Brian Bollen's Blog

Reduced price: studio apartment for sale in Wengen

Just reduced in price. For sale in Wengen, in the Jungfrau region of Switzerland's Bernese Oberland. This studio apartment in the middle of the ground floor of the Chalet Margaux, in a tranquil part of the original village, only a five-minute walk from the train station.

A rarely available entry level property available to foreign buyers with little fuss.

Fully furnished with beer and prosecco in the fridge, tea bags and instant coffee in the kitchen cupboards. Just bring your toothbrush and move in. Fully operational UK tv set-up with all BBC and commercial television free-to-air channels. And others.

 

Mega PE deals drive Q1 2018 activity

There were 1,023 private equity-backed buyout deals announced globally in Q1 2018, worth a combined US$116bn, according to figures published today by industry data specialist Preqin.

Preqin says it expects these figures to rise by up to 5% as more information becomes available, but this already represents the strongest Q1 on record, surpassing the $102bn registered by 964 deals in Q1 2015.

Trade war a mistake of gigantic proportions

Jan Dehn, head of research at Ashmore Group, outlines why Trump’s trade war with China is a policy mistake of gigantic proportions, resting on a misunderstanding about how open economies work. He examines the likely ramifications on Europe and emerging markets.

Protectionism – a history lesson

Economists have known for hundreds of years that protectionism is bad for growth, encourages rent-seeking and destabilixes relations between nations with negative implications for investment. Even so, protectionism continues to raise its ugly head when conditions are such that populist politicians can dress up tariffs as acts of defence in the national interest, i.e. usually during periods of economic stress or rising inequality. Ironically, impediments to free trade almost invariably benefit the few at the expense of the many.

Where IS this supposed growth?

I look around me and see lots of leading indicators of an economic downturn (when we still haven't recovered from the previous one).

Marks and Spencer food sales are down. Unemployment in the UK is edging up. The country's largest estate agent Countrywide has posted a loss of around £208m and is making people redundant.

Poundstretcher has closed its store in Towcester. Bargain Booze is struggling. Prezzo is closing around 100 restaurants. Burger chain Byron is closing shops. Italian-style eaterie Carluccio's is running into trouble. Clothes retailer New Look is shutting shops. 

And yet we hear it is a nailed-on certainty that the US Federal Reserve will push up its key interest rate to ward off inflation at a time of global synchronised growth. 

WHERE IS IT???

Roll out the C-Suite

Singapore Exchange (SGX) and FinTech firm Smartkarma have today announced a partnership to roll out the C-Suite Pilot Programme. This is a cloud-based platform that will enable SGX-listed companies to streamline their communication and data reporting to the institutional analyst and investor communities.

I have just sent this short letter to David Smith, who writes about economic matters for The Sunday Times and The Times.

Dear David Smith,

I read your columns in the Sunday Times and The Times with great interest but mounting confusion. 

 

I am not an economist but have spent my entire adult life around the international financial markets, firstly at Midland Bank International for five years after graduation in 1979, then the FT group as a writer and editor (just over eight years, from 1984-93) and over 25 years as a freelance in the sector, so I have (in theory) a better grasp of financial matters than many lay people.

 

I find myself increasingly shaking my head at what I read in commentaries. I see that bargain retailer Poundstretcher is closing its store here in the bustling market town of Towcester. People are setting up home in the underpasses and open fields of nearby Milton Keynes, often regarded as one of the true new town successes. 

 

And I do mean setting up home, not just sleeping rough; this is truly appalling and will surely cause a public health issue as people defecate in the open and are unable to clean up afterwards. 

 

Consumer spending, I gather, has fallen in eight of the past nine months. Car sales are down. The housing market has largely ground to a halt. Everywhere I look I see grandparents looking after young children because both parents have HAD to go out to work. 

 

Yet we are told that central banks are concerned about inflation, particularly wage inflation. I find this baffling, but then personally I am today earning annually in cash terms approximately what I was earning 30 years ago as a full-time staffer at the FT. There has never been a worse time to be freelance in the quarter century I’d been doing it.

 

If there really IS growth taking place, I simply do not see it, and wonder if there has ever been a greater disconnect between the rarified financial economy and the real economy.

 

Just had to get that off my chest. But if you can offer an explanation, I’ll read it avidly.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Brian Bollen

Ottawa heads for Schroders

Schroders is today announcing the appointment of Elisabeth Ottawa, who will join the firm as Deputy Head of Public Policy.

She will join in March 2018 and will report to the Head of Public Policy, Sheila Nicoll, OBE.

