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A more optimistic outlook for high net worth individuals in a gloomy financial market
Despite reports this month of HNW individuals being hit hardest by rising interest rates and the unstable economic climate, research from Mintel suggests the vast majority are remaining optimistic and continuing to build their investment portfolio into 2008. The personal wealth management industry has seen a boom in the past few years with the population of high earning individuals (£100k+) increasing year-on-year since 2002.
Personal factors play a significant role in the decision of many to continue investing, despite the relative instability of the past 6 months. ‘Hobby investing’ has continued to increase, spurred in part by potentially lucrative opportunities created by the credit crunch and dramatic Northern Rock crash, contributing to the personal investment industries relative stability. The message for those working in personal investments is “keep your personal relationships tight” - this is one of the main factors influencing HNW investors decision making processes. (Source: Mintel)
Microsoft acquisition of Yahoo! Only a matter of time?
Microsoft seems set on a takeover plan of struggling search engine Yahoo! despite the US company formally rejecting their offer of $28.95/ share the equivalent of $44bn. Yahoo! insists they will not sell at less than $40 a share although many industry insiders see the takeover as a matter of when, rather than if, with Yahoo! having no other serious offers on the table. Yahoo! responded to the offer earlier this month by restarting merger talks with AOL.
Sources:
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2008/02/11/daily8.html
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/technology/article3359868.ece
Germany’s Dresdner Bank has become the latest financial institution forced to bail out a special investment vehicle (SIV)
Germany’s Dresdner Bank has become the latest financial institution forced to bail out a special investment vehicle (SIV). Dresdner, Germany’s third largest bank, said that it will pay off all the senior debt in the SIV, which are a type of structured finance vehicle that use short-term borrowing to buy higher-yielding, and therefore sometimes higher risk, assets.
Since July last year, Dresdner Bank has reduced the size of the assets contained in its SIV, from $31.2 billion to $18.8 billion. The bank said that 90 per cent of the SIV’s assets are investment grade with no direct exposure to US sub-prime mortgages, or collateralised debt obligations (CDO), a complex financial instrument. (Source Times Online)
