euro STOXX Select Dividend aims to track the Dow Jones EURO STOXX® Select Dividend [...]

Active versus Passive in European Property

November 9, 2009 in ETFs, Funds, Property, Theory by Roy

A fund mentioned on Offshore Capitalist recently is the Insinger de Beaufort Real Estate Equity Fund which invests in the shares of European REITs and real estate companies.
The objective of the fund is to generate superior risk-adjusted returns, by reducing the volatility and protecting the downside using shorts and derivatives. In other words, it’s not [...]

A Closer Look At Global Property Markets

November 8, 2009 in ETFs, Property by Roy

Indices make a useful way to track market sectors. Property is one example. The FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global Real Estate Index Series is a set of indices that let investors keep track of different regions of the global property market.
(EPRA = European Puplic Real Estate Associateion. NAREIT = National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts.)
Conveniently, many [...]

Landbanking: the plots thicken

November 7, 2009 in Property by Roy

From Guardian Money:
Double, treble or multiply your money even further – and all within a few years. It sounds an ideal alternative to low-interest savings and high-risk shares, especially, as the promoters point out, “They’re not making land any more”.
Gains like these are held out by “landbankers”, unregulated firms that buy land without planning permission [...]

Australia’s resources boom set to grow: central bank

November 7, 2009 in Commodities, Economics by Roy

Australia’s resources boom is set to grow as Asian economies lead the global economic recovery, the country’s central bank said Friday as it lifted growth forecasts.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) said resources-driven exports had held up during the financial crisis and had been buoyed by strong expansion in the mining sector. The bank lifted [...]

APEC to maintain stimulus till recovery in place: draft

November 7, 2009 in Asia-Pacific, Economics by Roy

APEC leaders will maintain hefty stimulus packages until they secure a “durable” recovery from the global economic slowdown, according to a draft communique obtained by AFP Friday. “We will maintain our economic stimulus policies until a durable economic recovery is secured,” the draft said, stressing that “economic recovery is not yet on a solid footing”. [...]

Institutions punish Man – although not as much as some expected

November 6, 2009 in Specialist by Roy

Institutional investors have pulled nearly a third of their money from Man Group’s funds this year, after the reputation of the listed hedge fund manager suffered from investing in two funds linked to Bernard Madoff.
However, the size of the redemptions are not yet as large as predicted by a Morgan Stanley analyst, who said that [...]

UBS wealth unit takes £33m hit on rogue trades

November 6, 2009 in Legal and Regulatory by Roy

UBS has been forced to stump up £33m (€37m) after staff in its London-based wealth management division used client accounts to make unauthorised trades in precious metals and foreign exchange. The UK market regulator slammed UBS for its “inadequate systems and controls” in a wide-ranging critique of the business.
The Financial Services Authority fined UBS £8m, [...]

China Should End Monetary Stimulus, Aberdeen Says

November 5, 2009 in China by Roy

Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) — China should withdraw its monetary stimulus to correct “imbalances” in the economy and avoid bad loans from surging among the nation’s banks, said Aberdeen Asset Management Co., which manages $40 billion in Asian equities.
“The government is stimulating the economy through the banks,” Nicholas Yeo, head of Hong Kong and China equities, [...]

Jim Rogers ‘rogered’ by Roubini

November 5, 2009 in Economics, Gold by Roy

LONDON (Commodity Online): A gold forecast by global commodities guru Jim Rogers has turned controversial. Nouriel Roubini, the global economist who predicted the economic crisis, says the gold forecast by Jim Rogers that the yellow metal will double to $2,000 or more an ounce is “utter nonsense.”
“Maybe, gold will touch $1,100 or so but $1,500 [...]

China Bank Regulator Said to Plan Study of Developers

November 4, 2009 in Property by Roy

Nov. 3 (Bloomberg) — China’s banking regulator plans to review debt levels at some real-estate developers on concern the companies’ borrowings are fueling excessive gains in property prices, a person familiar with the matter said.
The China Banking Regulatory Commission wants to reduce leverage at developers that bought land at inflated prices and at large state-owned [...]

India buys half of IMF’s gold for sale

November 4, 2009 in Gold by Roy

MUMBAI/WASHINGTON, Nov 3 (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund has sold 200 tonnes of gold to the Reserve Bank of India for $6.7 billion, quietly executing half of a long-planned bullion sale that has threatened to slow gold’s ascent.
The deal, which surprised traders who expected China to be the most likely buyer, will relieve the [...]

IMF warns over surge in Hong Kong property prices

November 4, 2009 in Property by Roy

The International Monetary Fund said Tuesday that Hong Kong faced a potential surge in property prices and endorsed a government plan to cool any overheating in the market.
The Washington-based organisation’s warning came as prices in the southern Chinese city soared with luxury developments up more than 40 percent since January this year. Concerns about the [...]

Emerging-Market Rally to Extend to 2010

November 4, 2009 in Emerging Markets by Roy

Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) — Emerging-market equities, heading for their best year in a decade, will lead a first-half advance in global stocks in 2010 as export and domestic demand pick up, according to Prudential International Investments Advisers LLC.
John Praveen, chief investment strategist at Prudential, said he is “underweight” U.S. stocks for the first six months [...]

An emerging markets fund for Russia, India and China

November 3, 2009 in China, Funds, India, Russia by Roy

From the factsheet:
FMG Rising 3 offers investors a unique access to Russia, India and China markets using the multimanager
concept. By investing with a mix of long-only and hedge fund managers, the Fund aims
to participate in the growth story for the next two decades whilst reducing the emerging market
risk.
Rising3 was the first country specific Russia, [...]

