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April, 2012
Demand rises for assets held by illiquid hedge funds
Gamma Finance, a specialist in alternative investments, is reporting growing demand, mainly from private equity investors and real asset specialists, for stakes held by hedge funds which have become illiquid. This is creating a secondary market for the private equity sector and useful source of finance for cash-strapped hedge funds. Gamma Finance founder ...
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April, 2012
Brics countries plan multi polar agenda
At the recent BRICS annual summit in New Delhi, the BRICS signed an accord to promote intra-BRICS currency convertibility to enhance bilateral trade and investment. Stevens said: “Predictably, the announcement has been seized upon swiftly by fearmongers suggesting that the BRICS bloc is ‘plotting the demise of the USD’.” But he added that reserve ...
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April, 2012
Barclays optimistic on the big picture
Investors should add to positions in developed equities and high yield credit and cut holdings expensive government bonds, according to Barclays. It added that higher oil prices, or other short-term risk, should not derail the global economic recovery. Barclays head of investment strategy, EMEA, for wealth and investment management, Kevin Gardiner said: ...
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October, 2011
T&N BUYS OUT £1.1BILLION OF LIABILITIES WITH BULK ANNUITY
The trustee of the T&N Retirement Benefits Scheme has bought out £1.1 billion of liabilities in one of the biggest bulk annuity transactions ever seen in the UK. The T&N scheme has been in thePension Protection Fund (PPF) assessment period since 2006. Because the scheme’s assets and liabilities were valued as exceeding the threshold below which ...
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October, 2011
FIRST STATE LAUNCHES EMERGING MARKET BOND FUND
First State Investments has launched an emerging market bond fund for UK and European investors to be managed by Helene Williamson and her emerging market debt team. The fund aims to combine income and capital appreciation through investments in hard currency debt securities from governments, companies and financial institutions in emerging markets. It ...
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October, 2011
UNILEVER MAKES MONEY MARKET FUND ALLOCATION
The Unilever pension fund, Progress, based in the Netherlands has allocated €200 million to a AAA liquid euro money market fund as a long-term investment. The money market fund is run by ING Investment Management and Progress CIO Martin Sanders said the fund has picked for its transparency and approach to risk management. He commented: “Investments are ...
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October, 2011
NEW MORTGAGE-BACKED BOND SUB-FUND LAUNCHED
Bond manager M&G Investments has added a new sub-fund investing in investment grade bonds backed by UK, German or Dutch mortgages to its asset-backed securities fund, The Lion Credit Opportunity Fund. According to M&G, these bonds are highly secure assets, backed by pools of well-established prime mortgage loans. It said that should underlying ...
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