BizResearch

Private Equity 2009

According to the latest research bulletin from the IFSL (International Financial Services London) the UK private equity market is the most developed outside the US, managing 17% of global investments and 15% of funds raised in 2008.
 
Selected highlights:
 
Last year private equity investments fell 40% to $189bn, with buyout activity dropping as private equity firms struggled to obtain debt finance from banks to complete deals. The report also states that private equity investments hit a 12 year low in the first half of 2009, dropping to $24bn, 80% down on the same period in 2008. Private-equity backed deals generated only 7% of global merger & acquisition volume in 2008, the lowest level since 2001 and down from the record high of 21% in 2006. This figure fell even further to 3.5%in the first half of 2009.
 
Despite the financial crisis fund-raising levels were only down 8% in 2008 to $450bn, a figure influenced heavily by the relatively strong start to the year. The slowdown in fund-raising accelerated in 2009, with under $100bn being raised between January and June, equivalent to a two-thirds drop on the same period in 2008. The secondary market for private equity, where existing stakes in private equity holdings are bought and sold, has seen a record $15.6bn raised in the first half of 2009, already setting a new annual record with six months left in the year.
 
Meanwhile, global private equity funds under management totalled $2.5 trillion at the end of 2008. The 15% increase during the year was due to strong fund raising activity and an increase in unrealised portfolio investments as firms were reluctant to exit their stakes in market conditions of falling valuations.
 
Worldwide investments of UK private equity firms mirrored falls on global markets, declining by 38 per cent in 2008 to £19.5bn, while the aggregate value of funds raised fell by a fifth to £23.1bn. The UK private equity market, which remains the most developed outside the US, managed 17% of global investments and 14% of funds raised in 2008. London has successfully held its position as the largest European private equity centre, second only to New York globally.
 
The full report can be downloaded from the IFSL website

Photo from Creative Commons: Flickr: raspberreh

Guide to Sources of Statistics 2009

The IFSL has accessed a wide range of sources in the process of researching many aspects of the financial sector and related professional services. This Guide, which is updated every year, lists sources of financial services statistics mostly found on the internet. Where possible a direct website link to the source has been included.  Each section in this Guide also refers to a separate IFSL report which can be downloaded free of charge from their website. The guide is divided into three main sections: sources of statistics for UK and international financial markets; Sources of statistics for professional and support services; Sources of statistics for international trade in services

Key areas of IFSL research include:

• 16 sector reports in the City Business Series
• 9 reports highlighting IFSL’s role in international promotion
• 6 research reports related to IFSL's role in international trade policy and liberalisation
• 9 regular reports featuring trends in financial sector exports, economic contribution of financial services, comparison of development of financial markets in Europe and the US .

Click here to access the guide

Shariah-compliant funds: A whole new world of investment

The concept of Shariah-compliant investing goes back four decades and yet the sector has only really taken off in the last five years.

A number of structural and behavioural changes in Islamic countries have produced this take-off and the probability is that the sector will now go from strength to strength.

Many asset management firms are currently sizing up the opportunities and this paper aims to help them deepen their knowledge of the sector, understand current developments and navigate through the main challenges of creating a Shariah-compliant fund range.

Written by PricewaterhouseCoopers’ professionals from around the world, this is the third paper in a series aimed at briefing mainstream financial services companies about opportunities in Islamic finance

  Download Shariah-compliant funds (92kb)

Picture: Creative Commons: Flickr: Fraser Lewry 

Reforming Financial Markets

The world economy has been hit by a severe financial crisis, resulting in the worst global economic downturn for over 60 years. Triggered by difficulties in the housing market that exposed the way that banks and other lenders had been underestimating real risks for too long, the crisis quickly spread throughout global financial markets destabilising banking systems around the world. As a result, the impact has spread beyond the financial system, hitting economic growth, prosperity and jobs throughout the world.

This document for H M Treasury sets out the Government’s analysis of the causes of this financial crisis, the action already taken to restore financial stability and the regulatory reforms necessary to strengthen the financial system for the future, so that consumers, businesses of all sectors and the economy as a whole continue to have access to the stable credit, essential for future growth, investment and innovation.  It argues that the crisis has been caused by the failure of the banking sector across the world, to understand the true risks created by the innovation and rapid growth of interconnected, globalized markets for financial services in recent years. The firms that have failed in the typically allowed their businesses to become overextended through: excessive leverage and risk taking; over-reliance on wholesale funding; overdependence on particularly risky product streams, such as buy-to-let mortgages or derivatives; or poor management decisions in respect of acquisitions.

 

As a result, Government intervention has been necessary to: protect depositors in banks and building societies; enable banks to continue to lend to the economy during the recession; and to restore financial stability. In the Budget 2009, the Treasury estimated that the cost of Government action could eventually be as high as £50bn. But the costs of Government inaction would have been far higher, as a modern economy cannot function without a stable banking system. The way firms manage risk, the quality and quantity of capital they hold, and the way regulators monitor firms need to change. Further regulations on how banks operate globally are also necessary in order to prevent global financial crises from recurring in the future.

 

Direct link to report

Direct link to impact assessment

Photo from Creative Commons: Flickr:ru anderson

Global Trends in Venture Capital: 2009 Report

Are venture capitalists battling the global recession blues or feeling optimistic about the new opportunities for investing in technology?  When Deloitte conducted the first global venture capital (VC) survey five years ago, the community was recovering from the tech bubble bursting and was just beginning to see significant movement toward globalization of the industry. Given the severity of the current global recession, this year’s survey focused on issues surrounding its impact on venture capitalists. The survey questions asked how the global recession is affecting strategy; how future investments are being planned, both by sector and region; what the anticipated size of the next fund will be and who VCs think their limited partners will be. This year’s report looks broadly at the results in a global context, but an appendix is included that breaks out survey responses by geographic regions.

The survey was conducted with venture capitalists (VCs) in the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe and Israel. There were 725 responses from general partners of venture capital firms with assets under management ranging from less than $100 million to greater than $1 billion.  Multiple responses from the same firm were allowed, as the survey was a general measurement of the state of global investing from all general partners, not attitudes of specific firms. If respondents did not answer a question, the count for the question was adjusted accordingly.

The findings uncovered that globalization of the venture capital industry will intensify in coming years, posing significant competitive questions for the United States, and opportunities for emerging markets such as China. Additional findings include:  The clean tech sector is poised to become the leading investment category.  Levels are more likely to increase in countries outside the US Governments of all countries have a crucial role to play in fostering competitiveness and innovation.  Just over half of VCs surveyed remain optimistic that it is a terrific time to invest in promising entrepreneurial companies.