ECB approves major projects

The Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) has approved the consolidation of the Eurosystem’s real-time gross settlement system TARGET2 and the securities settlement platform TARGET2-Securities (T2S), and the development of a Eurosystem Collateral Management System. It says both projects will modernise existing systems and increase overall efficiency.

To 2018 and beyond!

Mint - Blain’s Morning Porridge

For the avoidance of doubt – the Morning Porridge is unrestricted market commentary freely available to all qualified investors on an unsolicited basis. It is not investment advice…

I do apologise for the irregularity of the Morning Porridge this month – lots going on, lots of folk to see, and lots of commentary requests. Full and normal service will resume in the New Year, and next week I’ll be focusing on some 2018 outlook Porridge notes – unless of course something terrible exciting happens. Which is why I’ve primed the home PC for action over the festive break! 

Fear of the unknown among institutional investors

Liquidity from electronic market makers has become an integral part of the US equity market, but the firms that deliver it remain largely unknown to many institutional investors whose trades often involve these little-understood firms. This opacity has created a level of fear among investors about the quality and reliability of electronic market makers.

ASX to quit CHESS

ASX, the linchpin of Australia's financial markets, has today announced its intention to replace CHESS using distributed ledger technology (DLT) developed by its technology partner Digital Asset (DA).

CSD Prague opens direct account in Euroclear Bank

CSD Prague says it has opened a direct account in Euroclear Bank SA/NV.

Swiss payments harmonisation: banks finish ISO 20022 migration

No fewer than 208 banks in Switzerland have completed the migration to the new ISO 20022 technology standard on schedule.

Brian Blessed: Absolute Pandemonium

Am currently reading Absolute Pandemonium, a memoir by Brian Blessed, who played Fancy Smith in Z-Cars, Augustus Caesar in I, Claudius and Vultan, leader of the Hawkmen, in Flash Gordon.

It's very enjoyable

Axioma names Ian Lumb MD Risk

Axioma, a provider of enterprise risk management, portfolio management, and regulatory reporting solutions, reports the appointment of Ian Lumb as managing director, head of risk solutions. It says this is a newly created position. Lumb was previously Global Head of UBS Delta, the portfolio analysis and risk management system recently acquired by StatPro.

Ahold Pensioenfonds selects BNP Paribas Securities Services

BNP Paribas Securities Services has been appointed to provide global custody and value added services to Ahold Pensioenfonds, the €4.5bn pension fund of Ahold Delhaize, the Netherlands’ leading food retailer. 
The mandate covers custody, investment accounting, investment compliance, regulatory reporting, performance measurement and risk reporting and is effective from January 1 2018. 

John de Waal, Senior Director Finance & Risk of Ahold Pensioenfonds, said: “After an extensive selection process we selected BNP Paribas Securities Services as our new custodian. BNP Paribas Securities Services offers local services tailored to our needs and requirements, supported by a solid global custody organisation. Together with BNP Paribas Securities Services we will be able to further improve our performance and risk reporting.” 

BNP Paribas Securities Services says this marks another milestone in its development of in the Netherlands. Earlier this year, the bank acquired a full-service local asset administration platform and a team of more than 50 specialists, which significantly increased its existing local expertise and capacity in the country. 

I want a yacht

Mint - Blain’s Morning Porridge

I want a yacht and really that’s not a lot, been an angel all year…!

For the avoidance of doubt – the Morning Porridge is unrestricted market commentary freely available to all qualified investors on an unsolicited basis. It is not investment advice…

For Foreign Readers of the Morning Porridge struggling to understand what on earth is going on in UK politics.. don’t worry. This is normal.

Something for the weekend

Chris Iggo, chief investment officer, Fixed Income, AXA Investment Managers, offers a highly readable investment commentary to ponder over the weekend.

In brief, he covers Crypto-mania, high returns, low volatility, extremes, but the economy is strong, strong, strong and yield will not equal return

Allfunds achieves €350bn global AuA milestone

Allfunds Bank, which bills itself as Europe´s largest fund platform, says it has achieved a new milestone by passing €350bn assets under administration (AuA) globally, an increase of €100bn year-to-date thanks to its efforts in the digital space and expansion of products available on the platform.  

Citi appointed by EntrepreneurShares

Citi reports from New York that it has been appointed by EntrepreneurShares to provide full exchange-traded fund (ETF) services including fund accounting and administration, custody, and transfer agency for its inaugural ETF fund (www.brianbollen.com).

Graves joins CIBC Mellon

CIBC Mellon reports that Bill Graves has joined the company as Chief Technology and Data Officer. This newly created role is designed to further strengthen CIBC Mellon's ability to meet clients' evolving needs as the industry drives forward into a new era of data, technology enablement and cyber security.