FiNETIK – Asia and Latin America – Market News Network

Asia and Latin America News Network focusing on Financial Markets, Energy, Environment, Commodity and Risk, Trading and Data Management

October 29, 2010 • 12:16 am 1

LatAm Hedgefunds: Comprehensive Report and Webinar November 10th

Alternative Latin Investor is proud to present our combined LatAm Hedge Fund Report and Webinar to be hosted by Hedgehogs.net CEO, Ken Yeadon, on November 10th at 1pm EST.  Early-bird price till Nov. 2nd is 175.00USD after which price is 199.00USD.  This price includes digital edition of report with directory as well as attendance to webinar.

REGISTER HERE

We have interviewed several industry professionals; mostly fund managers, to create a comprehensive overview of the LatAm fund market. We also look at the existing LatAm fund indexes and the legal aspects of funds. Included is a profile of 30+ funds with a directory of contacts, email or phone, for over 300+ funds

  • Industry Overview
  • Growth of Industry
  • Legal Aspects
  • LatAm Fund Indexes
  • Changes in Legal Aspects
  • 30+ Fund Profiles
  • 300+ Directory
  • The Economist on Hedge Funds

Webinar

Topics to be discussed
  • LatAm funds versus Global Macrofunds or Emerging Market funds with LatAm exposure
  • New investor demographics, or the same?  And who are they?
  • Institutional Participation?
  • Has there been a change in global opinion of LatAm funds due to crash of US/Euro markets?
  • Has this created a vacuum for LatAm to fill?
  • With the developed world seemingly on the path of competitive devaluation vs. emerging markets, how do the panel see Latin American investments being impacted?
  • Asian countries, in particular China, are increasingly looking to secure commercial rights over global supply chains for resources. (e.g. recent headlines over global supply of Rare Earths, a critical commodity input to green energy technologies and mobile devices). How is this impacting Latin America, and are any Latin American countries following similar strategies (via Sovereign Wealth Funds for example) to exploit their natural resource advantages? Does this represent an investable theme for Latin American funds?

Host

Ken Yeadon - CEO of Hedgehogs.net, a social application platform for the hedge fund and investment industry and those who serve it.

Ken is the former head of trading, sales and e-commerce for HSBC Asia-Pacific. He has a successful track record in angel and venture investing in financial technology, and in high frequency trading, stat-arb and quantitative/arbitrage trading. He has also managed several liquidity management infrastructure and financial CRM projects for banks, brokerages and technology vendors. Ken has an MBA from John Cass Business School and a BA in Economics from Nottingham University.

Expert Panel

Sonia Villalobos Co-portfolio manager of the LV Pacific Opportunities Fund
She was formerly Head of Latin American Equities at Larrain Vial AGF. A Brazilian citizen, she has more than 25 years of experience in the LatAm capital markets. She was Head of Research at Garantia in Sao Paulo from 1989 to 1996 and Vice President at Bassini, Playfair & Associates from 1996 to 2002. She holds a Bachelor and Master’s degree in finance from the Fundación Getulio Vargas in Sao Paulo. In 1994 she obtained her CFA, the first person in Latin America to achieve it.

Andres Azicri President and Founder of Convex Management
Prior to founding Convex, Andres Azicri was a Managing Partner of Cima Investments and the senior portfolio manager of the Cima Aconcagua Fund. Before joining Cima, Mr. Azicri was the head of Asset Management at MBA, prior to which he headed the Proprietary Desk for Latin America at Bankers Trust in New York (1997-1999) and the Emerging Markets Fixed Income Research Department at Oppenheimer & Co., in New York (1995-1997). Mr. Azicri is an economist from the University of Buenos Aires (1988), and is currently a professor of finance at CEMA University and the University of Buenos Aires.

Carlos Rojas Portfolio Manager Compass Perú
Portfolio Manager of the Peru Special Investment Fund. He joined Compass in 2006 after working for 12 years in the financial industry. In his previous role he managed over US$ 300 million for the Rimac Group and was also an investment advisor for the Brescia Group. Previously he performed roles in M&A operations, financial structures, derivatives, and trading. Mr. Rojas has a BA in Business Administration from Universidad del Pacífico in Peru.

Andrew Cummins Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Explorador Capital Management, LLC.
Previously, Andrew worked for Emerging Markets Investors Corporation, focused on investments in Argentina, Chile, Peru and Ecuador. Andrew holds an M.B.A. from Harvard University and a B.S. from the University of California at Berkeley. He has lived and traveled in Latin America over the last 20 years. Andrew serves on the Board of INPAR, a publicly traded Real Estate company in Brazil.