Click here for the full report

Photo from Creative Commons: Flickr: Paul Robinson

Private Equity Compensation Report 2008 - Executive Summary

The 2008 Private Equity Jobs Digest Compensation Survey was conducted in Fall 2008 and received private equity compensation data directly from hundreds of private equity and venture capital partners and employees from firms, both large and small. Some of the participating firms include: Credit Suisse, Delta Partners Group, Intel Capital, Kaiser Permanente Ventures, Lehman Brothers, Soft Bank Capital and many others.

With the shift this year in the financial markets, the results indicate that professionals in private equity and VC jobs see further trouble on the financial horizon. Similar to what we saw in the hedge fund industry, this year’s private equity and VC report reveals that 47 percent are happy with their current level of compensation – an 80 percent increase in pay satisfaction from last year! And why not? The average total compensation, industry-wide, was $255,000 USD – up 14 percent from last year’s figure of $224,000.

Read the summary

Picture: Creative Commons: Flickr:René Ehrhardt

General Insurance Performance Benchmarking Survey

General Insurance Performance Benchmarking Survey 2008

KPMG

The survey focuses on benchmarking the performance and disclosure of broadly comparable general insurers based on full year 2008 results.

Picture:Creative Commons:Flickr: garryknight

Top Private Equity Firms from Private Equity International

The 2009 PEI 300

Private Equity International magazine's proprietary ranking of the largest 300 private equity firms in the world the PEI 300, which ranks private equity firms around the world by size, using Private Equity International's unique methodology.
You may view the top 50 without registering with PEI Media.
A complete report on the PEI 300 is featured in the May 2009 issue of Private Equity International, available only to subscribers or for individual purchase.

The LIbrary at the London Business School subscribes to Private Equity international in print.

Picture: Creative Commons: FlickR: Colin Anderson

Private equity fundraising hits a five year low

Private equity fundraising hit a five year low in Q1 2009, with only 78 funds closing worldwide, raising an aggregate $49bn. Conditions are becoming increasingly challenging for managers raising new vehicles, as with over 1,600 funds still on the road, competition is intense.

The latest complimentary Prequin research report outlines the full details of the latest fundraising activity in Q1 2009, and outlines our predictions for the coming year.

View the report.

Picture: Creative Commons: FlickR: Thomas Hawk

Hedge Funds 2009 - assets under management fell by nearly 30% in 2008

  Hedge Funds 2009
"Assets under management of the hedge fund industry fell by nearly 30% in 2008 to $1,500bn. The decline, the biggest on record, was due to a combination of negative performance, surge in redemptions and liquidations of funds. A further fall in assets under management of over 20% is possible in 2009 as some hedge funds, particularly in the US, had suspended redemptions late in 2008.

The decline in assets during 2008 was split relatively equally between negative performance and asset outflows. On a regional level, redemptions were more responsible for a fall in assets in Europe and emerging markets, while in the US and Japan, losses on investments accounted for a bigger proportion of the decline. Asia saw the highest rate."

Source: IFSL London

Picture: Flickr: Creative Commons: hedge maze_Vironevaeh

Dynamics of the gender gap for young professionals in the corporate & financial sectors

This working paper discusses the various explanations put forward to explain gender gaps in career outcomes for highly-educated workers in the US corporate and financial sectors. The authors of the paper (Marianne Bertrand, Claudia Goldin, Lawrence F. Katz) looked at the careers of MBAs who graduated from a top US business school between 1990 and 2006 in order to understand how career dynamics differ by gender. Although male and female MBAs started with almost identical incomes at the outset of their careers, the study found that women’s earnings significantly declined over time compared to their male counterparts. The authors identified three main reasons for the large and rising gender gap in earnings: Differences in training prior to MBA graduation (women tend to take fewer finance courses); Differences in career interruptions; Differences in weekly hours.

These three determinants can explain the bulk of gender differences in earnings across the years following MBA completion. The presence of children is the main contributor to the lesser job experience, greater career discontinuity and shorter work hours for female MBAs. Disparities in the productive characteristics of male and female MBAs are small, but the pecuniary penalties from shorter hours and any job discontinuity are enormous for MBAs. The researchers stress that active discrimination is unlikely to have played much of a role in the pay gap but the influence of gender roles in determining career paths is still very much a factor.

This NBER paper (No. 14681) is available to current London Business School staff, students and faculty from the NBER (National Bureau of Economic Research) working papers database available from the A-Z list of library databases via Portal.

Picture from Creative Commons: Flickr: la fabbra

Deloitte 6th Annual Global Security Survey

Deloitte have published the results of their annual Global Security Survey, which benchmarks IT security and privacy in the financial services industry. The top three information security priorities of financial institutions identified by the survey are: security regulatory compliance, followed by data protection and information leakage, and access and identity management.

The scope of this survey is global, including financial institutions with worldwide presence and head office operations in one of the following geographic regions: North America; Europe, Middle East, Africa (EMEA); Asia Pacific (APAC); Japan; and Latin America and the Caribbean (LACRO). To promote consistency, and to preserve the value of the answers, the majority of financial institutions were interviewed in their country of headquarters.

Some of the survey’s main findings include:

Security vigilance is even more important during hard economic times, when the increased stress levels can lead people to behave in atypical ways. Even though both internal and external security breaches at financial institutions worldwide have fallen over the past 12 months, employee misconduct is a growing concern.

The growing popularity of social networks and the proliferation of mobile media such as USB keys, MP3 players and PDAs, all cause an extra load on internal and external security. These devices present opportunities for unauthorized download and storage of confidential information in an unprotected medium.

In 2008, financial institutions saw a decline in the number of both external (47% vs. 65% in 2007) and internal (27% vs. 30% in 2007) security breaches.

The leading drivers for financial institutions to protect the privacy of their clients information are privacy regulatory requirements (79%) followed by reputation and brand concerns (70%).

The full report is available from the Deloitte website

Picture from Creative Commons: Flickr: Jose Goulao

UK Banks: Performance Benchmarking Survey - Full Year 2008

 

Latest Industries Publications

UK Banks: Performance Benchmarking Survey - Full Year 2008
 
This report considers the financial position and performance of the UK’s largest banks. The survey summarises the published interim and annual financial statements and benchmarks the banks against each other.

Published by: Financial Services section of KPMG March 2009 -  A brief registration is need to download the PDF.

Picture: Creative Commons Flickr: J-Cornelius

Sovereign Wealth Funds 2009

 Assets under management of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) increased 18% in 2007 to reach $3.3 trillion according to a new IFSL report, Sovereign Wealth Funds.

There was a further $6.1 trillion held in other sovereign investment vehicles, such as pension reserve funds, development funds and state-owned corporations' funds and also $5.3 trillion in other official foreign exchange reserves. Since the start of the sub-prime crisis SWFs, mostly from Asia, have invested over $60bn predominantly in US and Swiss banks. IFSL expects assets of SWFs to reach over $5 trillion in 2010 and $10 trillion in 2015. The UK and London in particular is an important centre in the SWFs market as a clearing house and location from where some of these funds are managed.  Read the report..

