Individuals are feeling the effects of oil addiction, and higher fuel costs are raising concerns about industry recovery. Well, we’ve been to the gas station recently, and US$58 for a fill-up is a shocker. But we’ve seen a lot of shocking news, haven’t we? We have headline fatigue. We are witnessing unrest in the Middle East, a triple disaster in Japan, sovereign debt crisis in the European Union, two long-term wars for the U.S. military, and the global financial crisis. And I’ve purposely left out a few things. Last week, Invesco launched a new ad campaign called “Intentional Investing.” The … Continue Reading →

Hurry, get on, now it’s coming Listen to those rails a-humming All aboard, get on Apple’s iTrain! All aboard! This week, Apple rolls out its second-generation iPad. Who is not interested in the latest electronic gizmo? Two years ago I’d walk onto a train and Kindles were everywhere — now, it’s iPads. And what a change! Do we all feel productive, connected, and informed? Yes! No more dozing on the train, thank you. There is company work to do, correspondence to keep up with; there are events to plan, kids to schedule. Our professional and personal to-do lists are turning … Continue Reading →

Did you catch the Grammys this month? Lady Gaga pulled herself out of a giant egg. I like Lady Gaga — she puts herself on the line (plus, I like any type of dance music — bet my colleagues are surprised). To be a superstar, you have to have staying power. You have to reinvent yourself when everyone says your time is up, or hopes it will be. It occurs to me that the leader board for asset managers is a lot like the music business. Below are the asset manager rankings for U.S. tax-exempt assets for 2006 and 2010. … Continue Reading →

While Americans and Europeans faced austerity programs, borrowing, or the printing of additional money to bail themselves out of the global financial crisis of 2008, Canadians used their budget surplus, accumulated over the last 10 years by a government that worked to maintain balanced budgets. Generally, the country  weathered the storm well. Canadians are comparatively conservative in their approach to financial activities, from government budgeting and risk-averse financial-institution-foreclosure rates (less than .5% due to rigorous lending policies) to strict regulatory oversight of financial institution activities to investors with a bias toward bonds, domestic equity investments, and low household debt. The … Continue Reading →

In the areas I cover―the institutional investment management and brokerage businesses―firms are cautious and questioning the value-add for the B2B sector. Much of what I see posted in social media or imagine as relevant to institutions appears behind a firm’s firewall on their private website. In fact, institutional providers prefer client portals, which reinforce the personal relationships that institutions value. In this private venue, clients have access to account data while firms can also push out blog posts, podcasts, and videos specific to those clients’ interests. Customization and privacy are what institutions value. Institutional staffs do like to share their … Continue Reading →

Has the moment finally arrived when the bastion of business development will move off the golf course and onto the Internet? Has the Internet equalized the business field for those of us with an abysmal golf game? Could Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, MySpace and Blogger become the apex of business activity? We’ve been here before. Remember when the Internet first hit business? We were frantic to establish a website. E-mail? That was actually quite a thrill; no more rolling into voicemail trying to catch someone…we could even avoid talking to someone we weren’t particularly fond of.  Next, we moved to instant … Continue Reading →

Ok, ok — UCITS* aren’t new.  But the latest generation, UCITS IV, came about in January 2009 with the July 1, 2010 implementation date just around the corner. So after all the anticipation, it’s interesting to see who is taking hold of what given some broader trends in the business. At a time of regulatory uncertainty (or any uncertainty, for that matter), we grab hold of what we know. And in this case, hedge funds are taking hold of UCITS. There is uncertainty about the European Commission’s draft of the Alternative Investment Fund Management Directive, though, generally speaking, more regulation looms. … Continue Reading →

Following my May 10, 2010 post regarding the alternatives managed account panel during the Spring HedgeWorld’s Fund Service Conference, a panel recap: There was a lively discussion as panelists disagreed on the advantages and disadvantages of managed accounts. Panels are always more interesting when people disagree, aren’t they? Ours was the first panel of the day —  great to get the adrenalin going first thing in the morning. In summary, some folks believe that managed accounts provide asset control, given that the hedge fund manager may only make investment decisions for the account, and that a third party (one or more) … Continue Reading →

I’m feeling sad today. In fact, I lay awake this morning reflecting on dozens of conversations I’ve had with compliance officers at asset managers, hedge funds, and broker/dealers. It’s difficult not to empathize. I don’t recall ever feeling this way after interviews in other functional areas… Here are people with a job that is growing in range and responsibilities, in effect expanding into operational risk, yet they have few to no resources. Compliance is considered a cost center — in and of itself a death knoll in a time of cutbacks — not that compliance departments had a budget before the crisis. … Continue Reading →