A monthly rebalanced commodities trading fund

November 3, 2009 in Commodities, Funds, Specialist by Roy

The CFP Funds SAV Fund (Strategy & Volatility) is a blend of two different multi-manager commodity trading funds, one with relatively high volatility (IQS fund) and one with lower volatility (CFL). By rebalancing the 25%/75% blend each month, the objective of the SAV Fund is to obtain optimised growth in respect of lower volatility compared [...]

A European multi-manager real estate fund

November 3, 2009 in Funds, Property by Roy

The Insinger de Beaufort Real Estate Equity Fund invests in the shares of European REITs and real estate companies.
The objective of the fund is to generate superior risk-adjusted returns, by reducing the volatility and protecting the downside using shorts and derivatives. Security selection is based on the expected total returns of different real estate securities [...]

Near term correction possible, but emerging market investors need a longer term view

November 2, 2009 in Emerging Markets by Roy

Bull markets favour riskier sectors, and emerging markets are no exception. According to data from AXA investment managers, during the past three bull markets since 1990 (the MSCI Global Emerging Markets inception date is 31 December 1987) emerging markets have returned on average 39 per cent, six months after the market trough, compared with 30 [...]

Latest Fund Asset Statistics from EFAMA

November 2, 2009 in Funds by Roy

Main Highlights in the Statistical Release from the European Fund and Asset Management Association
1. Investment fund assets worldwide increased 5.4 percent in the second quarter of 2009, to reach EUR 14.4 trillion at end June 2009. On a U.S. dollar-denominated basis, investment funds assets worldwide increased 12.0 percent in the [...]

Land-banking directors banned for 12 years

November 1, 2009 in Property by Roy

Hambrook & Greenstock, a Swiss-based company, sold plots of greenfield land in Sible Hedingham, Essex, Marlow, Bucks, and Chalford, Glos, with the understanding that planning permission had been obtained. The company bought the land for £600,000 before splitting it into 750 plots and selling it on for £5m.
After it was revealed that the land had [...]

IMA announces record year for investment sales

November 1, 2009 in Funds, Sector & Specialist Reports by Roy

28 October 2009: Investment fund statistics – September 2009
The Investment Management Association (IMA) today releases its figures for the fund management industry for September 2009.
Key findings:

Record net retail sales – the total for the first nine months of 2009 is more than the total achieved in the whole of 2000, the highest annual sales [...]

Advice failings revealed in Lehman structured products probe

November 1, 2009 in Specialist by Roy

Background: when Lehman Brothers failed, private investors around the world reeled in shock to discover that structured products backed by the bank were effectively worthless.
During the financial crisis, structured products have proved hugely popular with risk-averse investors or those wanting a higher income. They are typically linked to [...]

Dollar Could Surprise In 2010

November 1, 2009 in Currencies by Roy

The dollar/euro rate has surged from a low of around 1.25 in early 2009 to over 1.50 today, almost regaining its 2008 peak and renewing speculation that the dollar is facing sustained devaluation. While this cannot be ruled out, and the dollar faces formidable short-term pressure, there are good reasons to expect a rally over [...]

Asia Recovering Fast, but Faces a “New World,” IMF Says

November 1, 2009 in Asia-Pacific by Roy

Asia is rebounding rapidly from the depth of the global crisis, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said today in its latest report on the region. According to the Regional Economic Outlook (REO) for Asia and the Pacific, released today in Seoul, Asia’s growth is forecast to accelerate to 5¾ percent in 2010 from 2¾ percent [...]

Rio to double spending in 2010

November 1, 2009 in Mining by Roy

LONDON (Commodity Online): Signs of economic recovery were visible in mining companies’ plans for the coming year with mining giant Rio Tinto doubling its planned capital spending for next year to at least $5-billion.
Capital spending in 2010 was due to be cut to $2.5-billion, just enough to sustain current mines, but current plans were for [...]

Bernie Madoff ‘astonished’ Feds missed his fraud

November 1, 2009 in Legal and Regulatory by Roy

It wasn’t enough for felonious Ponzi patriarch Bernard Madoff to bilk his clients of over $60 billion in assets. Now, the jailbird stock swindler is trash-talking about the very federal authorities who should have caught him and stopped the largest financial scam in history.
In a jailhouse interview released late Friday by H. David Kotz, the [...]

DJCHINA: The Dow Jones China Broad Index & Chart

October 28, 2009 in Charts, China by Roy

On May 28, 1996, in commemoration of the hundredth anniversary of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Dow Jones & Company introduced its Dow Jones China Index series. As the first series of indexes developed by a global index provider for Mainland China’s stock markets, the Dow Jones China Indexes are designed to give investors worldwide [...]

China won’t sell dollars to buy gold

October 27, 2009 in Currencies, Economics, Gold by Roy

DUBAI Commodity Online: China is on a gold buying spree these days to ensure that the country overtakes the United States in gold reserves.
China, which is “underweight” on gold holdings, will increase buying as the economy expands, said Jeffrey Rhodes, chief executive officer of INTL Commodities DMCC. China’s 1,054 tons of gold represents less than [...]

Asian leaders pitch rival blocs to boost global clout

October 26, 2009 in Economics, Emerging Markets by Roy

Asian leaders heard competing plans from Australia and Japan for a massive EU-style community covering half the world’s population as they wrapped up their annual summit on Sunday.
The proposals at the meeting in Thailand come as the fractious region seeks to reduce its dependence on the United States and boost its global clout after recovering [...]

A global balanced portfolio fund

October 25, 2009 in Funds by Roy

AllianceBernstein Global Balanced Portfolio USD
The Portfolio seeks to achieve the highest total return consistent with the Investment Manager’s determination of reasonable risk. The strategy is designed for investors who seek a moderate tilt toward equity returns but also want risk diversification offered by debt securities and broad diversification of equity across styles, capitalization and geographic [...]

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