Picture:Creative Commons: FlickR: sovereign by Rataedl

VALUE OF PFI DEALS FALLS 2008

  PFI in the UK & PPP in Europe 2009

IFSL’s 2009 edition of PFI in the UK & PPP in Europe noted that the 34 signed PFI projects in 2008 represented the lowest number since 1995, and just over half the 60 a year between 2005 and 2007. The larger average deal size in 2008, however, meant that the total value of projects in 2008 was £6.5bn, only 11% down on £7.3bn in 2007. The PPP market elsewhere in Europe has developed steadily in recent years, although the €5.0bn value of 22 signed contracts in 2008 was down on €7.4bn in each of the two previous years and the high of €8.9bn in 2005.

Read the report.

Picture: Creative Commons: FlickR: WoodleyWonderworks

Global private equity report 2008

The world has changed for private equity. Out is the virtuous circle of low interest rates, steady economic growth, easy leverage and rising portfolio company valuations. Instead, tough economic times are beginning and capital markets are having a crisis of confidence.  The 2008 global private equity report from PricewaterhouseCoopers highlights the challenges private equity firms are currently facing. Based on conversations with leading industry players, this report highlights some of the challenges and opportunities shaping private equity’s future; ranging from issues that all agree are fundamental, such as how to create sustainable value, through to those that many private equity houses have yet to take seriously, in particular sustainability.

The topics covered in the report include:

• Creating sustainable value
• Accessing emerging market growth
• Building the business model
• Appreciating the business case for responsibility
• Reporting fair value
• Addressing tax in a wider world

The report also includes data from PricewaterhouseCoopers’ most recent survey of private equity, confirming the rise of the emerging markets as a destination for private equity investment. It also illustrates the generally buoyant level of private equity activity globally, as at the end of 2007. Demonstrating the rapid growth of private equity investment in emerging markets, eight out of the ten fastest growing countries for private equity investment in the ten years to end 2007 were either from the Asia Pacific or Africa.  In 2007, India ranked third in terms of funds invested with US$17.5 billion invested, representing a growth of 136% over the previous year. China ranked third, with US$10.62 billion invested, although the year-on-year expansion here was only 3%. In Asia Pacific as a whole, private equity investment rose by 36% to US$86.3 billion in 2007, which was equivalent to 0.68% of GDP – almost as high as in North America, the home of private equity.

The full report is available from the PricewaterhouseCoopers website (pre-registration is required)

Picture from Creative Commons: Flickr: oooh.oooh

2008 worst year for hedge funds since records began

2008 worst year for hedge funds since records began

2008 was the worst year for hedge fund performance since data onalternative investment pools began to be tracked, with average returns of -17.08% across asset classes for the past year, a new report has revealed.

In the report, Hedge Fund Performance in 2008, the France-based Edhec Business School highlighted how widespread poor performance was across asset classes last year, with only two strategies posting positive returns.

Particularly hard hit were emerging markets and convertible arbitrage strategies, which saw their returns performance sink to -30.3% and -26.48% respectively. Fund of funds returns, which the report notes is "sometimes taken to give an aggregate view of the industry's performance" were down at -17.08%, the worst returns since Edhec first began to collate data in 1997. In contrast, fund of funds returns in 2006 and 2007 were 11.25% and 10.07% respectively."

This report was highlighted in the latest issue of RISK which is available in Portal (A-Z of databses) to the London Business School Community.

Read the report from  EDHEC

Picture: Creative Commons: FlicKr: Randy Son of Robert

The future of the global financial system

This latest report from the World Economic Forum presents the initial findings from their New Financial Architecture project. This phase one report presents a near-term analysis for key stakeholders and employs scenario thinking to describe four potential long-term futures for the global financial system.

The report identifies a near-term industry outlook characterized by an expanded scope for regulatory oversight, back to basics in the banking sector, some restructuring by alternative investment firms and the emergence of a new set of winners and losers. Over the long-term, a range of external forces and critical uncertainties will further shape the industry. 

The four challenging scenarios explored are:

• Financial regionalism is a world in which post-crisis blame-shifting and the threat of further economic contagion create three major blocs on trade and financial policy, forcing global companies to construct tripartite strategies to operate globally.

• Fragmented protectionism is a world characterized by division, conflict, currency controls and a race-to-the bottom dynamic that only serves to deepen the long-term effects of the financial crisis.

• Re-engineered Western-centrism is a highly coordinated and financially homogenous world that has yet to face up to the realities of shifting power and the dangers of regulating for the last crisis rather than the next.

• Rebalanced multilateralism is a world in which initial barriers to coordination and disagreement over effective risk management approaches are overcome in the context of rapidly shifting geo-economic power.

The report was developed by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with Oliver Wyman and overseen by a steering committee of 20 leading industry practitioners and academics.

The full report can be freely downloaded from the World Economic Forum website

Picture from Creative Commons: Flickr: d70focus

Financial Exchanges & Market Structure - Credit Derivatives

 Financial Exchanges & Market Structure - Credit Derivatives
Credit Derivatives: The Issues, The Opportunities and Investment
Credit Suisse - North America - Chen, Howard et al. 
24 Pages 29-Sep-2008 Rpt. 13965764

"Credit derivatives are among the most highly collateralized asset classes within the OTC
derivatives market—BIS currently estimates 74% of OTC credit TC trades are backed by collateral; this contrasts with only 52% for OTC equity trades and 44% in the foreign exchange market. As access to capital remains constrained through the current cycle, we believe CDS market growth could suffer."

Extract from page 3 of the above report produced last autum. To read the full report staff, students and faculty of the London business School should us the Investext database in Portal.

The report includes

    Sizing the Credit Derivatives Market
    Graph - Exhibit 1: Global Derivatives Growth, 1998-2007
    Graph - Exhibit 2: OTC Derivatives Outstanding, 2007
    Graph - Exhibit 3: CDS Notional Amount Outstanding
    Graph - Exhibit 4: CDS -- Single- vs. Multi-name Contracts  
    Growing Pains
    Graph - Exhibit 5: OTC Derivative Trades Backed by Collateral
    Graph - Exhibit 6: OTC Derivative Exposure Backed by Collateral  
    Graph - Exhibit 7: OTC Credit Confirmations Outstanding
    Graph - Exhibit 8: OTC Trade Errors by Product
    Table/Chart: Exhibit 9: Sources of Trade Errors in OTC Credit 
    Centralized Clearing Is a Solution
    Graph - Exhibit 10: CME Clearing House -- Financial Safeguard Package 
    Why Now? The Catalysts
    Graph - Exhibit 11: Broker-Dealer Credit Default Swap Spreads
    Table/Chart: Exhibit 12: Broker-Dealer S&P L/T Debt Ratings 
    Graph - Exhibit 13: Broker-Dealer 5-Year Synthetic Debt Spreads
    Graph - Exhibit 14: Broker Share Price Performance, 2007-2008
    Why Now? The Catalysts (CONT)
    Graph - Exhibit 15: Broker-Dealer Adj. Net Leverage, 4Q04-3Q08
    Table/Chart: Exhibit 16: Broker Leverage vs. Bank Industry.........and more...

