Financial Times Mandate articles from November 2007

Financial Times Mandate archives from November 2007

From the editor: China's fund managers welcome QDII.(Editorial)
November 1, 2007... Right now, China's Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor (QDII) scheme seems like a licence to print money. The four QDII funds launched by asset managers since September have attracted a headline-grabbing total of $40.65bn in subscriptions...

News & analysis: Strategies, products & mandates - Avon's funds of hedge funds recover lost ground.
November 1, 2007... Many of the 90-plus local authority pension funds which have yet to allocate to hedge funds are waiting for Avon's fund of funds investment to fail, according to Tony Worth, investments officer at the GBP2.2bn (3.2bn) Avon Pension Fund. ...

News & analysis: Strategies, products & mandates - Barings'130/30 fixed income.
November 1, 2007... Baring Asset Management is pushing the 130/30 portfolio management concept into the fixed income space with a pioneering mandate from CalPERS and the first white paper on the subject, 130/30 Fixed Income Investing: Relaxing the long-only...

News & analysis: Strategies, products & mandates - Ask aims to attract European capital.
November 1, 2007... Mumbai-based fund management group, Ask Investment Managers, is to set up operations in the UK in a bid to capitalise on institutional opportunities in the Europe. The investment house, which specialise in the active management of Indian...

The bender: Agenda news & comment - Commerzbank refocus revives fund house.
November 1, 2007... Byline: Yuri Bender Commerzbank's asset management operation has seen several re-inventions. As recently as 2000, after a period of global expansion in the late 1990s, it was a house with serious pretentions in Europe, the US and Asia,...

News & comment: Market analysis - Europe - Emerging countries in the EU.
November 1, 2007... The countries in the emerging world with fiscal and current account imbalances are a combination of a few making little progress, those coming from much worse imbalances (such as Turkey) and some of those which are becoming developed through...

News & comment: Market analysis - North America - Room for cautious optimism.
November 1, 2007... US equity markets have enjoyed a substantial rebound in recent weeks, pushing indices to all-time highs. But the evidence of an economic slowdown has yet to recede: growth projections have been revised downwards, the US housing market continues...

News & comment: Market analysis - South America - The Bolsa hits a record high.
November 1, 2007... Following a steep downturn sparked by this summer's global credit crunch, Latin American stocks have staged a strong comeback. Brazil's Bovespa index is up roughly 40 per cent in local currency so far this year, after a nearly four-fold gain...

News & comment: Market analysis - Asia Pacific - Korea enjoys remarkable growth.
November 1, 2007... Emerging markets have continued to see strong inflows from overseas investors in 2007 in spite of this summer's credit crunch. However, one market that appears to have been overlooked by these foreign investors is Korea. For the first nine...

Cover story: Asset management in Asia - Asian institutions open door to foreign assets.
November 1, 2007... Byline: Henry Smith China is the hot investment story in Asia right now. The remarkable response to a new international investment product launched in September by Southern Fund Management in conjunction with BNY Mellon under a scheme...

Strategies, allocation & performance: Alternative investments - A different approach to asset allocation.(Interview)
November 1, 2007... Byline: Martin Steward When the investment staff of the M. J. Murdock Charitable Trust sat down with trustees 28 years ago to do the maths on their assets and liabilities, they soon recognised that they could not continue investing 60 per...

Strategies, allocation & performance: Private equity - China continues to court private equity business.
November 1, 2007... Byline: Martin Steward Carol Wingard has been busy. "We've seen a real explosion of interest from our private equity clients in China over the last two years," says the Shanghai-based managing partner of LEK Consulting's China practice....

Strategies, allocation & performance: Pension funds - Diversification reported to improve returns.
November 1, 2007... Byline: Martin Steward "Alternative funds are becoming less and less alternative," says one pension fund. "Pension funds are driving convergence," confirms another commentator, "and if firms don't have alternatives, they'll go out of...

Strategies, allocation & performance: Covered bonds - Cedulas market on the comeback trail.
November 1, 2007... Byline: Nat Mankelow Covered bonds - the generic term for investment grade notes issued by banks and credit institutions and collateralised by the mortgage and public sector loan market - offers returns on par if not better than government...

Strategies, allocation & performance: Russia - Russia rivals Europe for IPO activity.
November 1, 2007... Byline: Nat Mankelow The equity capital markets (ECM) of emerging Europe are proving to be a welcome distraction for investors and issuers in light of uneven liquidity in the west. Russian companies in particular and their thirst for...

Funds of funds: Strategies, allocation & performance - Spreading the risk with funds of funds.
November 1, 2007... Byline: Gerry O'Kane Whatever the markets have experienced over the past quarter, there is no doubt that fund of fund products in alternative assets have seen a huge boost in business and acceptance from institutional investors. Figures...

Commodities: Sponsored report - Is a bird in the hand worth two in the bush?
November 1, 2007... Byline: Christophe Cordonnier Today, after a four-year bull run, there is still an incremental inflow of fresh money to commodities markets resulting from funds being reallocated post-subprime crisis, the appetite for diversification and...

Strategies, allocation & performance: Volatility trading - Volatility trading gains in popularity.
November 1, 2007... Byline: Ceri Jones Volatility trading is attempting to capitalise on movement activity in stock indices, as opposed to taking a directional view. The focus of much volatility trading is the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) Volatility...

Quantitative funds: Strategies, allocation & performance - What happened to the quants this summer?
November 1, 2007... Byline: Peter Guest In a single week this summer - August 6 to 10 - some of the world's largest and most prestigious quantitative fund managers began to haemorrhage money, with some falling more than 30 per cent in just four days....

Special report: Direct market access - Demand for dma rises.
November 1, 2007... Byline: Elizabeth Cripps The institutional investment industry in Europe and Asia can expect increased interest in direct market access (DMA) in the wake of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFid). "We are seeing a lot...

Fund overview: Strategies, allocation & performance - Fund performance overview - Global bonds reap rewards.
November 1, 2007... Byline: Martin Steward You would think that choosing a diversified global bonds fund would be the least sexy part of your asset allocation. Think again. Within our top 20, three-year performance ranges between a 23.1 per cent gain and...

Transition management: Operations, trading & technology - Transition managers agree best practice.
November 1, 2007... Byline: Peter Guest It has been three years in the making, but the UK's largest transition managers have finally put pen to paper on the T-Charter, a voluntary agreement that sets down a code of best practice for the industry. But among...

Sponsored article: Operations, trading & technology - Letter from Europe - Flexible new property fund.
November 1, 2007... The reasons for June's launch of a new real estate investment structure in France were twofold. Firstly, there was the need for a vehicle that took full advantage of the risk diversification properties of real estate investment, which is...

Features & interviews: FTM interview - Arne Lindman - Merging ambition for Asia.
November 1, 2007... The news that a consortium comprising Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Fortis and Banco Santander had won the battle with Barclays to take over ABN Amro marks just the end of the beginning of this long-running saga. How the victorious parties...