Financial Times Mandate articles from December 2007

Financial Times Mandate archives from December 2007

From the Editor: Is sustainable investing sustainable?(Editorial)
December 1, 2007... Byline: Henry Smith, Editor While alternative investment managers will be encouraged by the latest round of industry surveys which show that institutional investors plan to increase their allocations to hedge funds, private equity and real...

News & Comment: European institutions polarising over desirability of alternatives.
December 1, 2007... Byline: Martin Steward The 282 institutions spread across 12 European countries which responded to the JPMorgan Alternative Asset Survey 2007 are set to plough almost 104bn into alternative asset classes over the next two to four years....

News & Comment: Commodities offer futures curve diversification.
December 1, 2007... Byline: Martin Steward BNP Paribas and ETF Securities have both launched commodities investment products offering diversity along the futures curve dimension in recent weeks. Access to different maturities on the curve enables...

News & Comment: The Consulting Room - Alpha-beta rule of thumb.
December 1, 2007... Byline: Aoifinn Devitt For investors today, commodities are a hot topic, if not necessarily always 'hot' in performance terms. Academic studies have made the historical case for commodities investment (diversifier, inflation hedge and...

News & Comment: Market Analysis - Europe - Volatility in wake of credit crisis.
December 1, 2007... The second half of 2007 has been volatile for international equity markets - primarily a result of the turmoil in global credit markets. This retreat from risk has seen liquidity drain from credit markets and resulted in the worst global credit...

News & Comment: Market Analysis - North America - Uncertain times for US market.
December 1, 2007... Two issues need addressing in the current US market: the first is whether we are heading towards a recessionary environment. We have seen one of the worst housing markets since the Great Depression and it is likely this downturn will persist...

News & Comment: Market Analysis - South America - Region remains in great shape.
December 1, 2007... It has always been assumed that the economic fortunes of Latin America are intertwined with the US. According to data from the World Trade Organisation, North America is the major trading partner of South and Central America, absorbing 33 per...

News & Comment: Market Analysis - Asia Pacific - Forecast looking positive for now.(Industry overview)
December 1, 2007... Asia ex-Japan has returned 37 per cent this year (in US dollars), and 255 per cent since the start of the bull market in March 2003. With clouds gathering on the global economic horizon - attributable in part to weakness in the US housing...

Features & Interviews: FTM Interview - Pierre Servant - Global growth strategy.
December 1, 2007... Byline: Henry Smith Despite the touted benefits, the merging of two companies is invariably an unsettling process, fraught with challenges and uncertainties. Staff morale can be affected, service standards can suffer and clients can become...

Features & Interviews: Scheme Spotlight - Jockey Club leads the alternative investing race.
December 1, 2007... Byline: Ruth Emery The Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC), one of the largest racing organisations in the world, is viewed as one of the pioneers in institutional investing in the Asia-Pacific region, and it now boasts another enviable crown...

Features & Interviews: The Chief - Rupf Bee sets global target for HSBC in the new year.
December 1, 2007... Byline: Nat Mankelow Selling investment products and services to institutions on a global stage and utilising one of the biggest finance names there is in the process, Barbara Rupf Bee can't wait for 2008. A new year and bolder and tougher...

Cover Story: Sustainable Investing - Fund houses warm to climate exposure.(Company overview)
December 1, 2007... Byline: Peter Guest It has been described as science fiction - but often by the very same critics who laughed at the notion of oil costing $4 at the pump. Now, the idea that human activity is responsible for a change in the earth's climate...

ABS Strategies, Allocation & Performance: Securitisation market paralysed by fear factor.
December 1, 2007... Byline: Nat Mankelow Securitisation is struggling from a crisis of confidence and faith, rather than any concrete issues relating to 'fundamentals', according to market makers assessing the end-of-year chances of recovery in the dormant...

Strategies, Allocation & Performance: Fixed Income - Credit market crunch winners and losers.
December 1, 2007... Byline: Nat Mankelow The recent drying up of liquidity in the credit markets, though a major concern for banks, offers the long-term institutional investor plenty of opportunities for spike in the next 12 months, a series of discussions at...