Or maybe look at:

European Wholesale & Investment Banks - The Structured Credit Markt-To -Market Track

 J.P. Morgan - Abouhossein, Kian, Et Al   

14-Nov-2008 Rpt. 14154349  Pages: 51

 

TIP: to find these reports go to Investext full search and enter the report number in the appropriate box and ensure the date range goes back far enough.

 

Picture: Creative Commons: FlickR:

The 2008 corporate contributions report

This report is based on The Conference Board 2008 Corporate Contributions Survey, which collects and analyzes data on charitable contributions made by US-based companies. The annual survey was conducted between March and June 2008. The respondent companies (197) are among the largest corporate donors in the United States, with total US and international contributions of $10.97 billion in 2007. The contributions data contained in this report were collected directly from each company. Pre-tax income, sales, and employee data for this report are primarily based on data as reported by Standard & Poor’s Research Insight database. Responses to this year’s edition of survey indicate that charitable giving by companies and corporate foundations grew at a moderate rate in FY 2007 and outpaced corporate profits. Among the companies surveyed total contributions equalled $10.97 billion in 2007

Beneficiaries of corporate support – key findings include:

Health and human services organizations received the largest share of US corporate support at 53.01% ($4.56 billion). Of the industry total, pharmaceutical companies gave the largest share of contributions to health and human services organizations

Education received the second largest share of US corporate support at 18.65% ($1.60 billion)

Culture and the arts received nearly 5% ($400.01 million) with banks contributed the most ($120.14 million)

Civic and community organizations received nearly 13% ($1.09 billion) with computers and technology companies contributing the most ($323 million, up from $41.86 million in 2006)

Environmental organizations received the smallest share ($116.53 million) just 1.35%. Utility companies made the largest contribution ($17.48 million),

The “other” category includes contributions that do not fall into any of the five main beneficiary categories or for which the recipient is unknown. This category includes support for US-based international organizations, sponsorship of special events, public broadcasting and media, grants to public policy research organizations, religious and faith-based organizations, economic/business related organizations. Organizations in this category received nearly 10% of 2007 US corporate giving ($824.31 million)

The full report is available to current London Business School students, faculty, staff and alumni from the Conference Board Research database which can be found on the A-Z list of library databases via Portal.

Top executive compensation in 2008

The Conference Board have published the results of their annual Top executive compensation survey. Two years ago new rules for the disclosure of executive and director compensation were introduced by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). These changes were intended to provide shareholders and other readers of proxy statements with clearer and more consistent executive compensation data. They were also designed to provide companies with more direction regarding form and content for the presentation of executive and director compensation information. Requirements now include both narrative and tabulated information about the compensation committee’s activities and considerations.  In addition to the new Compensation Discussion and Analysis (CD&A), the SEC requires more extensive executive compensation disclosures covering three broad categories: current compensation, equity-related holdings that can be the source of future gains, and retirement plans and other post-employment compensation.
 
In line with these changes this report considers both total cash and total CEO compensation including salary, bonus, non-equity incentive compensation—plus the value of option grants, other stock awards, increases in pension and deferred compensation values, and other compensation, primarily perquisites with a value of $10,000 or more.  The data analyzed for this report was initially compiled by Salary.com and provides findings about each of the elements of compensation reported in the proxy tables and their relationship to executive salary and total compensation. After merging the data sources from Salary.com, 2,154 companies were analyzed and categorized into 22 industries.
 
The full report is available to London Business School students, faculty, staff and alumni from the Conference Board Research database which can be found on the A-Z list of library database via Portal

Picture from Creative Commons: Flickr: dmmd303

Latest City indicators bulletin from the IFSL

  IFSL’s quarterly City Indicators Bulletin sets out trends in the latest quarter on key indicators related to trends in financial markets and to business activity in central London.

- A growing gap between vacancies & candidates emerges 
- New City job vacancies dropped by 5,300 in Q3 to 21,400
- Substantial fall in business volumes in Q3 expected to continue in Q4
- Only one sector reported arise in business volumes in Q3

The report covers: employment central London indicators of activity and financial market indicators.

The report can be found at the IFSL site - click here to access

 

Banking banana skins 2008: an industry in turmoil

The Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation (CSFI) has recently completed its 12th banana skins survey of leading members of the finance industry.  The survey, sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers, puts together a league table identifying perceived risks to the industry and ranks them by severity.

The survey questionnaire was in three parts. In the first, respondents were asked to describe, in their own words, their main concerns about the financial system over the next 2-3 years. In the second, they were asked to rate a list of potential risks, selected by a CSFI/PricewaterhouseCoopers panel, by severity on a scale of 1-5 and whether they were rising, steady or falling. In the third, they were asked to rate the preparedness of financial institutions to handle the risks they identified. Replies were confidential, but respondents could choose to be identified. The survey was conducted in February and March 2008 and received 376 responses from 38 countries.

Unsurprisingly this year’s poll is dominated by concerns over current market conditions. The top 10 concerns identified are:

1 Liquidity
2 Credit risk
3 Credit spreads
4 Derivatives
5 Macro-economic trends
6 Risk management techniques
7 Equities
8 Too much regulation
9 Interest rates
10 Hedge funds

The full report can be downloaded from the PricewaterhouseCooper’s website (pre-registration is required)

Picture from Creative Commons: Flickr: _ES

Financial stability report

Following a year of severe stress in the banking system, growing evidence has emerged of a slowdown in the economy and further bank losses. This has heightened fears of continued falling asset prices, tighter credit conditions and slower economic growth. Failures of some institutions were followed by severe dislocation in the global interbank funding network. This has led to acute strains in banking systems both internationally and in the United Kingdom.

In October of this year, the UK authorities announced a set of system-wide measures that addressed the perceived weaknesses in banks’ capital and funding structures. The package supports capital raising to strengthen banks’ resilience and offers assurance about banks’ liquidity positions. Other countries have subsequently announced measures with similar underlying principles. Early signs suggest these measures have helped underpin the banking system. However, risks in the financial system still remain. Over time, against the backdrop of an economic downturn, banks will need to adjust their balance sheets and funding models, weaning themselves off current exceptional levels of official sector support. Recapitalisation should ease this adjustment, but lending growth will take time to recover. As the system stabilises, a fundamental rethink will be needed of how to address systemic risks, both through improved regulatory frameworks and developing new macroprudential policies to dampen the credit cycle.

