LONDON, Dec 9 (Reuters) – Polar Capital
posted a 9 percent rise in assets over the past two months, as
sales of strongly performing mutual funds helped it buck an
industry trend of losing clients during the euro zone debt
crisis.

The British-based fund firm, which manages a combination of
long-only and hedge funds, said assets under management at
end-November had grown to $4.28 billion, helped by bets on
rebounding markets and sales of its Japan, North America and
financials funds.

MAJORCA, Spain (Reuters) – He’s wanted for contempt of court in Arizona. He is under investigation by Italian police over his connection with an international bond scandal exposed by Reuters in August and totaling at least $500 million. And he is named as a key player in one of the first criminal indictments following the collapse of Iceland’s economy.

But last week you could find David Spargo in a holiday resort on the Spanish island of Majorca. He’s a regular at La Batucada cocktail bar, where he might be drinking anything from a cocktail to a beer or whisky. Locals say he also enjoys playing on the 95-euro-a-round ($127) Alcanada golf course, which overlooks the sparkling Mediterranean.

LONDON, Dec 5 (Reuters) – Aberdeen Asset Management
shrugged off a spike in client outflows in September’s
volatile markets to post better than expected full-year profit,
helped by demand for its higher margin Asian and emerging market
bond funds.

The British-based fund manager said on Monday pretax profit
rose 44 percent to 302 million pounds ($472 million) in the year
to end-September, compared with forecasts for 288-295 million.

ZURICH/LONDON (Reuters) – Italian police investigating ex-fund manager Alberto Micalizzi after the collapse of a $500 million hedge fund have also begun probes into five other people with links to the fund, a source close to the investigation told Reuters.

Last week police raided the home and offices of Micalizzi, CEO of London-based Dynamic Decisions Capital Management (DDCM), whose hedge fund DD Growth Premium lost hundreds of millions of dollars around the time of the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

ZURICH/LONDON (Reuters) – Italian police investigating ex-fund manager Alberto Micalizzi after the collapse of a $500 million (320 million pound) hedge fund have also begun probes into five other people with links to the fund, a source close to the investigation told Reuters.

Last week police raided the home and offices of Micalizzi, CEO of London-based Dynamic Decisions Capital Management (DDCM), whose hedge fund DD Growth Premium lost hundreds of millions of dollars around the time of the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

LONDON (Reuters) – The market for bonds that can be converted into stock looks set to grow in Europe over coming years, driven by a fall in bank lending to companies, the funding needs of cash-strapped governments and return-starved investors worried about volatility.

Many European companies, which have traditionally relied more heavily on bank finance, could be forced to try other methods of funding as banks rein in lending under pressure from regulators to beef up their capital requirements.

LONDON/ZURICH (Reuters) – Italian police have raided two properties and launched a fraud probe into ex-hedge fund manager Alberto Micalizzi, a researcher at Italy’s Bocconi University, who ran hedge fund DD Growth Premium until its collapse during the credit crisis.

Milan public prosecutor Alfredo Robledo told Reuters that finance police on Tuesday took away documents and computers from the home and office of Micalizzi.

LONDON (Reuters) – The manager of Weavering Macro fund, the hedge fund whose credit crisis collapse left investors with hundreds of millions of dollars of losses, lied to clients and massively wrote up the value of assets, a court heard.

The liquidators of Weavering’s UK operation began a civil case in London’s High Court last month for fraud and breach of duty against Magnus Peterson, Weavering’s chief executive and manager of its Macro fund, and other employees.

LONDON (Reuters) – Investors are likely to pull money out of hedge funds in the fourth quarter, said Man Group’s head of multi-manager Luke Ellis, after many funds suffered big losses this summer amidst the euro zone’s deepening debt crisis.

Ellis, who oversees $14.5 billion in assets at the world’s biggest listed hedge fund manager, said that while redemptions across the $2 trillion industry have so far been muted despite poor returns, clients considering changing their portfolios may yet pull out.