As the debt-ceiling crisis unnerved markets last summer, target-date funds sank. During the third quarter of 2011, funds with maturity dates of 2016 to 2020 lost 9.6 percent, according to Morningstar. It was an uninspiring showing for the target funds, which are designed to serve as stable choices for 401(k) and other retirement accounts.

Want to know what the neighbours might think of Brazil’s latest $66 billion economic stimulus package?

Super-low government bond yields, falling assets prices and rising mortality rates are exacerbating the pension deficits of UK and European companies, with new accounting changes next year expected to further hit the corporate sector hard.

Relaxed rules for qualified foreign institutional investors in China have brought new questions to the fore.

The cleantech energy sector faces a double whammy. Not only are companies finding it more difficult to raise capital for technological development or project finance, but cash-strapped governments are also cutting back on the subsidies on which much of the renewable energy industry’s business model has depended.

Europe’s commitment to environment-friendly energy projects is being undermined by financing constraints springing from the economic downturn, the sovereign debt crisis and a capital-strapped banking system.

Only Latin American corporates that offer clear business models and high dividend yields are finding investor interest as risk aversion blights the region's primary equity capital markets.

Should strengthen links with foreign investors; Paralleled by HK hedge fund launch boom

BlackRock and HarbourVest in key acquisitions; Further takeovers likely

Export-driven emerging economies such as China have been feeling the strain as the eurozone crisis continues to play out. But strong FDI numbers and a revised economic policy have fed optimism that China can avoid a hard landing and rebalance its economy.

Country risk analysts saw increased risk in all of the world’s main economic/geographical regions during the first six months of 2012, according to the Q2 2012 results of Euromoney’s Country Risk Survey.

Anti-eurozone sentiment is sweeping the austerity-laden Netherlands ahead of the September national polls. The election could fuel yet-more political risks for the eurozone project, adding to the hawkish sentiment surrounding peripheral European sovereign bailouts.

There is no shortage of recommendations to sell the EUR after last week’s decision by the European Central Bank (ECB) to cut its deposit rate to zero, but where will buyers come in?

What looks good can have unintended consequences, witness LTRO the low interest rates of the ECB and the entire “Target2” intra EMU settlement system

Hyperactive policymakers have been dancing a frenzied tarantella but the mournful strains of the tango can be heard in the distance. Investors would do well to prepare their portfolios before the jig is up.

Mutual fund growth will revive; Renminbi liberalization a key factor

YPF nationalization deters foreign investment; Even core agricultural sector affected

The best investment banks are turning their smartest employees to work on complex deals that actually deliver value to clients.

The good, the bad and the new of Putin’s third term.

"$1 invested in US large company stocks in 1824 would be worth around $3,642,000 today", and more gems, courtesy of Bank of America Merrill Lynch's survey of global capital markets.

The EC has come up with a vision for future Europe. Now it will be seen if first the politicians then the voters sing up to it.

You are invited to join Ned Davis Research Group for our latest European market outlooks from a macroeconomic, asset allocation, and stock selection perspective.

Who will follow in the footsteps of high-profile hedge fund managers? Not many of them know.

It's not just the eurozone storm and lacklustre growth. Société Générale reckons further easing from the Fed will kick in thanks to the prospect of fiscal austerity, a potential game-changer for monetary policy calculations.

Impact investing is not the sole preserve of corporate institutions. Individuals are increasingly applying this investment practice – by assessing the social return on investment and a given charity's cost-to-income ratio, for example – to maximise returns on donations.

China’s wealthy are growing rapidly in number. But the private banking industry’s capacity to cater for them is still limited, not least because of the restricted range of products on offer and the need to educate clients. In this discussion private banking experts consider prospects for wealth management development in this dynamic economy.

In May, Mongolia’s parliament passed a law that caps foreign ownership in strategic industries, including all-important mining. From now on, foreign investors will be allowed to own a maximum of 49% of companies in mining, finance, media and telecommunications, after which they will be subject to scrutiny by a government panel.

The dim sum bond market gets the headlines, as deal-driven capital markets always do. But while the emergence of the offshore renminbi bond market is remarkable, the truth is that many banks are likely to make a lot more money out of the lower-profile work that flows from the internationalization of China’s currency.

Impact investing – putting money to work both for profit and social impact – is in its infancy as an industry. But it has the potential to become part of the fabric of financial markets. A group of leading wealth managers, foundations and sector specialists discuss how impact investment will develop, and the challenges they face.

A new $10 billion state private equity fund in Russia completed its first deal alongside private-sector investors last month, in the biggest of a string of M&A transactions in the Russian power sector. In addition to private-sector money, the deal included the largest-ever private equity investment in Russia by a Middle East fund, in this case one backed by sovereign wealth.