This latest report from the Bank of England provides:

• An analysis of developments that culminated in the turmoil of recent months.
• The reasons for the exceptional measures taken by the UK authorities and those in other countries.
• The Bank’s view on the short-term prospects for the financial system and on the medium-term reforms necessary to address systemic risks.

Click here to read the report in full

Picture from Creative Commons: Flickr: TGIGreeny

Money’s too tight to mention: will the IPOD generation ever trust financial services?

This research report from Reform and the Chartered Insurance Institute presents the findings of a recent research project investigating the financial position of Generation IPOD.  The project findings paint a complex picture of this unique and under-reported group of adults.

The IPOD generation are arguably much better off than their parents, having grown up in relative political and economic stability and high consumer goods affluence.  However as a result of this stability they have developed a false sense of security, and lack the instinctive fear of previous generations with regards to financial provision. They face unprecedented levels of debt, stemming from a dangerous combination of a “have it now” mentality and a period of historically low interest rates. Over half of IPODs said they have debts of up to £10,000 and the same proportion that has no debt at all owe £10,000 or more. Whereas nearly a third of other adults said they have no debts, and only just over one in ten have debts over £10,000.  On the savings side, nearly a third of IPODs have no savings compared to fewer than one in ten of other adults. Meanwhile one in five of IPODs have savings of over £5,000, whereas a quarter of other adults have £20,000 or more. With this dependence on easy money, a working life spent debt-servicing and the obsolescence of defined-benefit final salary pension schemes, the IPODs risk retiring into poverty.

Despite the fact that IPODs are using financial products more intensively than previous generations, accessing banking, credit, and insurance at a relatively young age compared to their parents. The report found that this group remain detached from the one set of products and services they need the most: pensions and investments, and the financial advice needed to access them. A clear message from the report is that IPODs perceive the industry as failing them as a generation. Products are too complex, and do not respond to their flexible lifestyles. The report suggests that restoring the IPOD generation’s trust and confidence is paramount.

To read the report in full click here

The credit crunch: some relevant reading

Richard Bookstaber, A Demon of our own design: markets, hedge funds, and the perils of financial innovation
John Wiley, 2007

Hugo Bouleau, The Final crash: addictive debt and the deformation of the world economy
Pendula Press, 2007

George Cooper, The Origin of financial crises: central banks, credit bubbles and the efficient market fallacy
Harriman House Publishing, 2008

Mohamed El-Erian, When markets collide: investment strategies for the age of global economic change
McGraw-Hill, 2008

Larry Elliott and Dan Atkinson, The Gods that failed: how blind faith in markets has cost us our future
Bodley Head, 2008

Alan Greenspan, The Age of turbulence: adventures in a new world
Allen Lane, 2007

Charles R Morris, Trillion dollar meltdown: easy money, high rollers, and the great credit crash
PublicAffairs, 2008

Robert Shiller, The Subprime solution: how today's global financial crisis happened, and what to do about it
Princeton University Press, 2008

George Soros, The New paradigm for financial markets: the credit crisis of 2008 and what it means
PublicAffairs, 2008

Graham Turner, The Credit crunch: housing bubbles, globalisation and the worldwide economic crisis
Pluto Press, 2008

... and not forgetting the daddy of them all:

John Kenneth Galbraith, The Great crash 1929
Penguin, 1992 printing

All the books are either in library stock or on order

FT Goldman Sachs business book of the year 2008

The winner is Mohamed El-Erian for When markets collide. Mr El-Erian is a co-chief executive of PIMCO, the world’s biggest bond fund manager. While most pundits dismiss conflicting messages about the economy and the markets as ‘noise’, Mr El-Erian argues that they signal deep, structural changes and realignments that are radically redefining the investment game. “When markets collide” brings readers up to speed on the new economic and investing landscape – its challenges and risks. Previous winners of the Business Book of the Year prize include The Last tycoons, China shakes the world and The World is flat.

Copies are held in the library, plus there is an electronic copy available.

FT Goldman Sachs business book of the year

The Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year prize - worth £30,000 to the winner - aims to identify the book that provides ”the most compelling and enjoyable insight into modern business issues, including management, finance and economics”.  Here is this year's shortlist:

A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Has Shaped the World from Prehistory to the Present
By William Bernstein, Atlantic Books

A Splendid Exchange sets out to establish just what drove early man to trade and to examine its profound influence on the world we know today. Mr Bernstein, an expert on Modern Portfolio Theory and author of several self-help finance books, suggests that an analysis of the history of trade might teach us about how to avoid seemingly new anxieties about globalisation and the flattening of the world.

Cold Steel: The Multi-billion-dollar Battle for a Global Industry
By Tim Bouquet & Byron Ousey, Little Brown Book Group

Cold Steel presents the story of the 2006 takeover of Arcelor, a venerated European steel company, by Lakshmi Mittal, a Calcutta-born industrialist who rose from humble beginnings to become the world’s fourth-richest man. 
Mr Bouquet, a journalist and contributor to the Telegraph magazine, and Mr Ousey, a managing director at Gavin Anderson, an international financial public relations consultancy, take readers inside the battle that sent shockwaves through the political corridors of Europe and transformed the global steel industry.

McMafia: Crime Without Frontiers
By Misha Glenny, Random House

For three years, Mr Glenny, a distinguished journalist who has worked for The Guardian and the BBC, recorded the stories of gun runners in Ukraine, money launderers in Dubai, drug syndicates in Canada and other criminal enterprises. Together those experiences build a breathtaking picture of the shadow economy that may now account for up to 20 per cent of the world’s GDP.

Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy
By Lawrence Lessig, The Penguin Press

America’s copyright laws were designed to protect artists’ creations while allowing them to build on previous creative works. But now, new technologies have made it easy to flout these laws and ensured that some of today’s most talented artists are felons. They burn copyrighted CDs, ‘bite’ riffs from films and videos and make new art from them.  Mr Lessig, a Professor of Law at Stanford Law School and founder of the school’s Center for Internet and Society, shows how we can and must embrace a ‘read-write culture,’ which allows its users to create art as readily as they consume it.

The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life
By Alice Schroeder, Bloomsbury Publishing

‘The Snowball’ recounts the life and times of one of the most respected men in the world - Warren Buffett. The legendary Omaha investor has never written a memoir, but he allowed Ms Schroeder to explore directly with him - and with those closest to him - his work opinions, struggles, triumphs, follies and wisdom.  Ms Schroeder, an insurance industry analyst and one time managing director at Morgan Stanley, gives new insights into Buffett’s character and life, distilling the principles and philosophies that have guided him on a path to extraordinary success and esteem.

When Markets Collide: Investment Strategies for the Age of Global Economic Change
By Mohamed El-Erian, McGraw-Hill

Mr El-Erian is a co-chief executive of PIMCO, the world’s biggest bond fund manager. While most pundits dismiss conflicting messages about the economy and the markets as ‘noise’, Mr El-Erian argues that they signal deep, structural changes and realignments that are radically redefining the investment game.  “When Markets Collide” brings readers up to speed on the new economic and investing landscape – its challenges and risks.