Webinar:

Date: November  10th
Time: 1pm EST
Price: USD 175.00 early bird till Nov. 2nd
USD 199.00

REGISTER HERE

Filed under: Argentina, Banking, Brazil, Central America, Chile, Colombia, FiNETIK Events, Latin America, Mexico, News, Peru, Risk Management, Services, Trading Technology, Wealth Management, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

October 28, 2010 • 8:14 am 0

China may abolish QFII within five years, says Harvest

It’s likely to be scrapped to make way for a ‘free-market investing scheme’ en route to capital controls being fully lifted in the next decade, says Harvest Global Investment’s Mao Shuguang.

There have been a lot of renminbi-market developments in the last two years, particularly the past three months, noted Eric Chow, deputy head of business development at HSBC, this week.

But asset managers – speaking at the ‘RMB Rising’ conference run by AsianInvestor and FinanceAsia in Hong Kong this week – are still waiting for further clarification on issues such as RMB usage and conversion.

“Since July we’ve been seeking info about conversion limitations, what RMB funds can be used for,” said Chow. “At the moment, our choices are quite limited. So in the short term the situation is quite challenging.”

As for the kind of products fund managers are likely to launch, mainland firm Harvest Fund Management is waiting for the regulator to publish further details on how RMB usage and repatriation will work.

Mao Shuguang, head of product management at Harvest Global Investments (the Beijing based fund-management company’s Hong Kong branch), notes the huge interest in accessing the RMB market.

The firm’s focus will be on retail funds, he adds, and demand has been high for expected quotas to invest in A-shares via RMB-denominated ‘mini-QFII’. Mao cites an increase of Rmb30 billion in renminbi deposits in August, as reported by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.

The government is getting more serious about the issue, he adds, citing for instance that the People’s Bank of China now has a department focused on the internationalisation of the renminbi.

“But it can’t be done in a day,” he says. “Capital controls need to be freed up so that money can flow into and out of China.”

One major development en route to greater relaxation of capital and investment controls is that the qualified foreign institutional investor regime is likely to be replaced by a “free-market investing scheme”, says Mao. In principal, it will allow the free flow of inbound investments, but there will be restrictions.

It will be probably three-to-five years before the QFII regime switches to the new set-up, suggests Mao, although investment restrictions will continue to ease before then.

Meanwhile, “at some point we can expect full free flow of capital”, he says, but not for 10 years or so – and some say it will take as long as 20 or 30 years.

Asked how he thought things would pan out in the shorter term, Mao turned his attention specifically to the mini-QFII regime, the rules of which have yet to be published. The industry had expected these to come this year, but now the consensus is for spring 2011.

Mao questioned the term ‘mini-QFII’, suggesting a better title would be ‘QOCII’ – the qualified overseas China institutional investor scheme – because under the rules, overseas institutional investors will be able to facilitate investments of offshore RMB deposits back into mainland capital markets.

Source: Asian Investor, 28.10.2010

Filed under: Banking, China, News, Services, Trading Technology, , , , , , , , ,

October 27, 2010 • 10:32 pm 3

Singapore-Australia exchange tie up threatens Tokyo; Controversy Grows

Japan’s top exchange will seek its own alliances if a planned multi-billion dollar merger of the Singapore and Sydney stock exchanges goes ahead, the bourse’s head said in a report Wednesday.

Atsushi Saito, chief executive of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, told the Financial Times that if SGX’s 8.2 billion dollar offer for ASX went ahead, it would be not be “a good story” for Tokyo.

“If Japan becomes isolated on the international stage — that is not good,” he said. “There are many options. There could be a combination of TSE and others on an international basis.”

Saito’s remarks illustrate how the proposed offer by Singapore’s SGX for ASX has ruffled the region.

“The consensus (among officials at Asian exchanges before the proposed deal was announced) was that such a thing would be impossible in Asia” due to the differences in culture and sense of values, Saito told the newspaper of the proposed deal.

Saito added that if the deal were to go ahead, it could result in a loss for the TSE, which is SGX’s second largest shareholder with 4.9 per cent, the Financial Times said.

“Our shareholdings will be diluted, with our stake falling to about 3.1 per cent. It’s possible we’ll have a loss of hundreds of millions of yen,” he said.

The proposed merger aims to create the world’s fifth biggest exchange with a market capitalisation of about 12.3 billion US dollars, although it first needs to pass regulators and a growing political backlash in Australia.

Analysts say sticking points may include the Singapore government’s large stake in the SGX, which could raise sovereign ownership concerns, and the board’s composition with 11 Singapore representatives and four from Australia.

