You will find a comprehensive update not only on the Swiss hedge fund industry, but a discussion on hot topics such as how Sharpe ratios can fool investors, why investors still shun managed futures, a discussion on the value of transparency and risk factors, and more: Do you know: ...which strategies and opportunities Swiss hedge fund managers and investors are pursuing in this recessionary environment?
...that going forward, RMF will be handling close to 80% of US and Europe L/S hedge fund investments via managed accounts?
...that while managed accounts are the biggest demand from end-investors, this trend could actually exacerbate the problems which may be brewing for the next crisis?
...how the Swiss hedge fund industry aims to rebuild investor confidence?
...where the Swiss regulators failed during the 2008 crisis?
...that there are already a couple of initiatives within the Swiss hedge fund investor community to get together, and which interests they are pursuing?
...how one hedge fund manager changed the way a mainstream newspaper writes about hedge funds?
and much more... 31 pages full of real intelligence!
Friday, 20 March 2009
Libya wants to buy Canadian oil firm assets
Libya's state-owned National Oil Corporation announced plans on Thursday to buy up the assets of Canadian oil company Verenex in Libya, a bid that would block similar moves by China.
"We are going to exercise our pre-emptive right to buy Verenex" assets in the north African state, NOC chairman Shukri Ghanem told AFP by telephone from Vienna where he was attending an international energy conference.
Ghanem said however that Libya had not decided yet on the price for the assets, which include interests in fields in the Ghadamese basin southwest of Tripoli.
"We are going to exercise our pre-emptive right to buy Verenex" assets in the north African state, NOC chairman Shukri Ghanem told AFP by telephone from Vienna where he was attending an international energy conference.
Ghanem said however that Libya had not decided yet on the price for the assets, which include interests in fields in the Ghadamese basin southwest of Tripoli.
Abu Dhabi Plans Dollar Benchmark Bond Offering
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
LONDON (Dow Jones)--The Emirate of Abu Dhabi is planning to issue a dollar-denominated, benchmark bond offering, following investor roadshows in the U.S. and Europe, one of the banks managing the deal said Thursday.
Citigroup Inc., Deutsche Bank AG and JP Morgan Chase & Co., have been hired as joint-arrangers for the transaction, which is expected to be launched, subject to market conditions, after roadshows which commence the week of March 23.
The bonds are being sold under the issuer's global medium-term-note program.
Abu Dhabi is rated Aa2 by Moody's Investors Service Inc., AA by Standard & Poor's Corp., and AA by Fitch ratings.
LONDON (Dow Jones)--The Emirate of Abu Dhabi is planning to issue a dollar-denominated, benchmark bond offering, following investor roadshows in the U.S. and Europe, one of the banks managing the deal said Thursday.
Citigroup Inc., Deutsche Bank AG and JP Morgan Chase & Co., have been hired as joint-arrangers for the transaction, which is expected to be launched, subject to market conditions, after roadshows which commence the week of March 23.
The bonds are being sold under the issuer's global medium-term-note program.
Abu Dhabi is rated Aa2 by Moody's Investors Service Inc., AA by Standard & Poor's Corp., and AA by Fitch ratings.
The richest city in the world
Khaldoon Khalifa al Mubarak is a man in a hurry. The 31-year-old, American-educated developer steps on the gas of his silver Audi and zooms past a hole in the ground crawling with construction workers - the future home of a $1.3 billion complex featuring three skyscrapers, two five-star hotels, and a souk. The car zips by a new $3 billion hotel that boasts 1,002 Swarovski crystal chandeliers and a gold-leaf dome larger than the one atop St. Paul's Cathedral in London.
In the distance, glittering in the aqua-blue Persian Gulf, are dozens of islands that will one day sprout skyscrapers, hotels, museums, hospitals, and factories financed in part by the government-owned investment company that Khaldoon runs, Mubadala Development. In all, plans call for almost $200 billion to be spent here over the next ten years.
"We move fast," Khaldoon says, his crisp, white headscarf whipping in the wind. "Think about it: How many places in the world can you say, 'I'm going to establish an airline,' and boom, two years later you have 21 planes and 37 destinations? How many places in the world can you say, 'I need 15,000 hotel rooms,' and boom, you have 100 new hotels in the works? How many places can you say, 'I want world-class hospitals, universities, and museums,' and boom, the Sorbonne, Cleveland Clinic, Guggenheim, and Louvre are on the way?"
