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Larry Trotter and the Bonus of Doom

Although brokers, fund managers and regulators are still unable to concur on an exact definition of best execution, they all agree that any definition should take into account both speed and price.

An IPO is one way to head off fallout from the region’s gas dispute.

Ariel Sigal, chairman of Latin America at Deutsche Bank, left the bank at the end of January, and it’s far from clear whether he will return.

According to one fund of hedge funds manager, the new craze in strategies is buying life insurance policies. Managers are approaching elderly people and offering to buy their policies from them at a discount. “For example, managers would offer $500,000 to a 75-year-old for their $1 million life policy,” says the manager. “It seems a bit unsavoury, as managers are basically counting on a quick death so they don’t have to pay the annual premiums for a prolonged period of time. But as long as the discount isn’t too high, it seems there is little wrong with the strategy. The elderly person gets a lump sum of money, and the hedge fund manager has a tidy return,” he says. Managers are said to hold portfolios of numerous elderly people with varying life expectancies to spread risk. “The only problem with the strategy is that there is a finite number of people about to die who want to cash out of their life insurance policies.”

The scores for this year’s Poll of polls were compiled using league tables and Euromoney surveys from 2005, as outlined below.

Lehman’s innovation solved a problem for investors holding illiquid local currency structured notes.

A ground-breaking deal helped the German development bank broaden its investor base at very favourable terms

Year-long talks to create leading investment bank in Brazil break down.

Behind Japan’s headline economic restructuring, a gradual but fundamental shift in Japan’s corporate ownership is taking place. A growing band of fund managers is encouraging companies to change; in some cases forcing them to do so. In the process the managers are making a tidy sum. Chris Leahy reports.

Even after the stock market’s dramatic climb in 2005 and sudden sell-off in mid-January, a wall of money is heading into Japanese equities, reports Peter Lee. Securing greater retail investment is seen as crucial to the reconstruction of Japan’s entire financial system. Privatization, new-economy IPOs, J-Reits and private equity exits will keep the investment bankers busy until the big blue chips are ready to issue once more. In the meantime, can someone please fix the TSE’s problems?

Citigroup wants to pioneer a new type of private banking for active wealth creators. Helen Avery speaks to the man who aims to drive the firm forward.