Source: AFP, 27.10.2010

Controversy grows over SGX’s takeover bid for ASX

The Singapore Exchange’s S$10.7 billion takeover bid for Australia’s ASX Limited faces a difficult road ahead amid political backlash in Australia and shareholder reservations over the deal.

For the transaction to push through, the Australian parliament, currently controlled by a coalition led by the ruling Labour party, would need to lift the 15 percent ownership cap on the ASX bourse. The Australian Treasury could grant a waiver, but the Business Times reports that this could be stymied if any party demands a vote.

Bob Brown of the Greens Party, a key Labour ally, said he was not supportive of the deal given Singapore’s human rights record and the city-state’s execution of an Australian drug smuggler in 2005.

“This is a state that tramples all over freedom of speech, democracy, the rights of oppositions, the ability for public discourse,” he was quoted in a report by the Associated Press. A few other lawmakers also indicated they were inclined to oppose the takeover.

Aside from regulatory approvals, the merger of the two exchanges will also be subject to shareholders’ approvals. But, already, one SGX shareholder has expressed a negative view over the issue.

Under the deal, SGX will issue new shares and pay ASX shareholders a combination of A$22 or S$28.04 in cash and 3.472 new ordinary SGX shares for each existing ASX ordinary share or equivalent to A$48 per share.

Atsushi Saito, chief executive of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), was quoted by the Financial Times as saying that the transaction could result in a loss for the Japanese exchange, which is SGX’s second largest shareholder with a 4.9 percent stake. He told the UK paper that if the deal were to push through it would not be “a good story” for Tokyo.

Some analysts said the planned acquisition looked expensive. Gabriel Yap, executive chairman of investment firm GCP Global, said the price of A$48 per share “is too high” as it represents 25 times price-to-earnings ratio while the estimated cost synergies and savings at 20% is higher than that achieved in other mergers and takeovers of other exchanges before.

From the point of view of ASX shareholders, “Christmas has come early,” said Yap.

The SGX-ASX deal aims to create the fifth-largest exchange in the world with a market capitalisation of more than US$12.3 billion and to capitalise on opportunities for growth in Asia-Pacific.The press statement on the proposed merger enumerates other benefits.

Source: Fit To Post Singapore, 27.10.2010

Filed under: Australia, Exchanges, Japan, Singapore, , , , , , ,

October 27, 2010 • 9:15 pm 0

BMV Mexican Stock Exchange September 2010 Performance Report

Click here to download  BMV September Performance Report 2010

Source: BMV , 26.10.2010

Filed under: BMV - Mexico, Exchanges, Latin America, Mexico, News, , , , ,

October 23, 2010 • 12:39 am 0

SGX in ASX takeover talks – report

The Singapore Exchange (SGX) is set to make a takeover offer for the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), according to local press reports.

Trading in the shares of both bourses was suspended today as ASX issued a statement saying: “A party has recently re-activated confidential discussions with ASX concerning a possible business combination

It is in the process of hammering out the details of a possible deal with its larger Singapore contemporary, according to the Australian newspaper.

The speculation comes weeks after the ASX confirmed it was in talks with other operators about “possible business combinations” saying that none of the talks with the unnamed parties “have resulted in a proposal”.

The Australian government recently stripped ASX of responsibility for supervising real-time trading on markets, effectively ending its monopoly. It is set to face competition from electronic trading platform operator Chi-X from next year, with other players expected to follow.

Source: Finextra, 22.10.2010

Filed under: Australia, Exchanges, Singapore, , ,

October 22, 2010 • 5:44 am 2

Scotiabank Inverlat S. A. de México automatiza los procesos de fondos mutuos con el sistema de gestión de inversiones Charles River

Simplifica el flujo de trabajo; asegura el cumplimiento de todos los títulos e instrumentos de deuda locales e internacionales

21 de octubre de 2010 – Charles River Development (Charles River), un proveedor de soluciones de software de inversión para las áreas de gestión, operación, cumplimiento, riesgos, cálculos de medidas de desempeño, atribuciones, análisis de riesgos, y tecnología de la información (front-and middle-office), anunció hoy que Scotiabank Inverlat, S.A. (Scotiabank México), uno de los grupos bancarios más grandes de México, ha implementado el sistema de gestión de inversiones (Charles River IMS) a través de su subsidiaria Scotia Fondos. El proyecto de fases múltiples, entregado puntualmente, es parte de la iniciativa de Scotia Fondos para automatizar sus procesos de Fondos de Inversión locales e internacionales con 16 opciones de cartera diferentes en una única plataforma consolidada.

