Salient to Investors: John R. Talbott writes: Total costs of 2% per year in a fund earning a 3 percent real return is tantamount to giving Wall Street two-thirds of the profits. ETF’s that cost a half a percent to 1 percent per year can end up costing as much as one-third
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Salient Partners LP is limiting withdrawals after clients pulled more than $1 billion this year amid lackluster returns. The most sophisticated institutional investors are getting the same treatment that endowments and foundations received in 2008: a manager is blocking them from getting their money out. GFIA said that
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: The former internal watchdog for the S.E.C violated ethics rules by overseeing investigations that touched on people with whom he had personal relationships. A financial adviser used the former S.E.C employee’s remarks to market a “crash-proof retirement” to senior citizens. Read the full article at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-06/former-sec-watchdog-kotz-violated-ethics-rules-review-finds-1-.html
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: No U.S. law prevents a convicted felon from managing a hedge fund, as long as that person isn’t required to be registered under the Investment Advisers Act. Wall Street crooks either get rich by cheating their clients or by cheat for their clients. The stock market is soaring
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Joseph Franco at Suffolk University said pay-to-play is an inevitable consequence of bankers seeking lucrative fees controlled by politicians – firms create incentive structures for their bankers that fuel this sort of conduct. David Trone at JMP Securities and others said the settlement had no effect on the bank’s share
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Scheme aimed at distorting stock prices by rapidly canceling orders – placing orders with no intention of having it executed. The trades primarily involved traders in China. Read the full article at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-25/sec-says-new-york-broker-allowed-high-speed-stock-manipulation.html
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: The S. E. C. cited the NYSE for compliance failures that allowed elite investors to receive stock data before the broader public – the first penalty it has levied against an exchange. The S.E.C. also penalized the Direct Edge exchange, is pursuing the Chicago Board Options Exchange, and investigating Nasdaq over the Facebook
READ MORE... →Predictions: Wall Street lawyers and lobbyists continue to mock re-regulation. Expect fewer substantive rules and limitations on risks than now. Nine bills presented in Congress this year are designed to weaken the already weak Dodd-Frank law, mostly by holding off real accountability until the public has lost interest. Barney Frank has succumbed to pressure from Wall Street. Read the full article
READ MORE... →Ancestry.com (ACOM) generates more free cash per share by researching families than Facebook does connecting friends. Bloomberg data shows Ancestry at 17.5 times earning versus median p/e ratio of about 43 for U.S. Internet and e-commerce companies with market values greater than $500 million. Read the full article at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-07/ancestry-topping-facebook-cash-yield-lures-lbo-real-m-a.html
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