Latest Content » ALTERNATIVES

Commodities are seeing record prices, and are being used in a variety of ways, but can be notoriously volatile. Martin Steward reports on how this makes structured products attractive

With clients become more sophisticated and calling for more complex products, concerns are emerging from wealth managers about inadequate systems and operating models. Nat Mankelow reports

Thibaud de Cherisey of Invesco explains why, as Europe’s appetite for ETFs grows, intelligent indicies look set for a bright future

Listed private equity funds offer efficient exposure to a great long-term investment opportunity that is otherwise tough to access for private investors and their intermediaries – and yet the sector is little known in the wider investment community. Martin Steward takes a look at how they work, and the pros and cons which the structure presents

Deutsche Bank has combined its global market and private wealth teams, providing foreign exchange products to a new breed of high net worth client. Nat Mankelow reports

— Simon Shapland

Simon Shapland of RBC Dexia Investor Services explains why global asset managers need to take a fresh approach to fund sales if they want to win in Asia

— Appreciation: available waterfront property in the Caribbean is becoming scarce

Luxury homes have not always been regarded as an asset class, but upwardly mobile, middle-class investors have changed all that – which is ­perhaps why these properties have been outperforming non-luxury dwellings for the past five years. Martin Steward investigates

“For a long time nobody regarded luxury homes as an asset class – they were just a luxury,” says Vere Bruce-Gardyne, managing director of the estate agency division of Letterstone, a property developer and fund manager with projects in Central Europe and the Caribbean. “That has changed over the last five years as the market has opened up to the expanding global middle class and their increasing ability to travel.”

— Chris Taylor, Blue Sky

Nat Mankelow talks to a rising UK boutique provider of structured products in a market that is showing increasing enthusiasm for the type of investments already popular elsewhere in Europe

Private individual and family office investors stress the importance of the qualitative – even the ‘emotional’ – when it comes to identifying ­investment needs. Martin Steward investigates

Structured entrepreneurial products, offering diversification across ­several asset classes, are among innovations introduced by the team reporting to José Barréiro in the Spanish bank’s new look funds and wholesale banking division, writes Nat Mankelow

— ‘The outlook has improved somewhat for attractive opportunities in 2008’ - Eleonore Dachicourt, CSPB

Martin Steward speaks to fund selectors and hedge fund managers about how they can best shape their investments to reduce volatility and improve returns following the financial crises of summer 2007

Nat Mankelow assesses whether ‘hidden’ assets such as volatility could provide a source of spice for risk-neutral structured product investors

— Sotheby’s offers loans regardless of clients’ creditworthiness and also offers advice to financial institutions

The niche for collateralising artworks has barely changed in 25 years. Will a new generation of collectors – and artists – open things up for new kinds of lending? Martin Steward reports

— Rodley: it is a small and distinguished band

Investors have had access to funds trading shipping equities and derivatives for some time. Now they can push that diversification further with a fund that trades the vessels themselves. Martin Steward reports

— Khezri: you have to believe in the artists

APT pools the work of young artists to help them prepare for retirement. Now it is leveraging its expertise to provide an investment advisory service in this volatile and under-researched sector, writes artin Steward

So-called exchange-traded commodities have hit the headlines of late, not always for the right reasons. However, with massive new inflows over the last year, how will it cope with the new demands? Martin Steward reports

— Lewis: next year could be dangerous

With an increasing trend for high-net-worth individuals to eschew institutionalised funds of hedge funds, how are private clients constructing their hedge fund portfolios – and managing the new risks? Martin Steward reports

Eleonore Dachicourt, Credit Suisse — ‘Some fund of hedge fund managers have developed strategic relationships with commercial banks in Spain’

European regulators may be about to lift restrictions on access to hedge funds, thereby opening the doors to retail investors, writes Martin Steward

— Juchault: equity strategies are simpler

Boutique chief executive Jean-Louis Juchault is confident his financial future is brighter than his rally prospects. Yuri Bender reports

— Lewis: next year could be dangerous

The outlook is bullish for the energy sector, while gold is performing strongly. Are commodities now a viable alternative? Elisa Trovato asks the questions

— Vorndran: commodities not all about oil

The notoriously volatile commodities market now looks stable. Elizabeth Cripps and Roxane McMeeken offer a guide to breaking into the asset class

— Demand for property in affluent areas of London seldom flags

London central property posts returns above other assets in a balanced portfolio, is immune to economic and political factors and, with the successful Olympic bid, its value is set to increase even further, writes Naomi Heaton

— Herm: scandal is good for the market

Despite the real estate market glut in Germany, a handful of innovative managers are starting to buy up assets, writes Roxane McMeeken

For a number of years several Scandinavian hedge fund managers have been quietly securing good performance – but now the secret’s out. Roxane McMeeken reports on Nordea’s new product offerings

— ‘Because the rules are now quite flexible for these new collective investment schemes, the market should develop’ - Jerome Sutour, Simmons & Simmons

With high net worth individuals in mind the French regulator has introduced rules to provide for structures that are allowed to invest in hedge funds. Henry Smith reports

— Campanella: cynical view of open architecture in Italy

State Street’s Italian private equity head is set to use ultra high net worth products as a first step to unlocking institutional bounty. Yuri Bender reports

— Maxit: hedge fund managers in developed markets complain of overcrowding

In a world of ever diminishing openings Ricardo Maxit highlights the attractions of Latin America