Los usuarios de Scotia Fondos se benefician de herramientas avanzadas de toma de decisiones y análisis, gestión de cartera y transacciones automatizadas, y supervisión del cumplimiento previo a la transacción en tiempo real de todas las clases de activos, incluso capitales, mercados monetarios, fondos mutuos, así como también instrumentos de renta fija corporativos y gubernamentales mexicanos, tales como Bonos, CETES y UDIBONOS. Durante el proyecto inicial, Charles River automatizó los procesos de gestión y transacciones de cartera de capitales de Scotia Fondos, así como la supervisión del cumplimiento. La segunda fase consolidó las capacidades a lo largo de los procesos de renta fija de la empresa.

“Necesitábamos un sistema ultramoderno y un proveedor con experiencia comprobada en apoyar las necesidades de los gestores de activos de México; Charles River entregó ambos”, dijo Ernesto Diez, Director General, Scotia Fondos. “Nuestros gestores de carteras ahora pueden estar a la cabeza del mercado al analizar e implementar rápidamente los cambios en las carteras. También podemos validar que nuestras carteras cumplan con todas las obligaciones, en cualquier momento y para cualquier clase de activo”.

El respaldo a los numerosos requisitos del mercado local de México fue crucial para este proyecto. Charles River IMS permite a Scotia Fondos gestionar y ejecutar transacciones para todos los instrumentos de deuda gubernamentales y corporativos mexicanos. Los operarios de fondos mutuos de la empresa también pueden ejecutar préstamos de valores, dar apoyo a contratos de recompra y reequilibrio contra los índices mexicanos. Además, la arquitectura abierta de Charles River facilita a Scotia Fondos integrarse con su sistema de contabilidad propietario, así como con proveedores de servicios de apoyo administrativo (back-office), tales como Bloomberg para cotización en tiempo real, y Valmer, propiedad de la Bolsa de Valores mexicana, para información de riesgo.

Charles River IMS da apoyo a tipos de títulos específicos para la región y flujos de trabajo asociados, incluso certificados de inversión corporativos y gubernamentales mexicanos. En un futuro cercano, Scotia Fondos continuará con la implementación de la funcionalidad de cobertura y cálculos de exposición de derivados avanzados de Charles Rivera IMS, para ayudar a sus clientes a cumplir con la reglamentación mexicana, como las reglas de la Comisión Nacional Bancaria y de Valores (CNBV), al hacer una supervisión y gestionar la exposición previa y posterior a la transacción de instrumentos derivados. Las bibliotecas prefabricadas de cumplimiento de Charles River contienen más de 1.700 reglas de ejemplo generales y normativas a lo largo de 35 organismos reguladores de 20 países, incluso una biblioteca completa de reglas para México.

“Charles River proporciona a los gestores de activos en México soluciones sofisticadas pero fáciles de usar para expandir sus operaciones a nuevas clases de activos y mercados, para entregar una ventaja competitiva que respalda el crecimiento comercial”, dijo Spiros Giannaros, Vicepresidente de Ventas, Americas, Charles River Development.

Charles River brinda apoyo a cinco empresas clientes en México, y presta servicios a más de una docena de empresas a lo largo de Brasil, Chile, y Panamá.

Fuente: CRD 21.10.2010

Filed under: Data Management, Latin America, Mexico, Risk Management, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

October 22, 2010 • 5:36 am 1

Mexico’s Scotiabank Inverlat, Automates Mutual Fund Operations with the Charles River Investment Management System

Streamlines workflows; ensures compliance for all local/international securities and debt instruments

October 21, 2010 – Charles River Development (Charles River), a front- and middle-office investment software solutions provider, today announced that Scotiabank Inverlat, S.A. (Scotiabank Mexico), one of Mexico’s largest banking groups, has implemented the Charles River Investment Management System (Charles River IMS) across its Scotia Fondos subsidiary. The multi-phased project, delivered on-time, is part of Scotia Fondos’ initiative to automate its domestic and international mutual fund (Fondos de Inversion) operation with 16 different portfolio options on a single, consolidated platform.

Scotia Fondos’ users benefit from advanced decision-making and analysis tools, automated portfolio management and trading, and real-time, pre-trade compliance monitoring for all asset classes, including equities, money market, mutual funds, as well as Mexican corporate and government fixed income instruments, such as Bonos, CETES and UDIBONOS. During the initial project, Charles River automated Scotia Fondos’ equity portfolio management and trading operations, as well as compliance monitoring. The second phase consolidated capabilities across the firm’s fixed income operations.

“We required a state-of-the-art system and a vendor with proven experience in supporting the needs of Mexico’s asset managers; Charles River delivered both,” said Ernesto Diez, Director General, Scotia Fondos. “Our portfolio managers can now stay ahead of the market by analyzing and rapidly implementing changes to portfolios. We can also validate that our portfolios comply with all mandates – at any time and for any asset class.”

