Funds Hub
Money managers under the microscope
Good news for fundies, bad news for nephews
The National Association of Pension Funds isn’t quite as rambunctious as in the days of fat-cat bashing by Christine Farnish, but it still offers up intriguing glimpses into the lives and loves of the nation’s worker drones and retirees.
The latest survey (of 1,248 British full and part-time employees – for the record) makes very clear the priorities as people prepare for retirement, with full pockets winning a convincing victory over full hearts.
Some 71 percent pick out financial security as a bedrock of happiness in the dusk of life, and they want to be fit enough to splurge it all on escorted Rhineland river cruises and hydraulic beds; good health scores 69 percent.
It’s maybe a bit depressing, though, that just 45 percent think happiness will come from the love and attention of their family and friends. (More people say they’d get a kick out of travel in retirement — presumably escaping the unwanted embraces of significant others. One in seven respondents said the one thing they would miss most in retirement was time away from their partner…)
A genuine rally or just bull?
Big-hitters Crispin Odey and Anthony Bolton may have pointed to the start of a new bull market, but not all hedge fund managers are convinced.
A report from Credit Suisse/Tremont, published today, says many managers played it safe in April, meaning funds made an average gain of just 1.68 percent, compared with a 9.57 percent rally in the S&P 500.
Short selling – remember that one?
Plenty has happened since the UK brought in its temporary ban on short-selling financial stocks last year — Madoff, Weavering, hedge fund outflows, the EC’s controversial plans for hedge fund rules, and even a few hedge funds making money.
However, behind the scenes, the debate on how to handle this controversial practice rumbles on, and today the Investment Management Association published its response to the FSA’s discussion paper, now that the period for responses has closed.
