Funds Hub
Money managers under the microscope
from Global Investing:
What fund managers think
Bank of America-Merrill Lynch's monthly poll of around 200 fund managers had a few nuggets in the June version, aside from the usual mood-taking.
Gold is too expensive. A net 27 percent of respondent thought it overvalued, up from 13 percent in May. Then again, the respondents to this poll have reckoned gold is too pricey since September 2009.
The fall in the euro should be tailing off. A net 14 percent reckon the single currency is still overvalued, but that is way down from the net 45 percent who thought so in the May poll.
BP is good for pharma. The net percentage of fund managers who remain overweight in energy stocks plunged to 7 percent in June from 37 percent in May as oil has continued to spill into the Gulf of Mexico. The stock beneficiaries have been "dividend friendly" utilities, telecoms and pharmaceuticals.
Don’t all rush at once
Currency managers nurture the view that emerging market central banks need to diversify their holdings away from the US dollar but so far there seems to have been little movement in this direction. Ousmene Mandeng, head of public investment advisory at emerging markets specialist Ashmore, notes that historically central banks act unilaterally to reallocate their reserves, especially when they are concerned about a possible impairment due to devaluation.
The problem for central banks with very large US dollar reserves – such as China – is the lack of a viable alternative reserve currency. “For the inertia to be overcome we will need a common framework so that countries can get out of the dollar in an orderly fashion,” Mandeng says.
Morning line-up
News and views on the hedge fund sector from Reuters and elsewhere:
Tudor and SAC managers to launch new hedge fund - Wealth Bulletin
Hedge funds to grab slice of institutional market - Hedge Funds Review
Mt. Kellet downsizes Hong Kong office, ditches China office plans – Reuters
Former Gandhara analyst and Ludgate Hill manager to start fund - Bloomberg
Morning line up
Hedge fund stories from the past 24 hours from Reuters and elsewhere:
Hedge funds call for softening of EU plan for pay caps – Daily Telegraph
SFO probes Dynamic Decisions - Reuters
Fund manager Horseman to step down - Reuters
Insider trading becomes systemic at hedge funds – Bloomberg
Chinese sovereign fund hires Tudor manager - Wall Street Journal
Morning Line-up
Hedge fund stories from the past 24 hours from Reuters and elsewhere:
Fate of Galleon’s founder could put fund out of business- Reuters
China deal close for Avenue Capital - Reuters
Hedge fund lawsuit against Biden’s son thrown out - AP
Former Bear Stearns Hedge fund managers accused of insider trading involvement – CNN Money
Morning line-up
Hedge fund stories from the past 24 hours from Reuters and elsewhere:
Fuld says being “dumped on” for Lehman failure – Reuters
MF Global starts Japan brokerage – Bloomberg
Despite UK taxes, funds stay in London – WSJ
US hedge fund locks horns with Chinese tycoons – South China Morning Post
Pushing back against energy speculation limits – Institutional Investor
from Global Investing:
Slow and steady wins the race: Malkiel
Investment guru Burton Malkiel, author of A Random Walk Down Wall Street, has revealed at a briefing that Chinese equities form the largest part of his personal satellite portfolio, although the core remains in low-cost index funds.
Malkiel, in town to beat the drum for Vanguard's index funds, argued that China will be the biggest economy in the world in 20 years' time, but most investors are underweight the emerging giant. "I'm a real expert on China - I've been there five times," he joked, but made the serious point that most investors have a home bias.