Support for Mexico’s numerous local market requirements was critical to the project. Charles River IMS allows Scotia Fondos to manage and execute trades for all Mexican government and corporate debt instruments. The firm’s mutual fund traders can also execute stock lending, support repurchase agreements and rebalance against Mexican indices. In addition, Charles River’s open architecture makes it easy for Scotia Fondos to integrate with its proprietary accounting system, as well as back-office providers, such as Bloomberg for real-time pricing, and Mexican Stock Exchange-owned Valmer for risk data.

Charles River IMS supports region-specific security types and associated workflows, including Mexican corporate and government bonds. In the near future, Scotia Fondos will continue with the implementation of Charles River IMS’ advanced derivatives exposure calculations and coverage functionality helping clients comply with Mexican regulations, such as Comision Nacional Bancaria y de Valores (CNBV) rules, by monitoring and managing pre- and post-trade exposure to derivatives instruments. Charles River’s pre-built compliance libraries contain over 1,700 regulatory and general example rules across 35 regulatory bodies of 20 countries, including comprehensive rule libraries for Mexico.

“Charles River offers asset managers in Mexico sophisticated, yet easy-to-use solutions for expanding their operations into new asset classes and markets – delivering a competitive advantage that supports business growth,” said Spiros Giannaros, Vice President of Sales, Americas, Charles River Development.

Charles River supports five client firms in Mexico, and serves over a dozen firms across Brazil, Chile, and Panama.

Source: CRD, 21.10.2010

Filed under: Brazil, Chile, FIX Connectivity, Latin America, Mexico, News, Risk Management, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

October 16, 2010 • 6:59 am 0

SMX To List TOCOM Products

Singapore Mercantile Exchange (SMX), the first pan-Asian multi-product commodity and currency derivatives exchange, and the Tokyo Commodity Exchange, Inc. (TOCOM), Japan’s leading commodity futures exchange, today announced that they have signed a licensing agreement for SMX to list Contracts* on TOCOM products.

Building upon the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on 23 April 2010 to explore mutually beneficial partnerships, senior officials from both exchanges signed a licensing agreement which would see the listing of several SMX TOCOM Contracts for products already being traded on TOCOM. These include crude oil, gasoline, kerosene and gas oil. The agreement does not rule out the possibility of cross-listing wherein TOCOM might also list SMX products.

Agreement terms include the license for SMX to use TOCOM prices as the last settlement price, delivery price, reference price and daily settlement price and/or final settlement price for SMX TOCOM Contracts.

Mr. Thomas McMahon, Chief Executive Officer of SMX, said: “This agreement is exciting for us for several reasons. Aside from augmenting our initial MoU and being able to roll-out contracts the markets are already familiar with, our foremost aim to develop a credible pan-Asian platform is being achieved at good speed. We are encouraged by TOCOM’s enthusiasm and foresight for a united Asian derivatives marketplace, and will be announcing more of such developments in the coming months. We must embrace exchange partnerships as crucial steps to reducing fragmentation of derivatives trading during Asian business hours.”

Mr. Tadashi Ezaki, President and Chief Executive Officer of TOCOM, said: “SMX is the up-and-coming derivatives exchange in Asia, which commenced trading in August this year and grows rapidly with an increasing range of listed products. We expect that licensing SMX to use TOCOM prices for their new products to be listed shall help increase arbitrage between TOCOM and SMX increase, and accordingly enhance the convenience of the markets. We continue to work together with SMX to further develop derivatives trading in Asia.”

The listed commodities currently trading on TOCOM include futures and options contracts for gold, and futures contracts for silver, platinum, palladium, gasoline, kerosene, gas oil, crude oil, rubber and Nikkei-TOCOM Commodity Index. SMX launched live trading on 31 August 2010 with four products consisting of Futures Contracts on crude oil benchmarks Brent Crude Oil priced in Euros and West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil, Gold with physical delivery-based settlement and Euro-US Dollar Currency Futures.

In August 2010, market leaders in low latency services in Japan and Singapore – KVH Co., Ltd. (KVH) and Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) respectively announced provision of KVH-SingTel?s low latency network solutions to market participants, enabling both exchanges to facilitate an ultra low latency and fully redundant network service between Japan and Singapore.

