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Trading on indigestion

Edited by Rebecca Bream

Joining the Wall Street party

Who pushed NatWest?

Citigroup's latest acquisition

Who pushed NatWest?

Mannesmann has pitched into some speedy, expensive takeovers, but is still a takeover target. That's a symptom of the rush for change affecting nearly all German companies. For years investors complained that German managers were too slow and cautious; now many have become dangerously impulsive. By Laura Covill.

We live in a time when the necessity, desirability and inevitability of ever more bank mergers is simply taken for granted by bank executives, shareholders and regulators. The model of the ruthless cost-cutting merger, so firmly established in the US in the last seven years, has increasingly been adopted worldwide. As producing shareholder value becomes the prime motive of managers in national banking industries which for years have been overprotected by governments, overpopulated by too many unprofitable players, and inefficiently run, mergers - it is now taken for granted - are the only way to boost returns by cutting costs.

Edited by Rebecca Bream

Traditional active equity asset managers are alienating their institutional clients through underperfomance and high fees. Many pension funds and insurance companies in the US, UK and Europe are embracing passive index tracking, while others are devoting more attention to the rewards - and the risks - of hedge fund investing. The search is on for performance, or alpha, wherever it may be found. The whole asset management business may soon be transformed. Peter Lee reports.

It has been a banner year for new issues of convertible bonds, with many forces working together, especially in Europe, to support the primary market. Low interest rates and hopes for equity market growth have prompted more and more investors to buy convertibles and the pressure on companies to enhance shareholder returns and to unwind cross-holdings has prompted the issuers. High stock market volatility, following last year's financial meltdown, has also helped the market. This is the full text version of a roundtable discussion, exclusive to Euromoney On-Line.

NatWest gambled on bancassurance, lost its acquisition target and its chief executive and triggered a raid on itself from Scotland. Many in the City of London are pointing the finger of blame at adviser JP Morgan for encouraging NatWest's delusions. How did an investment bank that prides itself on telling clients which deals not to do get so much egg on its face? Marcus Walker reports