The winner will be announced this evening at a gala dinner in New York.

Where is your pension invested? Try Thomson Ownership

Where has your pension fund invested?

I have just looked at my pension to see which shares the scheme has invested in. I wondered how many were banks!

To do this go into the database and choose investors from the left hand column and search for the name of the fund. Then click on the view portfolio option (top right).

With Thomson Ownership you can also:

Research the owners of a specific security
Produce reports on the top 50 Institutional, mutual fund, beneficial or insider holders
Identify & analyse comparable ownership positions
Dscover investment themes and strategies across groups of institutions
Poduce historical reports for last 2 years
Review debt holdings information for investment advisors, insurance companies, mutual and pension funds

Thomson ownership is available through Portal

It is available to current staff students and faculty of the London Business School

Financial market Trends: Europe vs US

IFSL’s annual report Financial Market Trends: Europe vs. US brings together and compares the size of key financial market in Europe with the US.

IFSL’s October 2008 report found that in more than half of the activities monitored trading in Europe outstrips the US in 2007. Over the longer period since 2001 activity in Europe rose relative to the US in 13 out of 18 markets

The survey reveals that in over half of activities, 10 out of 16, Europe’s share
rose relative to the US between 2006 and 2007, with no relative change in
one activity. Over the longer term between 2001 and 2007 Europe’s share
rose in 13 out of 18 markets. Most of the gains over the past six years have
been in 8 out of 9 sectors where activity in Europe is smaller than the US.
The largest gains in Europe have been in management of hedge fund assets
and issuance of domestic bonds. Europe has also made some large relative
gains since 2001 in sectors where it has the larger market, including cross border bank lending, issuance of international bonds, IPOs and isurance premiums.

The US has made up ground in a few areas in recent years, particularly
foreign equity trading, where the gap with Europe has been largely closed, as
well as OTC derivatives where Europe’s lead has been curtailed. The overall
trend over a number of years demonstrates London’s continuing importance
as the capital for many of Europe’s wholesale financial markets.

To read the report go to:

http://www.ifsl.org.uk/output/ReportItem.aspx?NewsID=44

Picture: Creative Commons: FlickR: formfaktor

End

Risk's 2008 interdealer brokers survey

  No rest for the brokers

The crisis in the financial markets has meant the leading interdealer brokers are busier than ever. But despite the change in market conditions, many of the themes - in particular, consolidation - are identical to previous years.

The largest brokerage firms dominated Risk's 2008 interdealer brokers survey, highlighting that when the market is in crisis, flow consolidates around the biggest names. London-based Icap won 28 of the interest rate categories, down one from last year's 29 first-place wins, but 16 more than its nearest rival, Tullett Prebon, which won 12 interest rate categories. In currencies, Tradition-Icap took first place with eight wins versus seven for Tullett Prebon.

Meanwhile, New York-based GFI further increased its dominance of the credit derivatives sector, winning 15 of the 16 categories, while London-based specialist equity broker Sunrise dominated the equity derivatives segment, taking first position in 19 of the 23 categories.

To read this in full go to Risk Magazine:

Portal >Library>A-Z list of Databases>Risk Magazine

Available to staff, students and faculty of the London Business School

Picture : Creative Commons:FlickR: xrrr

Environmental, social and governance: moving to mainstream Investing?

The use of environmental, social and governance criteria (ESG) has steadily grown amongst socially responsible investors over the past 20 years, but there are a number of obstacles preventing its full integration into mainstream investments. This new report from Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) examines how mainstream financial institutions are incorporating ESG criteria, the barriers that are preventing broader use of the criteria, and potential solutions to these challenges.

The reports findings suggest that it is a lack of standardization that is preventing full integration of ESG criteria. This is seen in two main ways: firstly, it is evident that judgements are being made about which ESG criteria are likely to yield a positive returns and which are not; Secondly, ESG criteria can include a range of different issues, depending on the regions and sectors with companies differentiating themselves based on their own methodology of integration. There is also widespread opinion amongst many investors that there is insufficient long-term data to substantiate the claims from organizations such as the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) and Sustainability Asset Management (SAM) that there is a positive association between the inclusions of these criteria and enhanced financial performance.

The report attempts to answer the following questions:

• How do companies and other players (research firms, shareholders, etc.) incorporate ESG criteria into mainstream investing culture?
• How is the effect of ESG criteria incorporation being measured, and do these efforts have an impact?
• What are the barriers to successfully incorporating these criteria into mainstream investing and what are possible solutions to those barriers?

Click here to read the full report

Global private equity investments up 35% in 2007 despite credit crisis

Global private equity investments up 35% in 2007 despite credit crisis.

A record $686bn of private equity was invested globally in 2007, up over a third on the previous year mostly due to strong buyouts activity according to IFSL’s Private Equity 2008 report.

Private equity fund raising also surpassed prior years with $494bn raised, up 10% on 2006. Despite growing turbulence in the financial markets in the latter part of the year, activity was split equally between the first and second half of the year. Early indicators show that activity is down in the first half of 2008 in comparison to the same period in 2007 as it became more difficult for private equity firms to obtain debt financing from banks to complete private equity deals.

The UK private equity market is the most developed outside the US, managing 9% of global investments and 12% of funds raised in 2007. The UK is the most important European country in the management of investments and raising of funds with around one-half of the European total. At 1.7% of GDP, the UK has a higher share of investments and funds raised than any other country apart from the US.

The 2007 global regional breakdown of private equity activity shows that North America accounted for 71% of global private equity investments and 66% of funds raised. It was followed by Europe with 15% of investments and 22% of funds raised. Asia-Pacific and emerging markets have become more important as investment destinations in recent years, particularly of China, Singapore, South Korea and India.

Click here to read Private Equity 2008

Picture: Creative Commons: FlickR: Atelier Tee

International hedge funds

Despite recent market turbulence, the hedge fund industry continues to experience remarkable growth in assets under management and in the number and type of institutions that are investing in hedge funds.

Assets under management of the global hedge fund industry increased 30% in 2007 to a record $2,250bn according to the 2008 edition of IFSL’s Hedge Funds report. Most of this growth was in the first three quarters, as market turbulence in the latter part of the year resulted in a slowdown in inflow of new funds and a decline in average returns.

This report is an update of IFSL’s previous overview of the global hedge fund industry and gives particular emphasis to London’s role as the second largest global centre for hedge funds.

End

Picture:FlickR: Creative Commons:slack12

Is investing in art a good idea during the credit crunch?

If you are lucky enough to have the money, is investing in art a good idea during the credit crunch?

That is what financial guru Alvin Hall sets out to explore in this week's programme on BBC Radio 4.

