Salient to Investors: Hedge funds are turning away from a rally in the global stock market for the first time this year. The ratio of bullish to bearish bets is below historical averages. Bulls say gains will rise as managers who have trailed benchmark indexes most of the year buy. Bears
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Prior to 1965, dimes and quarters were made primarily of silver. Prior to 1982, pennies were composed of 95% copper. Nickels are 25% nickel and 75% copper. At today’s prices for copper and nickel, a dime is worth almost seven cents, though it is illegal to
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Asia hedge funds 1.6 percent in 2012 thru August versus 3.2 percent for the global benchmark and have ad outflows of $447 million in 2012. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index is up 8.2 percent in 2012 versus up 13 percent for the MSCI World Index. Hedge Fund Research said 77% of Asia funds
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Chad Morganlander at Stifel Nicolaus said a structural shift in China’s economy and European economic woes will pressure commodity prices – China over the last few years artificially torqued its economy. China is the world’s biggest consumer of everything from copper to pork to soybeans, while the U.S. is the largest user of crude oil and
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Toru Higuchi at Japan’s Teachers’ Mutual Aid Co- operative Society will start investing in REITs and hedge funds. Japan’s has the world’s second-largest retirement pool, after the U.S., with only 6 percent in alternative assets versus 25 percent in the U.S. and 24 percent in Australia. Read the full article at
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Rich investors make portfolio decisions typically that are better-informed and with sufficient diversification to ride out rough markets. Blending a small amount of exotic holdings with traditional core holdings of stocks, bonds and cash lowers overall volatility. King Lip at Baker Ave says capital preservation is the key – stay diversified, protect
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Large investors are increasingly seeking separately managed accounts with better terms than the others. Regulators are concerned that a manager may evaluate the same investment for a pooled fund and a separately managed account but protect the favored large investor from due diligence costs if the deal falls through. Regulators are examining whether managers
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Amherst College lost its top credit rating because of a significant debt increase that reduced its standing relative to top-grade liberal-arts peers, and Williams College was downgraded in July because of diminished financial resource ratios. Amherst issued $100 million of taxable bonds after investing in illiquid assets such as private equity left
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Commodities beat equities, bonds and the dollar for a second consecutive month, the longest streak in more than a year, showing investors expect policy makers to succeed in stimulating growth. More than two-dozen nations cut market interest rates this year. China has slowed for six quarters. Bill O’Neill at Merrill
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Raising cash has gotten a lot harder as underperformance in the past four years has investors doubting the value of funds-of-funds. Funds-of-funds usually charge fees of 1 percent of assets and 10 percent of profits, on top of the 2 percent management fee and 20 percent performance fee
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