* Subject to regulatory approval by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)

Source:MondoVisione 15.10.2010

 

Filed under: Exchanges, Japan, News, Singapore, , , , , , , , , , , ,

October 13, 2010 • 9:39 pm 0

Bloomberg Bows to Pressure to Maintain Support for BUID Indefinitely

The migration plans of data giant Bloomberg to gradually move users from its BUID identifier to its new Bloomberg Global ID (BBGID), which is at the heart of its open symbology initiative, have hit a roadblock. Users have exerted pressure on the vendor to step back from the initial migration timeline and to maintain support for the BUID indefinitely, and the vendor has agreed, for now at least.

Source: A-TEAM, 12.10.2010

Filed under: Data Management, News, Reference Data, , , , , , , ,

October 8, 2010 • 11:42 pm 0

VAM: Vietnam Market Analysis September 2010

Market Update - September was characterized by mixed macro signals and continued sideways movement of the stock markets. Of the positive news, the most important piece was that of 3Q10 GDP growth being estimated at 7.16%, making the first nine months growth reach 6.52%. Full year GDP growth target was thus revised up to 6.7-6.8% given the last quarter is usually the most robust period of economic activity.

Though preliminary estimate of September trade deficit of US$1.05 billion appeared worrying, August number was at the same time substantially revised down to just US$395 million from US$900 million, making year-to-date trade deficit stand at US$9.05 billion. The two consecutive upward revisions for July and August exports further confirm beliefs that exports are starting to pick up following the three depreciations totalling 10.9% over the last 10 months. On the domestic front, for the first nine months, industrial production was up 13.8% whilst retail sales revenue soared 25.4% compared to the same period last year.

While economic growth is edging up, inflation and exchange rate are likely becoming issues in the last three months of the year. September CPI came in at 1.31% MoM and 8.92% YoY. In fact, this was the first month-on-month increase of over 1% since this February and the sharp acceleration was driven by higher prices of foods, construction materials, gas and education fees with the last factor being a seasonal one. The 2% devaluation of the dong in August was also fully translated into the months CPI high rise. Though the government has expressly determined to tighten control over consumer prices through year end to meet its full year 8% target, with year-to-date CPI increase being 6.46%, we think this target is unrealistic given CPI tends to go up faster during this period of the year when festive season is coming.
Exchange rate is another concern when the unofficial rate, after months of converging with the official rate, suddenly heated up in September, now trading at 1% above the upper limit of the official trading band. Recent fluctuation of exchange rate in the unofficial market is primarily attributable to strong increases in gold price in the last two months, accelerating inflation and widening trade deficit. The unfortunate mix of a record-high gold price, an unexpected soar in September CPI, and the divergence of official and unofficial exchange rates have once again sparked fears of inflation and further devaluation toward year end.

The mixed macro picture apparently did not help improve the poor market sentiment. The market continued its prolonged sideways movement when the VN-Index closed the month at 454.52, almost flat against September.

Our View – We think the current macro economic uncertainties will continue to cause overhang on the stock market. Despite the potential catalyst from 3Q10 corporate earnings, investors will likely remain cautious in October given a large amount of stocks oversupply and mixed macroeconomic signals. We still uphold our long-term interest in consumers, IT, Telecom, and pharmaceutical sectors. For short-term seasonal play, we are closely watching natural rubber and some high-dividend defensive stocks. Overall, we strongly advise investors to look closely at individual firms performances rather than choosing specific industry in such a volatile condition.
Source: VAM, 08.10.2010

 

Filed under: Exchanges, News, Vietnam, Wealth Management, , , , , , , , ,

October 8, 2010 • 12:40 am 0

Alternative Latin Investor Issue 6 September/October

Alternative Latin Investor Issue 6 September/October 2010 click here for a free issue

Issue 6 Content Index

  • Infrastructure Municipal Bonds in Latin America
  • Emerging Markets Let the World See Your Wares in the Right Light
  • Investment Flows and Stock Market Returns p
  • Agribusiness Beekeeping in Latin America
  • Art Pinta: The Contemporary and Modern Latin American Art Show
  • Commodities The BP Oil Spill
  • Sowing Pools: Alternative Financing
  • Funds Latin America’s Favorite Sport: For Sale
  • Philanthropy Ashoka: Inspiring and Supporting Tomorrow’s Leaders
  • Regulation Due Diligence: You Bought the Company, Now What?
  • Renewable Energy Opportunities in Argentine Biodiesel
  • Ventures Real Estate Colombia: Founder Chad Smalley
  • Economist Emerging Market Forecaster
  • Wine Stocking up for World Cup 2014
  • Hedge Funds The Spectrum of Investors for Latin American Hedge Funds by Merlin Securities

Source: Alternative Latin Investor 22.09.2010

Filed under: Argentina, Banking, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Latin America, Mexico, News, Services, Wealth Management, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

October 5, 2010 • 10:52 pm 1

Mexico: Economy Steady in Low Gear – October 2010- IXE BANIF – Monthly Analysis

Motors of Mexican growth start balancing out

As we mentioned last month, the Mexican economy has slowed down. Our forecasts for GDP growth remain unchanged at 4.4% and 3.7% for 2010 and 2011, respectively, in line with Government expectations (of 4.5% and 3.8%). We believe that the economy will not slow down further and that export and local demand will become more equitable. While the slower growth of the US economy reduces the prospects for exports, local demand has started to improve, as seen by the 2Q10 YoY internal consumption growth of 4.8%.