Strategies, Allocation & Performance: Longevity Risk - Fresh thinking on handling longevity risk.
December 1, 2007... Byline: Martin Steward There are three ways a pension scheme can tackle its liabilities: it can buy a bulk annuity; it can manage an investment portfolio and hope that returns will match those liabilities; or it can try liability-driven...

Strategies, Allocation & Performance: Austria - Austria pension reforms show signs of an increased take-up.
December 1, 2007... Byline: Nat Mankelow On the surface, the story behind Austria's pension fund system is a relatively straightforward one to tell. It is a niche group encompassing 19 multi- and single-employer pension funds, with total assets under...

Special Report: Exchange-Traded Funds - ETFs - all systems go.
December 1, 2007... Byline: Gerry O'Kane In the early days of exchange-traded funds in Europe, the braver providers in the market privately speculated that these new products would pose a challenge to passive and index funds. The argument went that ETFs were...

Special Report: Exchange-Traded Funds - Europe takes gamble on etf structure.
December 1, 2007... Byline: Gerry O'Kane Seven years ago, any institution wishing to access an ETF structure was limited to buying in the US. By the third quarter of this year, according to Morgan Stanley's quarterly exchange-traded funds global industry...

Advertising Feature: Europe cashes in on etf popularity.
December 1, 2007... Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) might have started as a mere speck on investors' horizons when the first 3 products appeared in the US in 1993 valued at $0.81bn, but their growth worldwide over 14 years sees assets under management standing in...

Strategies, Allocation & Performance: Portfolio Trading - Changing the portfolio trading paradigm.
December 1, 2007... Byline: Peter Guest With all attention garnered by the MiFID (Markets in Financial Instruments Directive) deadline, launching on November 1 may have been a mistake. But BidRoute, which aims to do to the portfolio trading space what MiFID...

Strategies, Allocation & Performance: Fund Overview - Familiar themes, diverse strategies.
December 1, 2007... Byline: Martin Steward Our top large-cap global equity fund over three years is the Allchurches International Growth Fund, run by Sue Round and Rob Hepworth at Allchurches Investment Management, part of the Ecclesiastical insurance group...

Operations, Trading & Technology: Electronic Execution - All eyes on gaps in fragmented market.
December 1, 2007... Byline: Peter Guest The November 1 MiFID deadline seemed to have passed with barely a whimper for the financial markets, with most firms easing themselves into the new environment following a summer of greater shocks. However, it was not...

Roundtable: Transition Management - How to make the right transition decisions.(Discussion)
December 1, 2007... Henry Smith: I would like to start with a topical and fairly controversial issue, which is the T-Charter - a voluntary agreement by the UK's largest transition managers that sets out a best code of practice. The agreement, which was three...

Sponsored Report: BlackRock Merrill Lynch - BlackRock Merrill backs the T- Charter.
December 1, 2007... The transition management industry has changed dramatically over the past 15 years. We have seen the business shift focus from simple trading implementation strategies to a more complex industry, offering a diverse suite of services to asset...

Special Report: Fund Domiciles - Battle for business.
December 1, 2007... Byline: Ceri Jones Competition among fund administrators is intense, but two small countries have captured over one-third of the market. Luxembourg has a population of half a million and Ireland has a population of 4.5m, but they take 25...

Advertising Feature: Guernsey a prime equity location.
December 1, 2007... Since 2000, Guernsey has been growing its reputation as a leading private equity domicile. However, events of the past few weeks and months have really crystallised the fact that the Island is now the jurisdiction of choice for private equity....

Advertising Feature: In the isle of man, you certainly can!
December 1, 2007... The Isle of Man Government, in association with local industry, recently overhauled their funds industry, resulting in the Smith Report, published in February 2007. The report recommended major strategic change to the licensing regime and...

Sponsored Report: Fund Domiciles - Change of tactics the way to woo asia.
December 1, 2007... Byline: Simon Shapland Nothing hurts a fund manager more than having to return money to potential investors. Turning away clients is not only bad for business, but it goes against all the instincts of the professional asset gatherer. Yet...

Sponsored Report: Fund Domiciles - Back office response to front line innovation.
December 1, 2007... Byline: Bernard Hanratty The investment management landscape is changing at a rapid rate. There has been a wave of product innovation, prompted by a need to attract new clients, increase revenues and retain existing business. At a...