Brian Bollen's Blog

Blessed are the cheesemakers

Mint – Blain’s Morning Porridge  - April 16 2014

I think it was “Blessed are the cheesemakers”

Sorry for late porridge, but I’ve had a very stressful morning involving a juicer catching fire in our flat, expounding my non-existent wit-and-wisdom on Bloomberg, being stuck in maddening London traffic, and 10,000 Barclays executives all trying to catch the same lift as me when I finally made it to Canary Wharf. Thank the Lord for the comedy relief of markets.

Standard Chartered appoints ASEAN CEO

Standard Chartered Bank announces the appointment of Lim Cheng Teck as the chief executive officer for its ASEAN markets. He reports to Jaspal Bindra, group executive director and CEO Asia, Standard Chartered PLC. The appointment is effective from May 1.

Lightning Strikes Capital Institutional Services

SS&C Technologies, a global provider of financial services software and software-enabled services, reports that Capital Institutional Services (CAPIS) has gone live with SS&C’s Lightning TradeDesk for its institutional trading business.

Asia And The Issue Of China

Speed read: Asian equity markets have lagged their developed market peers over the last twelve months as China – its biggest and most significant economy – has disappointed. Stuart Parks, head of Asian equities at Invesco Perpetual, looks at whether China is poised for transformational reform and observes some encouraging signs within the region.

BNY Mellon appoints Filippo Santilli

Speed read: BNY Mellon appoints Filippo Santilli as head of Asia-Pacific sales and relationship
management – global collateral services. Company explains why it continues to invest in and expand its Asian collateral services solutions.

100 lions led by a sheep

Mint – Blain’s Morning Porridge  - April 15 2014

I am more afraid of an army of 100 sheep led by a lion than an army of 100 lions led by a sheep

Is the correction over? Wall Street on Monday and the Nikkei this morning both showed early bounces. The late decline yesterday in the US seemed to confirm much of the “recovery” was technical – squeezing unconvinced shorts. But then it rallied – how and why is the question. From here in the UK, where blue skies and the imminent Easter break make for thin markets, it’s mighty strange. Especially as the background noise coming out of Ukraine makes safe havens look like the most important game in town.

Frontier Market Allure Builds: Schroders

Despite the uncertain global macroeconomic backdrop, Schroders believes that the structural and the tactical case for an investment in frontier markets remains compelling driven by their many competitive advantages. 

L Capital Appoints Augentius Singapore

Augentius Singapore has been appointed to administer the L Capital Asia Fund 2 which has commitments of $1bn.

Northern Trust Boosts Dutch Service

Speed read: Northern Trust enhances FTK investment statement reporting for Dutch pension schemes. Solution designed to support regulatory requirements for asset level transparency and risk modelling.

PGGM Vermogensbeheer Appoints BNY Mellon

BNY Mellon has been appointed by PGGM Vermogensbeheer B.V., the investment management arm of Dutch pension fund administrator PGGM, to provide depositary services under the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) for assets valued at €14bn.

Arle Capital Extends Northern Trust Relationship

Speed read: Northern Trust Wins €2bn Private Equity Administration Mandate From Arle Capital Partners. Appointment Extends Long-Standing Relationship

Fate now stands upon the razor’s edge…

Mint – Blain’s Morning Porridge  - April 12 2014

Fate now stands upon the razor’s edge…

Lots of interesting stuff going on this morning. Stock markets are in fear versus the irrational exuberance of the fixed income markets. Get over it. We’ve got mixed messages and a correction. The trick is knowing when to sell bonds and buy stocks as a secular rotation evolves.

AIMA Announces Three Appointments

The Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA), the global hedge fund industry association, has appointed three new directors to its global council, its governing body.

The three are Simon Lorne, vice-chairman and chief legal officer of Millennium Management L.L.C.; Tim O’Brien, partner, general counsel and CCO of Pine River Capital Management L.P.; and Stuart Fiertz, president and co-founder of Cheyne Capital Management (UK) L.L.P.

Millennium Management is a global multi-strategy investment firm with AUM of approximately $22bn. Pine River is a global multi-strategy relative value investment firm with AUM of approximately $14bn. Cheyne Capital is one of Europe’s leading alternative asset managers with AUM of approximately $7bn. All three organisations have offices in the US, Europe and Asia.

AIMA’s council is comprised of members from its three regions - Asia Pacific, EMEA and the Americas - and includes key figures at hedge fund manager firms, senior practitioners in the hedge fund service sector and an investor representative.

Chairman Kathy Casey, a former SEC Commissioner, is currently a senior advisor with Patomak Global Partners and a non-executive board director of HSBC Holdings.

 

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Prosperitive Global Management: Caveat Emptor?

I've just had a phone call from someone at a company claiming to be called Prosperitive Global Management (I'm not trying to sell you nothing). He's trying to interest me in investment in coloured diamonds, and claiming to be based in Canary Wharf and FCA-regulated.

When I said I'd phone the chairman of the FCA and ask if that's true, and that if the FCA chairman got back to me and said he's good, I'd get back to him, the phone went dead.

I wonder why? Caveat, caveat, caveat emptor.

Integration Can Cut Costs: Eurex Clearing

Speed read: Quantitative analysis of clearing economics under the new capital rules. Results show significant cost benefits of an integrated cross-product CCP like Eurex Clearing.

Eurex Clearing, Europe’s leading clearing house, today published “The Future of Central Clearing – Maximizing capital and cost efficiency through an integrated cross-product CCP clearing service”. The study was supported by and commissioned to Oliver Wyman, a global management consulting firm.

With Age Comes Wisdom…Before Senility

In his latest piece, Francois Sicart, founder and chairman of Tocqueville Asset Management, reminds investors of the dangers of extrapolation, terming it "one of the worst biases of investing." Complicating matters is Sicart's contention that "possibly the second worst investment bias is our need to believe a good story."

Ukraine's Remarkable Potential: Franklin Templeton

By Michael Hasenstab, PhD, 
executive vice president, chief investment officer, global bonds,
Franklin Templeton Fixed Income Group

Our shareholders have entrusted us with searching the globe for potential opportunities in which to invest for the long term. With that in mind, we were attracted to Ukraine for a number of reasons.

We believe the long-term potential of Ukraine is remarkable. There’s an incredible wealth of human capital and agricultural endowment, and Ukraine holds a strategically important position geographically and geopolitically, straddling Europe and the East.

I Fear The Greeks..

Mint – Blain’s Morning Porridge  - April 10 2014

I fear the Greeks.. even when they bring gifts…

What is there to say about the new five-year Greek bonds that will price shortly? €3bln rather than the original €2bn. Massively oversubscribed and the price talk has tightened to a 5% expectation and lower. (Grey market 4.85/4.75)  “I don’t believe it…” I’m sure you’ll expect me to say something about how markets have no memory – after all it wasn’t that long ago Greek holders were being scalped. Or I could be reminding everyone that on my PPR test (Politics, Polices and Reform), Greece has not scored highly in recent years. (It doesn’t take long to uncover a whole host of stories that belie the propaganda that Greece is sorted.)

Senior Appointments at BNP Paribas Securities Services

BNP Paribas Securities Services reports two senior appointments. José Placido will join the executive committee of BNP Paribas  Securities Services on April 22 2014 and become global head of sales  and relationship management with effect from January 1 2015.

2014 Outlook: Skating On Thinner Ice

By Alan Higgins, Chief Investment Officer, UK at Coutts

Many equity markets have fallen short of our broadly positive 2014 Outlook, while rising risks have given high quality bonds an unexpected boost. But the global recovery continues and we still like equities best.

Still positive on equities despite Ukraine crisis