Brian Bollen's Blog

Freeze Stalls US Economy: Schroders

Keith Wade, chief economist at Schroders, comments on the latest US GDP figures.

The US economy grew by a mere 0.1% in the first quarter which, as this number is annualised, means virtually nothing. However, a weak figure was not entirely unexpected given the severe cold and snow during the quarter meant that many were unable to work or shop. In terms of the components of GDP the weather weighed on residential investment, sales of motor vehicles and exports. Each of these is expected to rebound in the current quarter and lift real GDP back to a 3% pace.

Transaction Tax Bad: TheCityUK

Speed read: Financial transaction tax is bad for savers, bad for business and bad for the European economy.

Why EU Relative Silence on Ukraine?

Jan Dehn, Head of Research at Ashmore discusses the sanctions against Russia and why the EU has adopted a low profile on the Ukraine question versus the US

Despite supporting sanctions against Russia, it is notable how the EU has been relatively quiet on the Ukraine question compared to the US. At first sight, the EU’s low profile is curious when you consider that the EU’s stake in the conflict is far, far greater than that of the US. Why is the US so vocal, while the EU is so silent?

I’ve always wanted to go to Switzerland

Mint – Blain’s Morning Porridge  - April 30 2014

I’ve always wanted to go to Switzerland to see what the army does with those wee red knives...

I was thinking of using “curb your enthusiasm” as my quote this morning. Please forgive the following lecture on credit basics, but we really need to talk about the new Apple bond.

Of course, the new $12bn bond has been an absolute blowout on the back of a $40bn order book. Apparently there is a euro tranche yet to come. 77 basis points over the 10-year [US treasury bond] isn’t exactly generous, but don’t worry. Apple is an attractive stock sitting on a massive cash pile. Investors are flocking towards solid US “cashed-up” companies as they look like safety trades. If Apple continues to present strong earnings and beats estimates – and is prepared to return money to shareholders when they can’t use it. So what’s not to like?

SVM Asset Management connects to Calastone

SVM Asset Management (SVM), a boutique investment company specialising in UK, European and global equities, has chosen Calastone to manage its order routeing service and also to provide its electronic, interoperable re-registration solution.

MarkitSERV Helps Industry Clear OTC Derivatives

Markit, a global diversified provider of financial information services, reports that MarkitSERV, its electronic trade processing service for over-the-counter derivatives, is providing trade affirmation, connectivity and trade status messaging services to support clearing of OTC equity derivatives by OCC, the first clearing house in the US to clear these types of transactions.

UK Interest Rate Rise Risk Rises: Schroders

Schroders European economist, Azad Zangana comments on the latest preliminary estimate of UK GDP growth

"The latest preliminary estimate of UK GDP shows economic growth accelerated from 0.7% growth in the last three months of 2013 to 0.8% in the first quarter – a strong and promising start to 2014, but the estimate has fallen short of the city’s consensus estimate which was 0.9%. Quarterly year-on-year growth is now up to 3.1% - the fastest rate of annual growth since fourth quarter of 2007. The level of GDP is now just 0.6% below its previous peak in Q1 2008.

Just Say No To Drugs...Unless

Mint – Blain’s Morning Porridge  - April 29 2014

Just say no to drugs.. Unless they are really really good ones...

Are we on the verge of a Tsunami of global M&A activity? GE and Alstom. Pfizer and AstraZeneca. Hum… Ho.. Perhaps! Don’t forget the last big year for M&A was 2007 – and that didn’t end particularly well.. But, markets have no memory, and love the confident signals an outbreak of M&A-itus sends as the Billy-big-wallets bestride the news flow.

Better Global Growth Shines Through: Coutts

The latest Coutts Global Markets Weekly has just been published, featuring the thoughts of Alan Higgins, its chief investment officer, UK

Speed read: Better global growth shines through Ukraine crisis. It’s raining bonds in Asia. China sows seeds of rural growth.

