Fund managers seek freedom not to sell on US downgrade
BOSTON/NEW YORK, July 28 (Reuters) – Some major bond fund
managers are asking their institutional clients to consider
waiving strict requirements that might force mass selling of
Treasury bonds if the United States loses its AAA rating.
Pension funds, endowments and other large investors
typically establish rules governing how their assets can be
invested when they sign on with a money manager. Some analysts
fear a downgrade of the U.S. rating would spark a mass sell-off
because of guidelines that only permit investments in AAA-rated
securities.
Bond fund managers seek freedom not to sell debt on downgrade
BOSTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Some major bond fund managers are asking their institutional clients to consider waiving strict requirements that might force mass selling of Treasury bonds if the United States loses its AAA rating.
Pension funds, endowments and other large investors typically establish rules governing how their assets can be invested when they sign on with a money manager. Some analysts fear a downgrade of the U.S. rating would spark a mass sell-off because of guidelines that only permit investments in AAA-rated securities.
Managers seek freedom not to sell U.S. debt on downgrade
BOSTON/NEW YORK, July 28 (Reuters) – Some major bond fund
managers are asking their institutional clients to consider
waiving strict requirements that might force mass selling of
Treasury bonds if the United States loses its AAA rating.
Pension funds, endowments and other large investors
typically establish rules governing how their assets can be
invested when they sign on with a money manager. Some analysts
fear a downgrade of the U.S. rating would spark a mass sell-off
because of guidelines that only permit investments in AAA-rated
securities.
Strong bond inflows boost asset managers’ results
BOSTON, July 26 (Reuters) – Large asset managers reported
solid quarterly results on Tuesday as inflows to fixed-income
funds helped offset mixed flows to stock funds shaken by
economic uncertainty.
Companies including T Rowe Price Group (TROW.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Invesco
Ltd (IVZ.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Waddell & Reed Financial Inc (WDR.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) have been
among the biggest gatherers of new client cash in recent
quarters. Those net inflows are a key driver of profits for
fund managers, helping boost total assets against which they
can charge fees.
Deficit cut would trim growth: BlackRock’s Fink
CHICAGO (Reuters) – A $4 trillion reduction of the U.S. budget deficit, if enacted by Congress, would trim economic growth by one percentage point a year for the next decade, BlackRock Chief Executive Laurence Fink said.
With analysts already forecasting modest growth of 2 percent to 3 percent annually, that would leave the United States with an economy expanding at only about 1 percent a year, Fink said at the Morningstar investment conference on Friday.
Worried about the future? Try buying gems
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The rising debt burden is prompting some top investors to come up with some pretty creative — and far out — hedging strategies.
At the Ira Sohn Investment Conference in New York, top money managers like Jeffrey Gundlach of DoubleLine Capital and Erez Kalir of Sabretooth Capital ventured far afield from the typical stock and bond ideas offered in prior years.
Growing investments in Africa: telecom and oil
By Aaron Pressman
The opinions expressed are his own.
Political upheaval and commodity price volatility have posed a big challenge for investors in Africa so far this year. Both the Market Vectors Africa ETF, which owns 50 of the largest stocks based on the continent, and the SPDR S&P Emerging Middle East & Africa ETF, which holds 139 stocks, have dropped about 7 percent in 2011 versus the 1 percent decline in broad emerging market indexes.
Fund managers who focus on the region say that there are plenty of opportunities that go beyond the simple commodity plays dependent on high gold prices. They’re looking for companies benefiting from the spill-over effects of the commodity boom and the long-term development of the growing African middle class.
Soros dumped most gold in Q1, Paulson stays put
NEW YORK/BOSTON, May 16 (Reuters) – Billionaire financier
George Soros, who called gold “the ultimate bubble,” dumped
almost his entire $800 million stake in bullion in the first
quarter, well before a commodities slump blamed partly on
reports he was liquidating his holdings.
Famed gold bull John Paulson held his ground, but Soros was
joined in the retreat by several other big names, including
Eric Mindich and Paul Touradji, according to 13-F filings with
the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that provide the
best insight into where hedge funds are placing their bets.
Soros dumped most of gold stake in first quarter
BOSTON (Reuters) – Billionaire investor George Soros’s hedge fund dumped most of its gold holdings during the first quarter, a regulatory filing showed on Monday.
Soros Fund Management, based in New York, owned 49,400 shares of the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD.P: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) at the end of March, down from 4.7 million shares held at the end of December. A 5 million share stake in the iShares Gold Trust (IAU.P: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) at the end of December disappeared completely from the latest filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
iShares Silver has $1 billion outflow, worst week ever
BOSTON (Reuters) – A record $1 billion outflow from the iShares Silver Trust (SLV.P: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) in the week ended Wednesday helped feed silver’s torrid price decline, just as the fund’s earlier inflows aided the prior rally.
Many more small investors can trade the iShares exchange-traded fund than participate in the precious metals futures market, and that can exacerbate the volatility of day-to-day price moves, investors said.
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