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Many large organisations that outsourced information technology and other services are bringing some operations back in-house, according to a new study by Deloitte. The organisations who participated currently spend $50 billion on outsourcing and they have found the outsourcing process is much more complex than initially anticipated. Dissatisfaction with cost savings and reduced flexibility were found to be the primary reasons behind participants' responses.

Euromoney collected data for its 2005 FX survey by polling named individuals at industrial and commercial corporations, financial institutions, institutional investors and state agencies.

Investors have begun pulling money out of Asia, dramatically reversing a six-month trend during which inflows to the region surpassed pre-1997 levels.

Forecasts of a soft landing for the global economy are off the mark – disinflation is at an end and interest rates are on the rise. For safe havens investors should look to gold and the euro

Have you ever been convinced that colleagues whose work is just as good as yours earn more than you simply because they are better looking? Or taller? Or slimmer? Michael Owyang, senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis, examines some of the research on this in a paper written with colleague Kristie Engemann.

Once upon a time, when Australia's rugby union team were world champions, Phil Kearns was a key member of the Wallabies side. But these days his talents are benefiting the South Africans. Last month, the former Aussie captain and hooker joined Investec in Sydney to work as a private banker, using his sporting profile to attract new business. Investec Bank (Australia) chairman Geoff Levy is reported to have wooed Kearns from his position as head of a human resources consultancy firm. It isn't the first time Levy has asked Australian rugby players to sign up with him. In the mid-1990s, he teamed up with Wallabies prop Ross Turnbull, with the partial backing of Australian media mogul Kerry Packer, to establish the short-lived World Rugby Corporation. A rival to Rupert Murdoch's Super League, the corporation tried to sign up Aussie, New Zealand and South African players to broadcasting contracts.

A flurry of big private-equity bids by hedge funds has sparked a turf war between two of the hottest growth sectors in recent years. Although some private-equity players reckon the threat to their business has been overstated and that hedge funds are ill equipped to handle private-equity deals, others are taking drastic steps to see off the competition. Joanna Hickey reports.

Japan's institutions are increasingly investing in hedge funds. But getting a fund off the ground in Japan is a tough task – institutions prefer large funds, but with few individual Japanese willing to invest it's hard to boost size. Helen Avery reports.

return to San Francisco retells the growth story

return to San Francisco retells the growth story

US smaller-cap growth companies lost much of their investment banking support after the tech boom collapsed in 2000. But three firms with a solid research base and San Francisco roots are working hard to fill the gap. Antony Currie reports.

Latin Americans learned long ago that they should not put too much trust in their currencies. Since the 1970s, hyperinflation, capital flight and economic collapse have been commonplace and many businesses have realized that holding their assets in US dollars was the only sure way to protect them. Currencies have been more stable in recent years, but even so between 2000 and 2003 they lost about half their value against the US dollar and Argentines still hold billions of dollars in savings abroad.