Zombie hordes thrive, await further hedge fund corpses

Zombie hordes thrive, await further hedge fund corpses

Dan McCrum | Mar 25 10:14 | 4 comments | Share

Part of the NO ALTERNATIVE: THE ZOMBIE HEDGE FUND INDUSTRY SERIES

Close to a tenth of all hedge funds tracked by HFR succumbed to the inevitable last year as 904 hedge funds liquidated.

Their historic performance will live on in the databases of hedge fund returns, but like more than two-thirds of all hedge funds that have ever existed, they are dead, defunct and arguing with their investors over valuations for those lingering illiquid assets. Read more of this post

Bonds are security blanket for investors; Fixed income plays important role in buffering risk in portfolios

March 26, 2014 6:00 am

Bonds are security blanket for investors

By Richard Madigan

Fixed income plays important role in buffering risk in portfolios

Investor patience has been tested this year. While that impatience has translated into higher asset class volatility, it is important to separate the noise coming from event risk, disparate macroeconomic data and fundamentals. Read more of this post

Modi’s silence on crony capitalism speaks volumes; Narendra Modi has said worryingly little on how he would tackle crony capitalism

March 26, 2014 2:40 am

Modi’s silence on crony capitalism speaks volumes

By James Crabtree

Narendra Modi has said worryingly little on how he would tackle crony capitalism

It is not hard to see why hopes are rising in India Inc. Polls suggest opposition leader Narendra Modi will win out in forthcoming general elections. If so, he will arrive in New Delhi brandishing a reputation that is both pro-business and anti-corruption. That combination has already sent markets soaring. Read more of this post

Partners Group, one of Europe’s largest private equity fund managers, is reorganising itself to operate more independently from its founders

March 25, 2014 6:01 pm

Founders hand more independence to Partners Group

By Anne-Sylvaine Chassany in London

Partners Group, one of Europe’s largest private equity fund managers, is reorganising itself to operate more independently from its founders. Read more of this post

China’s struggle for a new economy; When a superb horse meets a high obstacle, the odds are on the horse. But even the best may fail

March 25, 2014 4:07 pm

China’s struggle for a new economy

By Martin Wolf

When a superb horse meets a high obstacle, the odds are on the horse. But even the best may fail

Read more of this post

Indian election: Generational shift; Young people are switching from Congress to the BJP, which has promised to create 10m jobs

March 25, 2014 6:25 pm

Indian election: Generational shift

By Amy Kazmin

Young people are switching from Congress to the BJP, which has promised to create 10m jobs

The son of an uneducated subsistence farmer in India’s Hindi heartland, Anil Kumar Bahe, 25, watched as his parents faithfully voted for the Congress party, which casts itself as the champion of poor families such as his. But in India’s upcoming parliamentary election, Mr Bahe, who is completing a postgraduate degree in chemistry, plans to break from his family’s political tradition. Read more of this post

Spooked by defaults, China banks begin retreat from risk

Spooked by defaults, China banks begin retreat from risk

Tue, Mar 25 2014

* Companies with elevated debt report lower credit caps, higher rates

* High debt firms talk of more scrutiny, documentation required

* Little change in funding conditions for profitable, less indebted firms Read more of this post

SGX site is now counter-intuitive; The latest design changes are a step back, and the exchange should take a serious look at further improving its site

PUBLISHED MARCH 26, 2014

SGX site is now counter-intuitive

CAI HAOXIANG

The latest design changes are a step back, and the exchange should take a serious look at further improving its site.

USUALLY, an upgrade or revamp is good news because it makes everybody’s lives easier. We get upgraded smartphones with bigger screens and faster processing power, for example, so we waste less time accessing applications, squint less at words and images, and are better distracted by smoothly streaming Korean dramas on the train ride to the office. Read more of this post

S’pore startups find new partnerships to survive competition in China; “We didn’t know that in China there were so many similar products, which have already been launched and commercialised in the market.”

S’pore startups find new partnerships to survive competition in China

By Valarie Tan 
POSTED: 26 Mar 2014 14:39
Singapore startups hoping to expand in China are often faced with stiff competition from local rivals, but some are finding new partnerships to survive in the market. Read more of this post

IASB Tackles Corporate Disclosures rules aimed at preventing companies from overwhelming investors with useless information

March 25, 2014, 1:55 PM ET

IASB Tackles Corporate Disclosures

EMILY CHASAN

Senior Editor

International accounting rule makers on Tuesday proposed changes to corporate disclosure rules aimed at preventing companies from overwhelming investors with useless information. Read more of this post

How America Loses a Job Every 43 Seconds; For every immigrant hired at technology companies, an average of five additional employees are added as well

How America Loses a Job Every 43 Seconds

For every immigrant hired at technology companies, an average of five additional employees are added as well.

MATTHEW J. SLAUGHTER

March 25, 2014 6:53 p.m. ET

The first of next month is a big day for the U.S., and not because it’s April Fools’ Day. April 1 is when the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services begins accepting new H-1B visa petitions for 2015. Read more of this post

BlackRock’s Fink has privately warned big companies that dividends and buybacks that activists favor may create quick returns at the expense of long-term investment

BlackRock’s Fink Sounds the Alert

DAVID BENOIT and LIZ HOFFMAN

Updated March 25, 2014 6:45 p.m. ET

Read more of this post

Australia Backs Away From Proposed Director-Tenure Cap

Australia Backs Away From Proposed Director-Tenure Cap

Guideline Would Have Encouraged Companies to Limit Independent Directors’ Terms to Nine Years

ROSS KELLY

Updated March 25, 2014 7:28 a.m. ET

SYDNEY—Australia backed down from plans to encourage companies to limit the tenure of independent directors, a move that risks making the country appear softer than others on corporate-governance standards.

Read more of this post

“Too Big to Fail’ Is Precise Enough

‘Too Big to Fail’ Is Precise Enough

DAVID REILLY

March 25, 2014 5:10 p.m. ET

Warren Buffett sometimes uses a story to highlight the folly of trying to be overly precise. Speaking of a person who weighs between 300 pounds and 325 pounds, the legendary investor says the exact weight isn’t what matters; the point is simply that the person is fat. Read more of this post