Offshore Capitalist

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 [...]

A dollar-denominated fund for global property

October 25, 2009 in Funds, Property by Roy

Henderson Horizon Global Property Equities Fund USD
The investment objective of the Global Property Equities Fund is to seek long term capital appreciation by investing in the quoted equity securities of companies or Real Estate Investment Trusts (or equivalents) listed or traded on a regulated market which derive the main part of their revenue from the [...]

A euro fund to invest in global property

October 25, 2009 in Funds, Property by Roy

Franklin Global Real Estate (EUR) Fund
The Fund’s investment objective is to maximise total investment return consisting of income and capital appreciation, by investing in real estate investment trusts (REITs) and other companies whose principal business is real estate oriented. The Fund will seek to invest in companies across a wide range of real estate sectors [...]

Global Property Prices Turning Upward

October 25, 2009 in Property by Roy

Real estate markets worldwide are stabilizing and showing signs of a tentative recovery, according to a newly released report from London-based global property consultancy Knight Frank. The quarterly Knight Frank Global House Price Index shows property values increasing in almost half of 32 countries surveyed during the second quarter of this year.
“Significantly, quarterly price falls [...]

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index™ (LEI) for the U.S. Improves Again

October 25, 2009 in Economics by Roy

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index™ (LEI) for the U.S. increased 1.0 percent in September, following a 0.4 percent gain in August, and a 1.0 percent rise in July.
Click image to view full size.
“With the sixth consecutive increase, the LEI’s six-month growth rate has improved to its highest pace since 1983,” says Ataman Ozyildirim, Economist [...]

Emerging markets show their mettle

October 25, 2009 in Emerging Markets by Roy

From The Observer
Emerging markets have been the place to invest over the past decade. While the FTSE 100 is down more than a quarter since it peaked in December 1999, and the S&P 500 in the US by 28%, markets in Brazil, India and Russia have more than trebled in value, while China has doubled, [...]

A fund to invest in a basic human need: Food

October 25, 2009 in Agriculturals, Funds by Roy

DWS Global Agribusiness
“That’s not new, but our idea to invest along all parts of the agribusiness chain is unique. We are the first to look all the way from the farm to fork. The global agribusiness industry is one of the fastest growing market segments and the potential of this global megatrend is enormous.
“As the [...]

Economic crisis exposes fragile global food system, new UN report says

October 25, 2009 in Agriculturals, Sector & Specialist Reports by Roy

The economic turmoil sweeping the globe has lead to a sharp spike in hunger affecting the world’s poorest, uncovering a fragile global food system requiring urgent reform, according to a report issued today by two United Nations agencies.
The combination of the food and economic crises have pushed more people into hunger, with the number of [...]

Food Experts Worry as World Population and Hunger Grow

October 25, 2009 in Agriculturals by Roy

ROME — Scientists and development experts across the globe are racing to increase food production by 50 percent over the next two decades to feed the world’s growing population, yet many doubt their chances despite a broad consensus that enough land, water and expertise exist.
The number of hungry people in the world rose to 1.02 [...]

Economist: Dollar decline is overblown

October 25, 2009 in Currencies, Economics by Roy

From The Economist on the worries over the recent dollar’s decline…
Dollar declinism is overblown. It exaggerates the scale of the slide and misunderstands its cause. Much of the recent weakness simply reverses the earlier safe-haven flight to dollars, a sign of investors’ optimism about riskier assets rather than their fears about America’s currency. On a [...]

Surprise: UK Still In Recession

October 25, 2009 in Economics by Roy

Statistics from the ONS show that the UK’s GDP contracted third quarter of 2009. Unlike peers such as France and Germany, the UK is still in technical recession.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) decreased by 0.4 per cent in the third quarter of 2009, compared with a decrease of 0.6 per cent in the second quarter. The [...]

Japan’s trade surplus hits 18-month high

October 25, 2009 in Japan by Roy

Japan’s trade surplus soared almost six-fold last month from a year earlier, hitting an 18-month high on the back of recovering demand in China and other Asian countries, data showed on Thursday. Exports exceeded imports for an eighth straight month, although they remain sharply lower than before the current global economic slump began. Asia’s biggest [...]

A Balanced Fund For Bonds and Global Equities

October 20, 2009 in Funds by Roy

Fidelity Funds Growth and Income USD

A more conservative approach towards seeking high current income and capital growth primarily through investment in a combination of equities and bonds. This fund will appeal to investors seeking regular income and moderate capital growth but who prefer a lower level of risk than that normally associated with equity investment [...]

An Emerging Market Bond Fund

October 20, 2009 in Bonds, Funds by Roy

Threadneedle Emerging Market Bond Fund USD

The fund aims to achieve a total return primarily by way of income with some capital growth. The fund invests primarily in the assets of high yielding public sector sovereign and corporate bonds issued by emerging market borrowers, typically these countries are outside the OECD. The fund may also invest [...]

