January 2005 Archives

By Renée Bonorchis -

Johannesburg - Local might be lekker, but with the rand dollar at levels of R6 and below for over two months, it's a good time to invest offshore, according to market experts.

The Association for Collective Investments, which monitors the unit trust industry, said this week that private investors earmarked more than R1.3 billion for foreign currency unit trusts in the December quarter, which "could be the first indication that local investors are taking advantage of the strong rand to invest offshore".

By Alexander Jolliffe -

For investors who bought technology funds during the internet boom, only to see their value halve when the bubble burst, studying “behavioural finance”, the analysis of irrational investor behaviour, could pay big dividends.

Behavioural finance contrasts with the traditional argument that markets are “efficient” that is, share prices reflect publicly available information. According to this traditional school of thought, it is difficult to outwit the market as this means getting information before everyone else.

By Zachary Howard -

NEW YORK, Jan 27 (Reuters) - The newest U.S. gold exchange-traded fund, iShares COMEX Gold Trust, will make its long awaited debut on the American Stock Exchange on Friday under the ticker symbol IAU, Barclays Global Investors said on Thursday.

"We heard from the SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) late last night that we are effective with our gold product and we're scheduled to launch tomorrow," a Barclays spokeswoman said.

London Bullion Market Assocation have released a 10 page report called "Annual Metal Winners 2004".

The best visions of the future often start by looking at the past.

Last year held rewards for both the bulls and bears and also for those in the middle. The 2004 average for gold hovered near $410 at years-end approached, a level none in last year's Forecast had chosen.

Read the report by clicking here.

By Jennifer Hughes -

An internet-based trading group will this week become the first non-bank provider of foreign exchange products to be approved by Chinese regulators. The move is the latest example of China opening its tightly controlled financial markets to foreign companies.

CMC Group, a UK-based company which runs financial trading websites around the world, has been granted a licence, numbered 1, by the Chinese Banking Regulatory Commission which covers financial services.

By: Elspeth Carson -

TRADITIONALLY, commercial property has been a closed shop as far as private investors are concerned.

High entry levels for good-quality transactions have meant that even high-net-worth individuals would have to think twice about jumping into the market. But the lure of the commercial property sector - the best performing asset class over the past five years - has fuelled ingenuity, and a new way to tap into the returns of this sector has emerged.

The price of gold could reach US$480 a troy ounce during the first half of 2005 if the euro strengthens to $1.39 in the same six-month period, investment bank Merrill Lynch said in a report issued this week.

The bank sees gold averaging $440/oz in 2005, with the metal trading in a range between $400/oz and $480/oz.

At 11h30, gold was quoted at $422.90/oz, up $1.05/oz from the metal's previous close of $421.85/oz, and the euro was quoted at $1.2989 from the European unit's late trade in New York on Thursday of $1.2964.

By Mark Uptigrove, CFA - from Morningstar.com

There's no question: The energy market is hot. Since the beginning of 2004, oil prices have soared more than 50%, while natural-gas prices have lingered well above historical averages. Likewise, energy stocks have posted dramatic returns as expected future cash flows have risen.

Naturally, our energy stock valuations are highly contingent upon the oil and natural-gas prices that we assume companies will realize in coming periods.

By Jame DiBiasio -

Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission has five priorities for improving the funds industry, topped by growing the hedge funds market, says Alexa Lam, executive director of intermediaries and investment products.

The authorized (retail) hedge funds industry in Hong Kong is small, but this belies the true size of the industry here, Lam says.

January is the time to take your view for the year, and most of my conversations with Wall Street players (or "playaz",depending on their self-image) in recent weeks have consisted of exchanging guesses about the macro prospects. Of course, one 12-month period should be not be different from any other but the outcome at the end of a calendar year sets much of the compensation for Wall Street employees or hedge fund managers. So I am going to make my bet for how 2005 turns out, in particular for the fixed income and currency markets.

By Dan Culloton -

The year just ended was a good one for exchange-traded funds. ETF assets grew by 47% to $222 billion, according to current figures in Morningstar's database. ETF purveyors launched dozens of funds, including groundbreaking gold and China offerings. The industry also buzzed with talk of creating other commodity-linked and even actively managed ETFs. Here's a look at some of 2004's trends, as well as a look ahead to 2005.

knowledge@wharton -

An economic drama is playing out as you read this, one whose next act is about to unfold. It began quietly enough on Thursday, Jan. 6, when the U.S. Department of Labor issued its weekly report on first-time unemployment-insurance claims. It found that 364,000 workers filed initial claims for unemployment benefits for the week ending Jan. 1 -- 43,000 more than during the previous week. The stock market rose slightly that day.

Accounting firm KPMG has released the latest set of findings from its Isle of Man Business Barometer, which indicate that business in the jurisdiction continued to see improved performance during the third quarter of 2004.

“The encouraging trends from the first half of the year are continuing, with over 85% of business reporting steady or improved sales in the third quarter,” noted the firm in its third Business Confidence Index report.

By Melanie Wright -

Moving abroad can be a daunting process, and for many expatriates, finding a safe home for their savings is a top priority.

Most high street banks in the UK have offshore subsidiaries that can provide a range of accounts tailored to suit the needs of expatriates, combining competitive rates of interest with the advantage of an offshore base.

By Michael Peltz -

In September 1998, Philip Duff left the security of his job as head of Morgan Stanley's mutual fund group to become chief operating officer at Tiger Management LLC, the hedge fund firm run by Julian Robertson.

On one day, during Duff's second week on the job, Tiger lost more than $2 billion when the Japanese yen rose against the dollar. Robertson had been betting the yen would decline. Two years later, Robertson, then 67, closed Tiger, which at its peak managed almost $23 billion and was the largest hedge fund manager in the world.

HONG KONG (Dow Jones)--The Hong Kong government has issued a new proposal on exempting offshore funds from paying profits tax in a bid to maintain the territory's status as an international financial center.

The new proposal, crafted by the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau, seeks to exempt non-Hong Kong residents from paying profits tax on income derived from the trading of local securities by offshore funds.

HSBC International deals with hundreds of enquiries a week, here are some of the most frequently asked questions with some answers.

1. What exactly is offshore investing?

In the financial sense, 'offshore' means a jurisdiction other than the one in which you live. Established offshore centres such as Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man have laws which may offer financial benefits when you bank and invest with them.

By Jonathan Curshen -

Some foreign jurisdictions allow the appointment of a trust protector. As the title indicates, this person is supposed to provide general oversight of trust operations to insure its objectives are met and the law is followed. Usually the grantor has the right to name the protector, and may even assume that position himself but the majority legal view is that a grantor should not also serve as trust protector.