Locally, the Mexican construction segment continues the weakest in the industrial sector, with manufacturing leading the economy. As local demand picks up, we foresee a change in consumption from non-durable to durable goods.

Mexico – Monthly Allocation – October 2010

A political discussion on the budget for 2011 will start in Congress in November. We believe that this is likely to bring volatility to the market, as it should affect the Mexican currency and local bonds. Prudent fiscal policies are likely to continue and we expect the government to propose a cut in fiscal deficit. We also believe that this proposal is already expected and, at least partially, priced in.

Mexican tidbits

Inflation is apparently under control, after positive signs that led the government to admit that its 5.25% target for the year is high and that it should converge to market consensus’ 4.5% (our forecast continues at 4.7%).

After the volatility of the Mexican Peso in August, we believe that the rally is likely to cease and our new expectations for the FX are of 12.4 (from 12) and 12.3 pesos per US dollar by the end of 2010 and 2011, respectively. We base this expectation on the belief that cyclical inflows other than exports, such as remittances (linked to US employment), tourism (linked to US consumer confidence) and foreign direct investments (linked to US private profits) are likely to remain weak.

For October, we have reduced the total number of names in our portfolio from 11 to 8. We have added Soriana and increased the weights of LABB (from 5 to 10%) and Mexchem (from 5 to 15%). We also have withdrawn Chedraui, Femsa and Televisa.

Source: Banif-IXE, 04.10.2010

Filed under: BMV - Mexico, Exchanges, FIX Connectivity, Latin America, Mexico, News, , , , , , , , , , , ,

October 4, 2010 • 10:24 pm 0

Metabit -Asia’s Trading Hub- Rebrand Marks 10th Anniversary

Metabit is celebrating its tenth anniversary in Tokyo on the 6th October 2010.  In acknowledgement of this milestone, the company which specialises in intuitive institutional trading platforms, exchange connectivity and a well established trading community, has commissioned a new corporate identity, website and advertising campaign.  These are to be launched at The FPL Japan Electronic Trading Summit 2010 on 6th October.

Daniel Bürgin, CEO of Metabit commented:

“We wanted to bring home to our clients and the market at large that our systems have been built out of Asia, for Asia.  It was important to demonstrate our intimate knowledge and understanding of Asian markets.“

“Metabit’s new brand image had to not only represent our commitment to Asia, but demonstrate our unique approach to client solutions and innate dynamism.  Our new positioning, Think Asia, Trade Asia, was developed to convey who we are and our area of speciality.”

A new advertising campaign will also be launched at the conference.  Metabit’s Metamorphosis Campaign, which features a butterfly with a map of Asia superimposed upon its wing, was chosen to symbolise the way in which the company operates. Bürgin continues:

“We wanted an original look that represents our approach. The metamorphosis theme was chosen to reflect the way we help clients transform and develop their business, enabling them to trade effortlessly and efficiently.”

Metabit has four offices in Japan, Australia, Hong Kong and Mainland China.  For more information about Metabit, visit www.meta-bit.com or see the company at Stand 9 at the FPL Summit in Tokyo.

For more information, contact Claus Kwon on +852 3752 0674 or Kenichi Morita on +81-3-3664-4160 or mail to sales@meta-bit.com .


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Filed under: Asia, Australia, China, FIX Connectivity, Hong Kong, Japan, Market Data, News, Trading Technology, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

October 4, 2010 • 8:07 am 0

Mexico:Banorte cagy on rumors of IXE acquisition

In a release to the Mexican stock exchange (BMV), Grupo Financiero Banorte was noncommittal on a rumor published by a prominent business columnist that the bank was in talks to acquire IXE Grupo Financiero.

The release said Banorte is “analyzing different strategic alternatives to continue consolidating its leadership position as one of the most important institutions in the Mexican financial system.”

IXE released a similarly vague statement through the BMV, saying it was “exploring options to increase its competitive capacity in the Mexican financial market.”

