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Integrating the EU and U.S. financial securities markets could reduce transaction costs in securities trading, increase annual transaction volumes and strengthen the European and U.S. positions in the international financial market. In this report, Deutsche Bank examines the progress of integration and suggests a pragmatic, principles-based approac...

A concise review of past and present hedge fund environments can potentially provide an important context for understanding what the future may hold for hedge fund investing and what the resulting implications could be for qualified investors.

To manage wealth well requires understanding and responding wisely to risk. This white paper seeks to help readers gain insight into the heart of risk. It focuses not on technical measures of risk (beta, volatility, variance, and the like) but rather how successful individuals tolerate and manage risk day-to-day.

Compared to the maelstrom that unfolded in the 4th quarter of 2008, the first 90 days of this year felt like a veritable walk in the park. There was no lack of negative news but, as the quarter progressed, there were signs that the economy was at or approaching a bottom.

A volatile financial market draws different responses from wealthy investors. While some increase their cash and property holdings, others switch financial advisors or become overly preoccupied with the performance of individual investments, which leads to over-trading. This report from Barclays Wealth explores how personality traits and cognitive ...

While frontier markets have yet to be recognized as emerging economies, these countries often are emerging rather than stagnating and can provide diversification for global portfolios. This report from Frontier Market Asset Management examines the current state, potential and challenges of frontier markets ranging from Estonia to Zimbabwe.

Mortgage defaults and the ongoing credit crunch are a challenge, but they have created opportunity for investors in distressed debt. Indeed, 51 percent of the investors surveyed by Debtwire for Bracewell & Giuliani report that say they see bargains in distressed debt.

Investors who are looking to reduce risk and increase investment returns may want to consider owning farmland, according to this article from AgraShares. Across the past 40 years, owning and leasing a farm produced an average annual rate of return of 11 percent, comparable to the rate of return from stocks.

The downturn in the global real estate market ended over-performance and returned property values to more realistic, historic values. But lower prices can be a benefit for investors who had limited real estate holdings or were priced out of the market previously. This report from State Street Global Advisers explores potential opportunities in the ...

The United Nations' 2008 World Investment Report states that developing and transition economies attracted nearly $600 million in foreign investment in 2007, a 25 percent increase from the previous year. Much of that money came from trans-national corporations, but much more is needed, particularly to shore up the infrastructure of these nations. T...

An unprecedented low in the purchasing manager index suggests China faces an imminent negative growth shock. New orders and new export orders fell sharply; import orders look very poor; and input prices are dropping. The PMI tends to be volatile, a Credit Suisse report notes, but it has a decent track record of predicting the direction of the econo...

Life insurance policyholders are understandably concerned by the collapse of AIG and the ongoing crisis in the financial services industry, but insurance company analysts do not see an insolvency risk among other providers. Indeed, they express confidence in several safeguards designed to protect the interests of policyholders, says this new white ...

U.S. farmland continued to increase in value in the third quarter of 2008, although at a slower rate of 2 percent, compared with a 14 percent uptick in the previous quarter, according to this report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. At the same time, agricultural credit conditions improved over a year earlier. Looking forward, economists ex...

During extraordinary market conditions of all kinds – good and bad – it is usual to hear people say, "It's different this time." Of course, every market environment is different from every other market environment, but what these people are saying is that market conditions today are so exceptional, so completely unprecedented, that investors will n...

The first quarter was an exhausting one for investors, with many left with little appetite for risk and retreating to positions of relative safety. But the turning point may be at hand, according to a quarterly investment strategy report from Barclays Wealth. The writers reassess asset allocation and bridge the gap between tactical and strategic vi...