U.A.E. Rules Out Liquidating Amlak Finance, Tamweel
United Arab Emirates economy minister Sultan Bin Saeed al-Mansouri ruled out liquidating the country’s biggest mortgage lenders and backed a merger of the two companies.
Amlak Finance PJSC and Tamweel PJSC won’t be liquidated, he told reporters at a press conference in Dubai today. A merger of the two mortgage providers would be a “good option,” he added.
The government rescued the two lenders in November, taking them into state control, after they suspended new home loans. The state set up a committee last month to decide whether to merge, liquidate or restructure the two companies separately.
“We see it as our responsibility as the government to make sure that no entities, whether it is Amlak, Tamweel or others can be affected by this kind of crisis,” al-Mansouri said.
Real-estate prices have fallen 25 percent in Dubai from September’s peak and 20 percent in Abu Dhabi, Morgan Stanley said in a Feb. 2 report.END
Amlak Finance PJSC and Tamweel PJSC won’t be liquidated, he told reporters at a press conference in Dubai today. A merger of the two mortgage providers would be a “good option,” he added.
The government rescued the two lenders in November, taking them into state control, after they suspended new home loans. The state set up a committee last month to decide whether to merge, liquidate or restructure the two companies separately.
“We see it as our responsibility as the government to make sure that no entities, whether it is Amlak, Tamweel or others can be affected by this kind of crisis,” al-Mansouri said.
Real-estate prices have fallen 25 percent in Dubai from September’s peak and 20 percent in Abu Dhabi, Morgan Stanley said in a Feb. 2 report.END
Saudi warning on alternatives
Saudi Arabia is asking industrialised countries not to give up on oil as their primary source of energy, warning that they would be courting disaster if they put too much hope in unproven alternatives.
The plea appeared to be a direct response to the emerging energy policy Barack Obama, the US president, which calls for the nation to become energy independent and stop imports of oil from the Middle East and Venezuela.
Ali al Naimi, the Saudi oil minister, said petroleum still held the key to progress and prosperity for the world’s growing population over the next few decades and that calls to switch to alternatives were premature and could be catastrophic.
The plea appeared to be a direct response to the emerging energy policy Barack Obama, the US president, which calls for the nation to become energy independent and stop imports of oil from the Middle East and Venezuela.
Ali al Naimi, the Saudi oil minister, said petroleum still held the key to progress and prosperity for the world’s growing population over the next few decades and that calls to switch to alternatives were premature and could be catastrophic.
Dh7bn ‘on the sidelines’ for distressed GCC assets
About Dh7.3 billion (US$1.98bn) worth of equity is “on the sidelines” waiting to be invested in distressed property assets across the GCC, with Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Saudi Arabia being the most attractive markets, according to the property consultant Jones Lang LaSalle.
The funds, which were raised in the first three quarters of last year, have been held back since the Lehman Brothers collapse in September and the subsequent regional market downturn.
According to Ian Ohan, the head of investment transactions at Jones Lang LaSalle MENA, investment opportunities are now being sought for these funds, and more capital is beginning to accumulate as investors regain their composure.
Investment funds that previously focused on the international market also are being directed regionally.
TrimTabs Estimates All Equity Mutual Funds Post Inflow of $12.5 Billion in Week Ended Wednesday, March 18
TrimTabs Investment Research estimates that all equity mutual funds posted an inflow of $12.5 billion in the week ended Wednesday, March 18, versus a revised outflow of $22.1 billion in the previous week.
Equity funds that invest primarily in U.S. stocks posted an inflow of $12.0 billion, versus a revised outflow of $14.3 billion in the previous week. Equity funds that invest primarily in non-U.S. stocks had an inflow of $459 million, versus a revised outflow of $7.7 billion in the previous week. In addition, bond funds had an outflow of $274 million, versus a revised inflow of $901 million in the previous week, and hybrid funds had an outflow of $82 million, versus a revised outflow of $2.8 billion in the previous week.
Separately, TrimTabs reports that exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that invest in U.S. stocks posted an inflow of $891 million, versus an inflow of $132 million in the previous week. ETFs that invest in non-U.S. stocks had an inflow of $126 million, versus an outflow of $450 million in the previous week.