Investment

UK regulator fines JPMorgan 3 million pounds

Thomson Reuters — Thu, 23 May 2013 12:31:31 +0000

Thomson Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said it has fined a wealth management unit of U.S. bank JPMorgan Chase 3.08 million pounds ($4.6 million) for being unable to show it was giving clients the right advice.

The FCA said on Thursday the failings were not corrected until the watchdog brought them to the bank's attention in the course of its wider review of wealth management firms in Britain.

CJ Group-overseas business

Yonhap News Agency — Thu, 23 May 2013 10:30:35 +0000

Yonhap News Agency

SEOUL, May 23 (Yonhap) -- The ongoing investigation into CJ Group's slush fund allegations may hamper the local food and entertainment conglomerate's overseas business projects and lower its credit ratings, a report said Thursday.

On Tuesday, prosecutors raided the headquarters and offices of the country's 14th largest conglomerate on suspicion of creating an overseas slush fund worth 7 billion won (US$6.2 million) and bringing the money into the country. The group is also accused of committing other illegal acts such as tax evasion.

Average U.S. 401(k) balance tops $80,000, up 75 percent since 2009

Thomson Reuters — Thu, 23 May 2013 07:16:08 +0000

Thomson Reuters

BOSTON (Reuters) - The average 401(k) retirement balance for U.S. workers hit a record high of $80,900 in the first quarter, a growth spurt of 75 percent since the stock market's nadir in March 2009, Fidelity Investments said on Thursday based on a survey of its accounts.

Most of the recovery is linked to a stock market rally that has lifted the broad S&P 500 Index 145 percent since the close of trading on March 9, 2009.

China factory activity shrinks for first time in seven months: flash PMI

Thomson Reuters — Thu, 23 May 2013 03:00:19 +0000

Thomson Reuters

By Aileen Wang and Koh Gui Qing

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's factory activity shrank for the first time in seven months in May as new orders fell, a preliminary manufacturing survey showed, entrenching fears that its economic recovery has stalled and that a sharper cooldown may be imminent.

The flash HSBC Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for May fell to 49.6, slipping under the 50-point level demarcating expansion from contraction for the first since October and sending Asian financial markets sharply lower.

Investment firms sue exchanges in dispute on improper fee charges

Thomson Reuters — Thu, 23 May 2013 03:00:03 +0000

Thomson Reuters

By Nate Raymond

(Reuters) - A group of investment firms including Citadel Securities LLC sued the Chicago Board Options Exchange Inc and four other exchanges on Wednesday for improper charges on millions of options trades over a seven-year period.

The lawsuit, filed in a state court in Illinois, said the exchanges had discovered last year that a prominent firm had been mismarking orders as originating from public customers when they were not.

CJ Group-overseas business

Yonhap News Agency — Thu, 23 May 2013 02:15:15 +0000

Yonhap News Agency

PIMCO's Gross says Fed likely to ease stimulus in September: CNBC

Thomson Reuters — Wed, 22 May 2013 21:31:10 +0000

Thomson Reuters

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bill Gross, co-chief investment officer of bond giant PIMCO, said on Wednesday the U.S. Federal Reserve will likely begin tapering its monetary stimulus in September and that bond investors might have already anticipated the move.

"I think we're looking at a potential tapering in the next few months and probably around September," Gross, who is also a founder of PIMCO, told cable television network CNBC.

Column: Why pension funds are eating your 401(k)'s lunch

Thomson Reuters — Wed, 22 May 2013 18:02:55 +0000

Thomson Reuters

By Linda Stern

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pension funds - those old guaranteed-benefit retirement plans your grandma might have told you about - outperform those in 401(k) plans year after year, according to new research from consulting company Towers Watson.

In 2011, the last year studied, defined-benefit plans had median returns of 2.74 percent, while 401(k)s and other defined-contribution plans lost 0.22 percent. It was the widest margin since the mid-1990s, the company said.

