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Middle East equity research poll 2007: Award Winners

Latin American mutual funds are the best performers in the world year-to-date according to fund tracker Morningstar,which reports rises of 32.26% for the first half of 2007.

Negotiators in the planned merger of National Bank of Dubai and Emirates Bank International came to an agreement last month. The $11.3 billion deal between the banks will pave the way for the creation of the biggest bank by assets in the Gulf, and, it was speculated, result in a boom in M&A activity among UAE banks. With the Dubai government holding a 14% stake in NBD and 77% of EMI, the involvement in the deal of Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum was said to be a key element of the negotiations. The new bank, to be named Emirates NBD, will employ as chairman Ahmed Al-Tayer, formerly chairman of EMI, and Abdullah Saleh, formerly of NBD, as vice-chairman.

Investment-grade issuers balk at increased costs.

Asset manager New Star has seen significant growth in its alternatives business. In the second half of 2006, the firm raised more than $550 million for two hedge funds. In May this year, it launched a European opportunities hedge fund, which has now about $100 million in assets under management. In the last quarter of this year, New Star will be launching a property hedge fund. Robin White, of Rock Capital, is joining to head the fund.

Structured credit poll 2007: Award Winners

Structured credit poll 2007: Award Winners

John Cummings is the new treasurer of Royal Bank of Scotland. He replaces Brian Crowe, who moved into a senior management role in the corporate bank several years ago. Ron Huggett, a well-known figure in UK bank financing circles, continues as capital-raising director. Continuing with the Scottish financial theme, Andy Townsend has replaced Cummings as treasurer at Standard Life.

Hedge Fund Poll: The world’s best hedge fund managers

As Euromoney went to press towards the end of July, a number of high-profile leveraged loans had been pulled, restructured or had their status thrown into doubt. They included:

UBS has merged its Scandinavian and UK debt capital market coverage teams for the corporate and public sector. The team is headed jointly by Allegra Berman and Mahnaz Safa. Cecilia Hulten, who previously looked after Scandinavian coverage, is leaving the firm to pursue other interests after five years. The integration does not include FIG, which was already run on a pan-European basis.

Pension markets in central and eastern Europe will grow at 19% a year until 2015, a report published by investment management group Allianz shows. This will constitute a growth in total funds from €51 billion to €245 billion by 2015, fuelled by gradual governmental reform of pension systems that were once monopolized by the state. The proportion of pensioners to working people in the region, the report says, will grow from about 20% now to about 33% in 2035 and about 50% in 2050.