Financial Times Mandate articles from February 2007

Financial Times Mandate archives from February 2007

From the Editor: Heading towards land of the giants.(Editorial)
February 1, 2007... Bigger is better is the mantra of many in the securities services business. They believe that critical mass creates a virtuous circle of economies of scale driving increased profit which in turn permits the on-going technology investment...

Strategy Selection: The Consulting Room - Freeing up time for essentials.
February 1, 2007... Byline: Henk Radder A typical dictionary definition of a fiduciary is "an agent obliged to act solely in the interest of his principle". Pension fund trustees are fiduciaries, appointed to act in the best interests of participants and...

Strategy Selection: European Equity - Upbeat outlook for Europe as M&A activity continues.
February 1, 2007... Byline: Paula Garrido Fund managers are positive about the outlook for European equities for 2007. Strong M&A activity and ongoing industry consolidation in countries such as Germany, France and Spain are set to continue. However, returns...

Strategy Selection: Socially Responsible Investment - Coming together to act on an inconvenient truth.
February 1, 2007... Byline: William H. Page Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors are becoming increasingly important for institutional investors. Once considered the domain of socially responsible investment (SRI), they are moving to the...

Strategy Selection: Liability-driven Investment - WH Smith: LDI can deliver results.(WH Smith Group PLC)(liability driven investment )
February 1, 2007... Byline: Simon Hildrey When WH Smith, the UK newsagent and stationery giant implemented a liability driven investment (LDI) strategy in September 2005, it offered hope that the final salary scheme could remain open for existing members. ...

Strategy Selection: Alternative Investments - Even better than the real thing?
February 1, 2007... Byline: Elizabeth Cripps Hedge fund returns without the hedge fund fees? The appeal is obvious, so it should come as no surprise that institutions are excited about synthetic hedge funds. Investment banks have been quick to realise the...

Strategy Selection: Alternative Investments - Bumper Gherkin sale shows booming property market.
February 1, 2007... Byline: Paula Garrido One of London's newest skyscrapers, affectionately known as 'the Gherkin', has just become the UK's most expensive office building after German-listed property firm IVG Immobilien bought it for a staggering GBP630m...

Performance Overview: WestLB plays its own game.
February 1, 2007... Byline: Paula Garrido As Eastern Europe equities continue to attract institutional money, the European Convergence Fund managed by WestLB Mellon Asset Management (WMAM), has managed to outperform its peers by its own using a custom-made...

News: Securities Services - Citigroup gets it right in transaction services.
February 1, 2007... Byline: Gerry O'Kane When Citigroup announced its fourth quarter results, most of the media comment focused on relatively poor results from the corporate and investment banking business. In spite of higher revenues of 14 per cent, net...

Support Services: Fund Adminmistration - Technology drives a happy partnership.
February 1, 2007... Byline: Henry Smith The secret to successful investment operations outsourcing is planning, planning and more planning. This well-worn statement of the obvious is clearly one that Susan Ebenston, product executive for International Fund...

News & Analysis: Products & Strategies - ITG crossing system may unleash 'dark' liquidity.
February 1, 2007... Byline: Roger Aitken With the launch by Investment Technology Group (ITG), the US technology-based equity trading services group, of Posit Now, the continuous intraday crossing system for equities into Europe, volume growth in so-called...

News & Analysis: Products & Strategies - Japan begins to embrace era of electronic trading.
February 1, 2007... Byline: Roger Aitken Japan's largest and most influential institutions are leading a "long-awaited push" into electronic equity trading with a strong move into algorithmic trading strategies, according to research by Greenwich Associates....

Asset Allocation: FTM Interview - Nick Lyster - Taking the specialist route to gain a competitive edge.
February 1, 2007... Byline: Henry Smith Core fixed income investment mandates, typically benchmarked to the Lehman Global Aggregate index, are "yesterday's game" according to Nick Lyster, CEO of Principal Global Investors Europe (PGI). Pointing out that...

Asset Allocation: The Chief - Hermes builds outside connection.(Hermes Pensions Management Ltd.)(Company overview)
February 1, 2007... Byline: Paula Garrido With more than GBP65bn (98.5bn) of assets under management, Hermes Pensions Management enjoys a privileged position within the UK institutional asset management industry. The company is not only one of the country's...

Asset Allocation: Market Analysis - Europe - Seeking excitement while being cautious.
February 1, 2007... Byline: Adrian Fowler The European economy is likely to show continued strength this year, although at more moderate levels than in 2006, supported by economic growth in China and other emerging markets. European equity markets rallied...

Asset Allocation: Market Analysis - North America - Cold snap could hit warming market.
February 1, 2007... Byline: Cormac Weldon The recent resilience of the US economy is most encouraging. Many market observers had assumed that the combination of high energy costs and inventory-build in the housing market would trigger a sharp deceleration of...

Asset Allocation: Market Analysis - South America - Bringing bonds back home.
February 1, 2007... Byline: Kevin Colglazier Today's emerging market bonds emerged as an asset class in Latin America in the lat1980s/early-1990s when the then Treasury secretary Nicholas Brady nudged a number of countries south of the US to consider...

Asset Allocation: Market Analysis - Asia Pacific - Lagging Korea must play catch up.
February 1, 2007... The Korean market was a laggard in 2006 compared with other Asian markets, especially China and India. Whilst the China A and B share indices more than doubled in 2006 and the H shares index increased by 94 per cent, the Kospi was only up by 4...

Strategy Selection: Alternative Investments - Fund of funds fight back after performance wobble claims.
February 1, 2007... Byline: Elizabeth Cripps Are funds of hedge funds set to fall out of favour, thanks to less-than- perfect performance, and the disincentive of a double layer of fees? According to the latest figures from Hedge Fund Research (HFR), the...

Strategy Selection: Alternative Investments - Getting nectar from busy bees.
February 1, 2007... Byline: Elizabeth Cripps For investment banks, providing prime brokerage to hedge funds is big business. But the expanding industry comes with expanding risks, and corresponding regulator concern. According to new research from...

Advertising Feature: Opening the door to senior bank loans.(Company overview)
February 1, 2007... The non-investment grade senior bank loan market is evolving rapidly in Europe, just as it did in the US five to ten years ago. The most important change is the accessibility for institutional investors. In September 2005, ING Investment...

Special Report: E-FX Trading - Putting your trust in a machine.
February 1, 2007... Byline: Tim Cooper The use of algorithms in FX trades has more than trebled in the last two years, according to researchers ClientKnowledge. The proportion of trades using them leapt from 2 per cent in 2004 to 7 per cent in 2006. ...

Special Report: E-FX Trading - Painting a broader picture with TCA.
February 1, 2007... Byline: Tim Cooper Too many people use a narrow definition of transaction cost analysis (TCA) in foreign exchange trading, according to research company, ClientKnowledge. This just looks at the bid-offer spread, or the price of execution,...

Sponsored Article: Support Services - Letter From Europe - The missing link to Ucits success.
February 1, 2007... Byline: Etienne Carmon Ucits regulations were originally designed to harmonise fund structures in Europe and facilitate moving funds around the EU. However, a reputation for being backed by solid regulation, innovative features and...

Support Services: Hedge Fund Administration - Partnerships sought in more dynamic hedge fund market.
February 1, 2007... Byline: Ceri Jones Competition among fund administrators is fierce - for the right mandate. Some 70 hedge fund administrators, plus smaller players in local markets, now crowd a market that once was a lonely business. The traditional...