Morrisons falls after UBS confirms placing

Thomson Reuters — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:30:35 +0000

Thomson Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) - Shares in Britain's No.4 grocer Wm Morrison Supermarkets <MRW.L> fell 3 percent on Wednesday after UBS confirmed it had placed around 100 million shares in the firm at 280 pence for an institutional seller.

The sale represents a 4.4 percent stake in Morrisons and is equivalent to eight days worth of volume. The shares, which closed at 289.30 pence on Tuesday, traded at 280.9 pence at 6.24 a.m. ET.

The seller of the holding was not immediately known.

Analysis: Rich country investors returning home

Thomson Reuters — Wed, 22 May 2013 13:47:05 +0000

Thomson Reuters

By Natsuko Waki

LONDON (Reuters) - The world's biggest investors may be rethinking 20 years of boosting overseas holdings and are instead seeking more stable cash income at home, as aging societies and tighter regulation dull risk appetite.

This heralds a structural shift toward investments that produce long-term income in advanced economies, home to two thirds of the money held by insurers and pension funds - some $55 trillion.

Sony CEO says board mulling hedge fund boss Loeb's proposal to spin off entertainment business

The Canadian Press — Wed, 22 May 2013 09:15:03 +0000

The Canadian Press

TOKYO - Sony's CEO Kazuo Hirai says the electronics giant's board will discuss a proposal by U.S. hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb to spin off up to 20 per cent of its movie, TV and music division.

Hirai was asked about the proposal at a corporate strategy presentation Wednesday. He did not give a timetable for a decision, and would not give his own opinion about the suggestion raised by Loeb, who is CEO of hedge fund Third Point LLC.

"This will be deliberated by the board and we will come up with a response," Hirai told reporters. "We have only just begun to study this."

Merck signs $5 billion share buyback agreement with Goldman Sachs

Thomson Reuters — Wed, 22 May 2013 09:00:50 +0000

Thomson Reuters

(Reuters) - Merck & Co Inc said it has entered into a $5 billion share repurchase agreement with Goldman Sachs Group Inc, as the drug giant looks to prop up shareholder value in face of stiff competition from makers of less-costly generics.

Under the accelerated share repurchase agreement (ASR), Merck has agreed to repurchase about 99.5 million shares from Goldman Sachs based on current market prices.

venture firms-support measure

Yonhap News Agency — Wed, 22 May 2013 06:45:30 +0000

Yonhap News Agency

SEOUL, May 22 (Yonhap) -- The government unveiled a plan Wednesday to set up a fund worth 6 trillion won (US$5.38 billion) to nurture venture companies and start-ups as part of a broader policy move to ramp up support for smaller businesses.

Under the plan, state-run policy lenders will provide 1.85 trillion won over the next three years, with the remaining 4.15 trillion won to be invested by private companies, according to the Financial Services Commission (FSC), the country's top financial regulator.

JPMorgan's Dimon looks set to remain chairman after battle

Thomson Reuters — Wed, 22 May 2013 04:03:09 +0000

Thomson Reuters

By David Henry

TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co's <JPM.N> Chairman and Chief Executive Jamie Dimon looks set to win a vote about whether he gets to keep his chairman title, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.

A months-long and bitter shareholder campaign demanding more oversight of Dimon will end with JPMorgan's annual meeting on Tuesday. Dimon has suggested that he may eventually leave the bank if he loses the vote.

Scandal or not, one SAC investor can't get enough of Steve Cohen

Thomson Reuters — Wed, 22 May 2013 01:02:16 +0000

Thomson Reuters

By Svea Herbst-Bayliss and Sam Forgione

BOSTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - As federal prosecutors circle Steven A. Cohen's $15 billion hedge fund in a long-running insider trading probe, one financial adviser in Texas is so devoted to the billionaire investor that he may give him more money.

"I'm thinking about putting more money with him," said Ed Butowsky, managing director at Chapwood Capital Investment Management, who manages $1 billion in client money.