HSBC, the English bank with genuine Asian credentials, produces one of the best regular newsletters on Greater China – both entertaining and informative. The cover story in the latest one says: “Forget the West – Why China’s big trade growth is with the rest”. As I pack up after three months here, looking forward to blue skies and a soft bed, my thoughts on China are as confused as when I arrived. James Fallows, worldrenowned journalist and an editor of The Atlantic, America’s oldest magazine, spent three years in China until early this year to see for himself what all the fuss was about. He said this was not nearly long enough to understand much about China. China is not the world’s factory. It’s not just an economy.
Sweet spot for reforming state taxes
The terms of reference for the Henry Review of taxation specifically excluded the GST. This was a mistake. Although Henry was able to identify the state taxes as the most inefficient in the system, he was not provided with the practical wherewithal to recommend a way to abolish them, writes John Brogden, CEO of the FSC.
Hedge fund awards: recognition as risk drops
Australian hedge funds (including offshore funds sold in Australia) returned a positive 0.50 per cent in August 2010. The top 10 funds achieved returns over the month that ranged from 21 to 4 per cent. The bottom 10 funds lost between 6.8 to 2.8 per cent.
Flash crash: triggered by one big trade?
On May 6 this year, the US equity markets fell dramatically and then recovered sharply in what has since become known as the ‘flash crash’. PHILIPPA YELLAND reports. In a joint report published on September 29, two US financial market regulators – the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) – identified a single order in the futures market that they claim to be the source of the unusual events observed in the stock market on this day. Instinet’s director of global trading research, Alison Crosthwait, thinks this is unlikely, but she said the incident was a warning against using algorithms that send orders based only on volume without price controls.
State Street’s China Road
Jerry Cristoforo looks and sounds like an American, which is no surprise. He is an American. But close your eyes when he’s speaking Mandarin and even a trained ear probably would not pick the difference with the real, Chinese, thing. He seems to get the complex intonations right, which foreigners find very difficult. Furthermore, he can read and write characters, although not yet to the standards he would like. This is because he works at it. After 25 years since he first went to China for a stint as a lecturer in computer science, he still gets more than 12 hours a week of coaching. He’s learnt that Chinese characters tend to tell a story in themselves. One group of four characters, for instance, Cristoforo explains, is of a snake with feet.
State Street's China Road
Jerry Cristoforo looks and sounds like an American, which is no surprise. He is an American. But close your eyes when he’s speaking Mandarin and even a trained ear probably would not pick the difference with the real, Chinese, thing. He seems to get the complex intonations right, which foreigners find very difficult. Furthermore, he can read and write characters, although not yet to the standards he would like. This is because he works at it. After 25 years since he first went to China for a stint as a lecturer in computer science, he still gets more than 12 hours a week of coaching. He’s learnt that Chinese characters tend to tell a story in themselves. One group of four characters, for instance, Cristoforo explains, is of a snake with feet.
Fund raters fight for survival
Funds ratings agencies emerged from the global financial crisis with a better reputation than credit ratings agencies – but not by much. Glowing reports on products which subsequently blew up – from Astarra Strategic to the Basis Capital Yield Alpha Fund – have been stored away in the bottom drawer by aggrieved financial planners, to be taken out again when the inevitable class actions emerge. As those planners tighten their belts, the pressures on funds raters would appear to be rising as well, with at least one dealer group chief predicting that only a couple of big global players would be able to survive in the Australian market. MICHAEL BAILEY reports.
At last, the industry spotlights insurance claims
For a long time now, the group insurance industry has been focussed on the purchasing of policies. The announcement of a new contract invariably trumpets a new, much higher, automatic acceptance level. Pride is taken in a more simplified underwriting process, which allows members to go on-line and apply for extra units of cover in seconds.
