The member states of the EU are expected to enact the pertinent legislation in July 2013. Then a London-based fund will be able to market in Italy by virtue of an intra-EU “passport,” although a hedge fund firm in New York or Hong Kong won’t be able to get such a passport for some time to come. The outsiders will have to work country-by-country, and this may well put them at a serious competitive disadvantage.

Charles Skorina discusses what it takes to be a CIO with Sam Gallo.

The case in favor of the Volcker rule has long been that the line between speculation on the one hand and hedging on the other is a fairly clear one, that reasonable people “know it when they see it,” and that accordingly it is perfectly plausible to prohibit banks from engaging in the one when encouraging them to engage in the other. But recent news concerning JPMorgan sharply challenges this notion.

From Lynne Feldman, Director of Marketing at the CAIA Association: On March 8, 2012 the CAIA New York Chapter held an educational panel focusing on real estate alternative investment strategies. The panel event was moderated by James Crystal (Managing Director & Senior Portfolio Manager, Rockefeller Capital Partners, Director of Hedge Funds & Opportunistic Investments, Rockefeller Financial), [...]

Ron Resnick, a co-founder of the financial consulting firm CounselWorks, offers this view of the JPMorgan trading loss:

Should a lender of last resort lower interest rates to near zero in the hope that liquidity will drown systemic sorrows? Bagehot argues for a contrary approach. The interest rates for loans made to desperate borrowers should be high. “This will operate as a heavy fine on unreasonable timidity, and will prevent the greatest number of applications by persons who do not require it. The rate should be raised early in the panic, so that the fine may be paid early…."

The phrase “hybrid pension system,” as you might expect, refers to systems that can be categorized neither as defined contribution nor as defined benefit simply. This may involve for example risk sharing amongst employees, within or between generations of recipients, in the context of a collective defined contribution (CDC). The essential argument of this study, by Samuel Sender, Applied Research Manager at EDHEC, is that demographics will push both DC and DB plans to hybridize.

by Doug Friedenberg We had the good fortune whilst we were in London to make the acquaintance of Nicolas Clavel, chief investment officer of Scipion Capital, a hedge fund that invests in financing imports and exports.  Not just any imports and exports, mind you. Imports and exports of commodities related to Africa. We asked Nicolas about [...]

New columnist Charles Skorina interviews Peter Stein, veteran alternative investments professional.

By Ron S. Geffner, Partner, Head of Financial Services, Sadis & Goldberg LLP On April 5, 2012, President Obama signed the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, H.R. 3606 (“JOBS Act“). The JOBS Act requires the Securities & Exchange Commission (“SEC“) to revise existing rules to implement many of the provisions of the JOBS Act. This article [...]