The renowned art market observer, Godfrey Barker said that in the art world pictures are still "singing and dancing". Alvin asks art and investment experts in the UK and in the US if the art market can maintain its current strength through the credit crunch. And though a picture may be worth a thousand words, what makes it worth thousands or even millions of pounds?

Alvin Hall's World of Money: Art was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Saturday 2 August at 1204 BST. A longer version of the programme was broadcast on Monday 4 August at 1502 BST.

A podcast is available: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/moneybox/7537163.stm

Alvin also looked at other alternative asset classes in two previous programmes and these can be listened to:

Programme 1: Commodities

Programme 2: Wine

Programme 3: Art

END

Credit risk

The latest issue of the Journal of fixed income is a special issue on credit risk. The six articles presented were selected from the proceedings of the 2008 Midwest Finance Association conference held in Texas earlier this year. Contributions include an article from Tarashev and Shu on correlated default risk by comparing correlations in single-name CDS with index CDS and find a substantial time-varying correlation risk premium. Next, Kunisch and Uhrig-Homburg provide a new approach to modeling dependent defaults in a portfolio.  Frank Xiaoling Zhang examines the credit market and default risk premium in credit default swap prices in the case of Argentine default. While Huang and Zhang in their paper provide empirical evidence of an upward-sloping credit spread curve for investment grade and high yield bonds for both zero-coupon and coupon bonds.  Ambrose, Cai, and Helwege investigate insurance company sales of bonds that were downgraded to junk in order to document the extent of forced selling of fallen angels.  Finally, Nimmanunta,  Chiarawongse & Tirapat provide an alternative framework to price Collateralized Debt Obligations (CDOs) based on a special case of Levy distribution called a Meixner distribution.

The latest issue of the Journal of fixed income (Vol. 18:1) can be found in the journals collection located in the library basement.

Beyond the credit crisis: the impact and lessons learnt for investment managers

Credit crisis highlights skills gap in investment management industry

A report produced by KPMG International in cooperation with the Economist Intelligence Unit examines in detail how fund flows, returns and reputations of investment managers have been impacted by the credit crisis and the economic conditions of the past 12 months. It investigates how, in light of the challenges presented by the credit crisis, investment management firms are managing the increasing complexity of the instruments and strategies they adopt.

The research outline the need for a re-examination of skills and experience requirements, risk management processes and governance structures.
Fund managers have struggled to recruit and retain appropriate talent to match the increasing demand for and sophistication in the use of complex financial instruments found KPMG International’s latest survey into the investment management industry:

“Beyond the credit crisis: the impact and lessons learnt for investment managers” launched today at Fund Forum International in Barcelona.
In fact, the research found that while use of complex financial instruments is rising (57 percent of traditional fund management firms surveyed said they use derivatives in their portfolios), 20 percent of fund manager respondents admitted to having no in-house specialist with relevant experience of the complex financial instruments in which they have invested.
Tom Brown, European Regional Head of KPMG’s Investment Management practice and partner in the UK firm said:

“Staff skill sets have struggled to keep up with the growing sophistication of the industry. These firms cannot afford to continue ‘flying blind’. Migrating experienced people from the investment banks to investment management firms could be one way of addressing this issue.”

Institutional investors revealed they are at greater risk still with around one in three investing in these instruments saying they have no in-house experience of them.

To read the Report:

http://www.kpmg.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/Beyond_the_credit_crisis.pdf

Private Equity - Report on Investment Activity 2007

Report on Investment Activity Summary 2007
Released 26 June 2008

The BVCA today published the 2007 Summary Report on Investment Activity results in conjunction with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. The survey shows that investment by BVCA member firms increased by more than one third in 2007, despite the turbulent conditions caused by the credit crunch in the second half of the year.

Total investment by member firms, which includes the vast majority of private equity and venture capital assets managed in the UK, was up from £21.9bn to £31.6bn – a 45% rise. But this partly reflected the increase in BVCA membership from 192 to 214 member firms during the year.  Adjusting for this, the underlying increase was 37%.

Activity was split equally between the first and second half of the year and investments were made in 1680 companies in total, compared with 1630 in 2006 and 1535 in 2005.Investment in UK companies continued to increase last year, rising from £10bn in 2006 to £12bn in 2007.  But the inclusion of new BVCA members, including several large buyout houses, has meant that investment in continental European companies increased at a faster rate – up from £10bn to £14bn last year.

To read the full report go to the BVCA website.

End

Picture: Creative Commons: FlickR: Matthew Fang

International insurance fact book 2007-2008

The Insurance Information Institute has just published its annual International insurance fact book 2007-08. This latest study, based on direct premium data from 145 countries, provides detailed data on 88 countries with premium volume of at least $280 million in 2005. It also includes a worldwide overview of the industry and rankings of the top global insurance companies based on revenues. World insurance premium volume, for both sectors combined (life and nonlife), totalled $3.4 trillion for 2005, up 2.5% from 2004, according to a survey of world insurance premiums conducted by Swiss Re.  It also shows that life premiums and non-life premiums increased by 3.9% and 0.6%, respectively during the same period. All growth rates in the study were measured in “real terms” i.e. inflation, as measured by local consumer prices indices, is deducted.

Click here to read the report in full

Want to find out more? Try the latest issue of Sigma, a series published by Swiss Re which provides comprehensive information on the international insurance markets and in-depth analyses of economic trends and strategic issues in insurance, reinsurance and financial services, covering life and non-life business. Click here to see the latest study World insurance in 2007: emerging markets leading the way

Picture from Creative commons: Flickr: mwboeckmann

Distressed Debt Market Outlooks 2008

Debtwire publishes real-time news and data for financial professionals in fixed income markets across the world. Debtwire is part of the Mergermarket Group, a division of the Financial Times Group, publisher of the Financial Times newspaper and FT.com.

It is a subscription service but from their website you can download for free their Distressed Debt Market Outlooks for 2008 for a range of regions. Click on the following links to read them:

• Europe
• North-America
• Asia Pacific

End

Board focus on M&A: a closer look at industry trends for 2008

Already 2008 is proving to be an interesting and challenging year for most industries. As speculation increases about the onset of economic recession, many analysts believe that such a downturn would only moderately impact M&A activity and in some instances may even encourage activity as stronger players shop for deals in an opportunistic environment. In this special supplement of the Corporate board member, Deloitte LLP industry leaders participated in four separate roundtable discussions with several other strategic consulting, legal and financial advisory firms. The aim of these discussions was to look ahead at growth strategies and issues facing M&A across four key industries: energy & utilities; consumer business; financial services & insurance; tech, media & telecommunications.

The supplement concludes that continued foreign interest in US companies, convergence and non-traditional distressed deals are all factors that have helped to maintain a steady pace in M&A activity for 2008. It is unlikely that this will be a year for yield blockbuster deals, but a 20-year high in corporate cash balances, and partnering opportunities for private equity firms and sovereign wealth funds, should ensure an interesting year for deal-making, both in the United States and globally.