A Fund For Mining, Metals and Energy Natural Resources

October 20, 2009 in Energy, Funds, Gold, Metals, Mining by Roy

JP Morgan Natural Resources (a UK OEIC) is a highly respected fund managed by Ian Henderson, with colleague Stuart Connell. With an overall Morningstar 4-Star rating, the fund’s objective is long term growth by investing primarily of shares in companies throughout the world engaged in the production and marketing of commodities.
As at today’s date, the [...]

Ian Henderson on China driving commodity prices

October 16, 2009 in China, Commodities by Roy

With China consuming 50% of the world’s iron ore and at least 20% of the world’s other commodities the country is set to be a leading driver of the natural resources sector, according to JP Morgan manager Ian Henderson.
Henderson, who manages the JPM Natural Resources fund, said that the region is well on track to [...]

AAA-rated Ezra Sun: You should invest at least 25% of your portfolio in Asia

October 15, 2009 in Asia-Pacific, Videos by Roy

WORLD’S 50 SAFEST BANKS 2009

October 15, 2009 in Banking by Roy

GLOBAL FINANCE WORLD’S 50 SAFEST BANKS 2009

EBRD revises down 2009 economic forecasts, sees fragile recovery in 2010

October 15, 2009 in Eastern Europe, Economics, Russia by Roy

The economies of central and eastern Europe are expected to contract by an average of 6.3 per cent in 2009 following steep output declines in the first half of the year. Signs of positive growth in the third quarter of 2009 suggest that the recession is now bottoming out in many countries of the EBRD [...]

Lower household debt will stunt economic recovery

October 15, 2009 in Economics by Roy

The failure of banks to lend will stall economic recovery in the developed world, as households take on less debt than before and so reduce demand, according to Legal & General Investment Management LGIM.
LGIM economist James Carrick pictured said that while policymakers in the developed world have been working to encourage banks to resume lending [...]

A Loser’s Game

October 15, 2009 in Theory by Roy

In a paper from Watson Wyatt, the author makes the distinction between long term strategic asset allocation (horizon 10+ years), dynamic strategic asset allocation (horizon 3+ years), and tactical asset allocation (horizon months).
“Over short term periods market movements are dominated by “noise” – random events that cannot be predicted with any degree of reliability. As [...]

A fund to mirror the Guinness family wealth management

October 15, 2009 in Funds by Roy

The Iveagh Wealth Fund is a multi-asset balanced managed fund from the team that manages the wealth of the Guinness dynasty.
“The Iveagh Wealth Fund replicates in unitised format the asset allocation service we provide for our family office clients, which include key members of the Guinness family.
“It targets a return of approx. 10% p.a. Iveagh’s sophisticated portfolio [...]

Property – Prepare for the pick-up?

October 14, 2009 in Property by Roy

By early this summer, average commercial property prices had fallen by more than 40 per cent from their peak in June 2007, according to the Investment Property Databank (IPD).
Recent data, however, suggest the worst may be over, with evidence of prices stabilising and renewed competition among buyers. This month, the IPD reported that UK commercial [...]

Monthly Oil Market Report (October 09) – OPEC

October 14, 2009 in Economics, Reports by Roy

Extracts from the Monthly Oil Market Report.
The world economy now appears to be entering into a new phase, moving from a period of containing the crisis to one of economic recovery. Over the course of this year, financial markets have stabilized and the outlook for the world economy has greatly improved. The second quarter is [...]

Strong China trade figures point to recovery

October 14, 2009 in China by Roy

BEIJING (Reuters) – China reported surprisingly strong trade figures on Wednesday, providing fresh evidence that the world’s third-largest economy is firmly on a recovery track and that global demand is improving too.
Exports in September fell 15.2 percent from a year earlier, beating forecasts of a 21 percent fall, while imports fell just 3.5 percent — [...]

Experts are agreed: gold price will go a lot higher

October 12, 2009 in Gold by Roy

The dramatic climb in the gold price so far is just the start, with plenty more money to be made as the precious metal climbs further, experts have said.
Despite soaring by around 17% in the last three months alone, to a peak of $1,061 per troy ounce last week, the price is widely expected to [...]

A fund to invest directly in Gold, Silver & Platinum

October 11, 2009 in Funds, Gold, Other Precious Metals by Roy

Castlestone Aliquot Precious Metals
“Aliquot Precious Metals gives investors direct exposure and entitled ownership of Gold Bullion, Silver and Platinum which is held by the Custodian (HSBC Bank USA) in London. Independently administered by Circle Investment Support Services, B.V. Precious Metals are a store of value. Their unique qualities allow them to perform an invaluable hedging [...]

