Summit Notebook
Exclusive outtakes from industry leaders
from Funds Hub:
Hedge funds: Greece is the word
This week's Reuters Hedge Fund and Private Equity Summit gave us some new insights into how hedge funds are betting on Greece's debt crisis and their attitude to talk that politicians and regulators may clamp down on their activities.
According to Cheyne Capital, for instance, buying Greek CDS is an "old trade" that many hedge funds have moved out of. Many have instead moved to short bets on the euro, as the single currency comes under pressure from the debt of some southern European countries.
Then again, two managers from GLG, ranked by Eurohedge this week as Europe's 6th biggest hedge fund firm, said they are actually long the euro.
The rationale, according to fund manager Karim Abdel-Motaal, is that the euro is the least ugly major currency and hasn't seen the same quantitative easing used elsewhere.
Dubai returns to fixed income sphere
Dubai returns to the fixed-income sphere for the first time in more than a year after raising about $2 billion from dirham and dollar-denominated Islamic bonds.
Confidence in the emirate had run aground earlier this year as investors bet on Dubai’s state-linked entities not being able refinance debt. So far, this year it has met all its obligations and with the fresh issue booking about $6.5 billion from regional and international investors, Dubai’s doomsday scenario appears to be vanishing.