The report can be downloaded from the Deloitte website

Picture from Creative Commons: Flickr:thinkpanama

M&A activity in Central & Eatern Europe

The May issue of Acquisitions monthly features a special supplement on M&A activity in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). With M&A activity continuing to thrive, Justin Pugsley reports on how convergence with the west has created some unique opportunities for investors. There is an interview with Mark Mobius, emerging markets guru and executive chairman of Templeton Asset management about the increasing potential M&A activity. Robert Venes looks at fundraising activities, what exactly is attracting institutional investors to this region? Christopher Spink focuses on the construction sector in which is continuing to grow and attract acquirers hunting for consolidation opportunities. There is also a report of the Czech utility giants CEZ and their attempts at expansion.  Dominant state ownership of energy assets in the region and increasingly intense competition for assets that do come into the market are proving difficult barriers for the company to overcome.

The latest edition of Acquisitions monthly can be found in the journals collection located in the library basement.

Investment banking - research guide

The Library has recently produced a new Research Guide to help students who are interested in researching the Investment Banking Industry.

The guide concentrates on the databases the school has access to and includes:

1. Industry overviews
2. Directories & company databases
3. Research reports & rankings
4. Current awareness (newspapers, wires, journals, trade press, blogs)
5. Associations & websites
6. Careers

This Research Resource Guide can be found on our website and in portal.

Or click here for a copy.

Picture: Creative Commons- Flickr: Bombman

International financial markets in the UK

The latest bulletin from the IFSL examines the international position of UK financial services. Despite a recent slowdown in some sectors, its international position remains strong. Highlights from the bulletin include:

• Economic trends indicators show that ‘City-type’ employment totalled 353,000 at the end of 2007, up 11,000 from 2006. IFSL estimates that there may be a loss of 10,000 ‘City-type’ jobs in 2008. The UK financial services trade surplus increased 29% in 2007 to a record £33.2bn. Financial services increased their share of UK GDP to 10.1% in 2007 from 9.4% in the previous year.

• London was the leading location for number of IPOs in 2007 with an 18% global share. Trading in UK and foreign listed companies on the LSE increased 13% in 2007 to £7,704bn. The London Stock Exchange had a leading 46% share of foreign equity trading in 2007.

• The UK’s one-quarter share of net issues in the international bond market in 2007 was up from 15% in 2006.

To read the bulletin in full click here (PDF 2.04mb)

Broker industry supplement

The latest issue of Post magazine includes a supplement devoted to the broking sector. The supplement starts off with an interview with Kwik Fit services managing director Martin Oliver, who has helped transform KFIS’s working environment and is credited with doubling company turnover. Last year the company won employer of the year award at the National Business Awards for Scotland and continues to be among the top five best companies to work for in Scotland. Other features include: highlights from a Post roundtable on pricing; mystery shopper results from an independent broker placing fleet business in order to assess insurers’ current stance on accepting business; a look at the state of broker start-ups and the support they are likely to receive from insurers and networks; plus the future of private equity buys into the broker market, are they drying up?

The latest issue of Post magazine can be found on the magazine stand located on the first floor of the library.

Putting a public face on private equity

Putting a Public Face on Private Equity

Hartmann, Janet. Online, Mar/Apr2008, Vol. 32 Issue 2, p14-18,

An article in Online Magazine which describes the structure of the private equity industry and discusses the sources of industry data. It provides a useful introduction to the area and the research resources available.

Note the library has a research resource guide to venture capital and private equity. To read it: Portal > Library > Help and Advice > Research Resource Guides

Staff students and faculty at the London Business School can read the full text of the article in Business Source Complete. Portal > Library > A-Z list of databases > Business Source Complete

Simply log in and and type in the search box: putting a public face

Picture: creative commons: Flickr: Jonny Grim

The future of payments; retail banking in the US; after the credit crunch and more...

The latest edition of Frontiers in Finance by KPMG focuses on 'hot' topics in the financial services sector in general, and the retail banking sector in particular.

KPMG examine new ways to help retail banks to become more innovative, customer-focused and better prepared to deal with payments fraud.

Other topics touched upon include the Credit Crunch, Economic Capital, Branch Effectiveness and the implications of the Single European Payments Area (SEPA). We also look at the emerging markets and the development of Islamic finance.

To read - click on the link below:

http://www.kpmg.com/Industries/FS/Other/FIFMarch2008a.htm

Picture: Creative Commons: Flickr: Marirs

Recent advances in measuring and managing market risk

The latest issue of The European journal of finance is a special issue covering recent advances in measuring and managing market risk. The issue presents a compilation of some of the papers presented at the Deloitte conferences on risk management research in the financial industry. Best paper award was presented to Pirotte and Vaessen who examine residual value risk in the European leasing industry.  The other contributions include: Michael Koetter study of the stability of efficiency rankings among German universal banks between 1993 and 2004;  Smith and Tambakis who examine changing persistence in US Treasury on/off spreads under weighted-symmetric estimation; Anderluh  and Borovkova’s paper prices European style options on commodities and commodity futures using a new potential function approach; and finally, Jasper Anderluh paper develops a Monte Carlo Simulation method to price Parisian options.

The latest issue of The European journal of finance can be found in the journals collection located in the library basement.

Alternatively, current staff, students and faculty can use Article Finder (available via Portal) to find out which of our databases provides full-text access to this journal.

Picture from Creative Commons: Flickr: Bah Humbug

Banking in 2050: How big will the emerging markets get?

This latest report from PricewaterhouseCooper examines the potential changes in the scale of the banking  sector between now and 2050.  It follows on from an earlier report, ‘The World in 2050’, which discussed the rapid growth and increasing global significance of the ‘E7’ emerging economies: China, India, Brazil, Russia, Mexico, Indonesia and Turkey. The report estimated that the E7 economies could be larger than the current G7 by between 25% and 75%, depending on the measure used. Following on from this, Banking 2050 highlights the pace of change and provides some scale to the size of the opportunity and challenge. It also as identifies five main drivers that could affect all financial institutions: demographics, the economic cycle, politics, regulation and reporting, and technology. The report concludes that adopting the right strategy and maintaining a competitive edge in these emerging markets will present a major challenge for North American and European banks. To read the report in full click here

Cash managment

The March issue of the Treasurer includes the second edition of The Treasurer’s cash management supplement. With the continuing affects of the credit crunch, Graham Buck and Jennifer Carruth examine the problems of late payments for companies of all sizes. Axel-Peter Ohse from Deutsche Bank looks at the financial supply chain management and its potential for significant cost savings. The supplement also includes articles on the key elements for selecting the right system, how to make certain that your system stays secure and what policies and procedures should be in place to fight fraud.

The latest issue of the Treasurer can be found in the journals collection located in the library basement.