What is UCITS?

October 11, 2009 in Legal and Regulatory by Roy

‘Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities’ (or UCITS, pronounced yoo-sits) are a set of European Union directives that aim to allow collective investment schemes to operate freely throughout the EU on the basis of a single authorisation from one member state. In practice many EU member nations have imposed additional regulatory requirements that have [...]

A fund for BRIC equity

October 11, 2009 in Brazil, China, Emerging Markets, Funds, India, Russia by Roy

Schroder ISF BRIC USD
The fund aims to provide capital growth primarily through investment in equity securities of Brazilian, Russian, Indian and Chinese companies.
Click for: Factsheet; source. Morningstar performance (ISIN: LU0228659784)
via: Schroder ISF BRIC (Brazil Russia India China) A Acc – ptassetmgr – Schroders .

A fund with a focus on gold equity

October 11, 2009 in Funds, Gold by Roy

Blackrock World Gold USD
The World Gold Fund seeks to maximise total return. The Fund invests globally at least 70% of its total assets in the equity securities of companies whose predominant economic activity is gold-mining. It may also invest in the equity securities of companies whose predominant economic activity is other precious metal or mineral [...]

A fund for trading world equity volatility

October 10, 2009 in Funds, Specialist by Roy

CAAM Funds Volatility World Equities USD
From the information sheet:
Over a minimum investment horizon of three years, CAAM Funds Volatility World Equities aims to achieve an annualised performance of 7% (before fees) within a framework of controlled risk. To reach this objective, the management team sets up an exposure to volatility of the world equity markets: [...]

An ETF for tracking the VIX index

October 10, 2009 in ETFs, Specialist by Roy

iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN (NYSE: VXX)
The S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures™ Index TR is designed to provide access to equity market volatility through CBOE Volatility Index® the “VIX Index” futures.
Specifically, the S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures™ Index TR offers exposure to a daily rolling long position in the first and second month [...]

What is the VIX?

October 10, 2009 in Equity Markets by Roy

The VIX is the square root of the par variance swap rate for a 30 day term initiated today (!!).
The VIX is quoted in terms of percentage points and translates, roughly, to the expected movement in the S&P 500 index over the next 30-day period, on an annualized basis. For example, if the VIX is [...]

United State Mint Suspends Production Of Non-Mandated Gold Coins To Meet Demand

October 10, 2009 in Gold by Roy

WASHINGTON – The United States Mint announced today that it will offer for sale 2009 one-ounce American Buffalo Proof Gold Coins and one-ounce American Eagle Platinum Proof Coins. The release dates for these products are tentatively October 29 and December 3, 2009, respectively. In addition, the agency will release the one-ounce 2009 American [...]

Gold Trackers In Europe

October 10, 2009 in ETFs, Gold by Roy

ETF, ETC, T-ETC, ETN Or Certificate?
Exchange-traded product names seem designed to confuse, particularly so when it comes to commodities.
The UCITS rules for collective investment schemes, which apply to European Union member states, require a minimum level of diversification. Therefore, within the EU, a legal entity tracking a single commodity cannot be set up as a [...]

Commodity Boom Will Thrive on Shortages, Rogers Says

October 10, 2009 in Commodities by Roy

Commodity supplies will lag behind demand during the next 10 to 20 years, further fueling a rally in raw materials, according to investor Jim Rogers.
“I don’t see any adequate-supply situation in any commodity market over the next decade or two,” Rogers, the chairman of Singapore-based Rogers Holdings, said today in an interview in New York. [...]

HSBC chief warns of second downturn

October 5, 2009 in Economics, Equity Markets by Roy

The group chief executive of HSBC, Michael Geoghegan, has warned a second downturn could be on the horizon and has reacted by limiting the bank’s expansion.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Geoghegan – a career banker who has been with HSBC for more than three decades – said he believed the recovery was more [...]

Oil Flows Around The World – FT

October 5, 2009 in Energy by Roy

Here is a useful map to get a quick global view of where oil is produced and consumed (2008 data).
Click the image to view full size. Click the link below to see the full interactive graphic.
via FT.com / Video & Audio / Interactive graphics – Oil: Key players and movements.

EIA – Short-Term Energy Outlook – Natural Gas

October 4, 2009 in Energy by Roy

U.S. Consumption – EIA (Energy Information Administration of the US Government) projects that total natural gas consumption will likely decline by 2.4 percent in 2009 and remain flat in 2010. Despite low relative prices for much of the year, industrial natural gas consumption declined by 12 percent in the first 6 months of 2009 [...]

Russia Chart – MICEX

October 4, 2009 in Charts, Russia by Roy

The MICEX Index. NB – currency is RUB.
Click image to view full size or click below for source.
via MICEX / Indices & Market Data / Technical analysis.

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