Geraldine Lambe selects products that are expected to be among the most popular this year.In The Banker’s search for the hottest products of 2005, it proved impossible to find anything in the equity capital markets. Despite the fact that equity is historically cheap and debt historically expensive, only Lars Kreckel, European equity strategist at ABN AMRO would make a comment, and that was limited to: “We think equities as an asset class will do well next year and see liquidity flowing in at the beginning of the year.” In debt, derivatives, structured products and FX, however, it is a different story. What follows is a selection of the most popular.
Are investment banks playing with fire with hedge funds? Will their increased exposure to the hedge fund community provide more risks than rewards? This month, our capital markets editor Geraldine Lambe examines the lucrative relationship between the banks and the funds, the additional risks attached, if any, and the impact on liquidity during market stress.
Nomura may not be the swashbuckling firm that it was in the 1980s and 1990s but, according to Zenji Nakamura, head of global markets, Europe, that will not prevent it from regaining a more prominent position in the international capital markets. Geraldine Lambe finds out how it intends to flex its Asian advantage.
Analysing The Banker’s Credit Risk 1000, Geraldine Lambe finds a pessimistic outlook on growth and few signs of a sustainable global recovery in corporate earnings.This year has been a study in market psychology, as market participants and companies worldwide have attempted to make sense of a troubling and often conflicting mix of circumstances and events. As US non-farm payroll data made doubtful the strength and veracity of the country’s economic recovery, the Federal Reserve moved forcefully into tightening mode. Oil prices have continued their inexorable rise, with oil futures hitting their highest levels ever in August, although at the time of going to press, oil was showing signs of weakening. Driven by concerns about interrupted supplies, the balance of supply and demand, and the pace and durability of China’s economic growth, fears that the rising cost of oil would undermine the current recovery have been instrumental in pushing growth forecasts down.
Last month’s proposal of marriage between MTFG and UFJ would create the largest bank in Japan, but it will only be positive news if the two businesses can be integrated, writes Geraldine Lambe For the Japanese banking system, recuperation has been a long and painful process. It is only now, after more than a decade of despair, that Japan’s so-called mega-banks are ready to start performing as mega-banks should.
SG CIB had a good 2003 and a promising first quarter, but can it keep up the pace? The firm’s CEO tells Geraldine Lambe about the bank’s plans to do just thatEvery bank has certain tenets that characterise its corporate culture. As such, SG Corporate and Investment Banking (SG CIB), the investment banking arm of French group Société Générale, could be summed up by its belief in a focused business model, the cultivation of an entrepreneurial spirit and what the bank calls a “profitable growth strategy”.
After more than a decade wallowing in debt and seemingly unable to turn themselves around, Japan’s banks appear to be looking to new products and client segments to rejuvenate their business models and spread risk throughout the system. Geraldine Lambe reports. For more than a decade, the Japanese banking system has suffered from painful indigestion – burdened by crippling levels of debt that the banks and the government were unable or unwilling to work out of the system. Whether we blame government policy, overly-cosy relationships between banks and borrowers or a lost decade of recession and deflation, Japan’s banks have for years failed to find a way to make themselves more profitable.
Last month’s proposal of marriage between MTFG and UFJ would create the largest bank in Japan, but it will only be positive news if the two businesses can be integrated, writes Geraldine Lambe For the Japanese banking system, recuperation has been a long and painful process. It is only now, after more than a decade of despair, that Japan’s so-called mega-banks are ready to start performing as mega-banks should.