RUMOR RILES MARKETS

The acquisition rumor that sparked a more than 2% jump in IXE’s stock price on Friday (Oct 1) started with Alberto Aguilar, a financial columnist with daily newspaper El Universal, who published an article that afternoon saying that Banorte “is in very advanced talks to acquire IXE.”

Aguilar’s un-sourced columns have frequently been accurate this year as the rumors have swirled over a possible acquisition of non-bank mortgage lender Hipotecaria Su Casita.

Curiously, this is the second time in recent days that Banorte and IXE have appeared in the same headlines in Mexican papers. Earlier, both banks said they would like to be involved as investors in the restructuring of troubled Mexican airline Mexicana: Banorte by possibly converting a loan to the company into an equity stake and IXE by rounding up a group of investors to purchase the company.

Banorte general manager Alejandro Valenzuela had told the Mexican media that he was “very happy” that IXE was interested in getting involved in the Mexicana restructuring.

IXE PROFITS LAGGING

IXE Grupo Financiero has not been very profitable as of late and has had some trouble picking up the pace following the financial crisis of 2009.

The financial group – which includes an insurer and a securities broker, as well as the 11th largest bank in the Mexican market – earned 28mn pesos (US$2.2mn) in the first half, down 83% from its 1H09 earnings.

As a consequence, the group had a 12-month ROE of 0.89%, the lowest of the 25 financial groups tracked by Mexican banking and securities commission CNBV and far below the industry average of 14.9%.

The group also had to close an ill-timed middle-class consumer banking venture called Banco Deuno that it launched in 2008, rolling it up into its flagship bank in August.

Should Banorte complete a full acquisition of Grupo Financiero IXE, the financial group would overtake Santander Mexico to become the third largest financial group in the Mexican market by assets, behind Banamex and BBVA Bancomer.

Grupo Financiero Banorte is the only top-five financial group in Mexico that is controlled by Mexican capital.

Source: Business News America, 02.10.2010

Filed under: Banking, BMV - Mexico, Latin America, Mexico, Risk Management, , , , , , , , , , , ,

October 2, 2010 • 9:14 pm 0

Brazil: Clouds still surround the US economy – October 2010- IXE BANIF – Monthly Analysis

Fear now is of deflation in the US

The US economy has shown signs of weakness since the beginning of 2H10 and now indications of a possible deflation have surfaced. This new fear is like a two edged sword. On one hand, the imminent risk of deflation is a deterioration from previous conditions but on the other, it might force the Central Bank to accelerate its actions to stimulate the economy. In our opinion, the market would see faster action as positive in the short term. In this respect, it is worth mentioning that the first set of economic indicators released in October displayed neutral results.

In the absence of strong market drivers worldwide in October, and with a weak local agenda (the most important factor is the Presidential elections), we believe the trend is likely to be neutral for the month, although with volatility. We foresaw the same scenario for September, but the 6.6% appreciation of the Ibovespa, caused by the easing of economic concerns, surprised us.

In Europe, we have clouds in Ireland after the Irish Central Bank announced that Allied Irish Bank would need around €30bn of extra capital by year-end. However, in our view, if problems in the region remain contained to Greece and Ireland, Europe should not be a concern and ought to continue its slow recovery. In Asia, we expect neutral events, with no problems arising in China.

Brazil – Monthly Allocation – October 2010

In October, with no major operation scheduled, we believe the market will follow the economic and political news more closely. This month, we have made substantial changes in our portfolio, substituting companies having 35% of our previous total weight. The new names are PDG Realty (with a 10% weight), OGX, CSN and Itaú (with 5% each). We have also increased the weights of Telesp (from 5 to 10%) and Vale (from 15 to 20%).

Outlook for Brazil continues Bright

In Brazil, we expect the current strong economic demand to continue and believe in the likelihood of an upward revision for 2011 GDP growth forecasts, currently at 4.5% (Focus poll). For 2010, growth is relatively undisputed to be in the 7.5-8% range.

In our opinion, the political dispute in the presidential campaign can bring about one of three scenarios to affect the stock market: 1) Labor’s party, Dilma, wins in the first round; 2) a second round takes place, with a continuation of Dilma’s current advantage or 3) Dilma loses ground in a possible second round. We believe that the first and second scenarios are likely to have no effect on the market, as we have seen no response to Dilma’s advantage so far. If the third scenario takes place, it is likely to bring more volatility to the market. Investors may view this as positive but, as they note that the difference between the two candidates is in the details instead of being radical, the event should have limited positive impact. In overall terms, we think a second round would be beneficial, as it would force a greater balance between the country’s political forces.

Source: IXE-BANIF, 01.10.2010

Filed under: News, Exchanges, Brazil, BM&FBOVESPA, , , , , , , , , , ,

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