Ukraine Driving Investor Uncertainty: Neptune

James Dowey, investment director & chief economist at Neptune Investment Management, has given his global economic outlook for Europe. He argues that the first quarter of the year has been stop-start for equities and believes that this has been due to investors’ lack of clarity concerning important macro questions, including the impact of the Ukraine crisis on the global economy.

Learn To Know Hedge Funds

 The Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA), the global hedge fund industry association, has published a new educational guide to understanding hedge fund performance.

The guide, ‘Apples and apples: How to better understand hedge fund performance’, says comparing hedge fund performance to the S&P 500 can be an “apples and oranges” comparison. It proposes five steps to improve understanding of hedge fund performance.

Schroders Names Tedder Global Equities Head

Schroders Names Tedder Global Equities Head

Schroders has appointed Alex Tedder as head of global equities. He will join in June 2014 from American Century Investments where he was senior vice president and co-head of global and non-U.S. large cap strategies, managing US$21bn of assets and a team of 15 (as at 31 December 2013). 

Spurious Tales Of Impending Doom

Mint – Blain’s Morning Porridge  - April 28 2014

Spurious tales of impending doom enabled the people to rid themselves of an entire useless third of their population..

Alarm bells ringing in my head this morning as I read the news Apple is launching $17bn of new bonds, some of it at record low rates in euros. I can’t fault Apple for the strategic sense of the bond issue – of course the company should fund its stock-holder pleasing extra dividends via debt rather than paying 35% tax if it repatriated its cash pile. However, step back, think about it and wonder what signal does it send about bond markets?

You should cease asking scary questions…

Mint – Blain’s Morning Porridge  - April 24 2014

If my answer frightens you, then you should cease asking scary questions…

I had one of my main market contacts tell me: “Unless you are playing the new issue markets, you might as well stay in bed.” Someone else described yesterday as “directional write-off”. Fortunately, we’ve got plenty to be getting on with – a good number of private placement deals in the works – across a range of sectors from property, renewables, distressed EM, retail and tech.

This Precious Stone Set In A Silver Sea

Mint – Blain’s Morning Porridge  - April 23 2014

This precious stone set in a silver sea. Which serves it in the office of a wall…

It’s Saint Georges Day – not a good day for dragons. It’s also William Shakespeare’s birthday, so I give you a line from one of his musicals, Kiss Me Kate: “If she says your behaviour is heinous, kick her right in the Coriolanus.”

Spending Boost Ahead

By Alan Higgins, Chief Investment Officer, UK at Coutts

Economics | Wages to boost UK spending

UK wage growth accelerated to 1.7% in February, up from 1.4% the month before. Combined with the recent fall in inflation, real wages (i.e. after inflation) may now be turning decisively positive for the first time since the global financial crisis.

BNP Paribas Securities Services Names Pratt Sales Head

Speed read: BNP Paribas Securities Services hires Jamie Pratt as head of sales to complement the launch of issuing and paying agent services in the U.S.

Blessed are the cheesemakers

Mint – Blain’s Morning Porridge  - April 16 2014

I think it was “Blessed are the cheesemakers”

Sorry for late porridge, but I’ve had a very stressful morning involving a juicer catching fire in our flat, expounding my non-existent wit-and-wisdom on Bloomberg, being stuck in maddening London traffic, and 10,000 Barclays executives all trying to catch the same lift as me when I finally made it to Canary Wharf. Thank the Lord for the comedy relief of markets.

Standard Chartered appoints ASEAN CEO

Standard Chartered Bank announces the appointment of Lim Cheng Teck as the chief executive officer for its ASEAN markets. He reports to Jaspal Bindra, group executive director and CEO Asia, Standard Chartered PLC. The appointment is effective from May 1.

Lightning Strikes Capital Institutional Services

SS&C Technologies, a global provider of financial services software and software-enabled services, reports that Capital Institutional Services (CAPIS) has gone live with SS&C’s Lightning TradeDesk for its institutional trading business.