Products

Private equity: Start up or buy out?

There seem to be cycles in private company investing. Those with long memories will remember Michael Milken and junk bonds. In recent memory, there were the venture firms of the Silicon Valley that went bust at the beginning of the decade, or more recently still, buyouts whose coda was supplied by the failure of the […]

By Scot Blythe |March 6, 2009

6 min read

Fewer features, higher fees future for GMWBs: Manulife

While guaranteed minimum withdrawal benefit funds have been a huge hit in the Canadian marketplace, at least one company isn’t looking to gain shelf space anytime soon. “We’re not excited about gaining market share until the product is more compatible with where we’re headed,” Manulife senior executive vice-present and chief financial officer Peter Rubenovitch told […]

By Scot Blythe |March 5, 2009

3 min read

Hedge funds: The next generation

Despite headline blowups and depressed returns, not all is bad in the hedge fund world. There’s still growth to be found in the future — by planting a seed. Now is an opportune time to snag prospective managers at preferred fees, thanks to the shakeout in the industry, suggest panellists at a Toronto discussion on […]

By Scot Blythe |January 30, 2009

4 min read

The end of fund of funds

The $50 billion fraud by Bernard Madoff probably spells the end of the fund-of-funds business. While Madoff wasn’t operating a hedge fund, he was using some techniques that hedge fund traders would apply — or at least he said he was. /images/other/h/hedgemaze08_feature.jpg Friends and acquaintances took him at his word. But so too did a […]

By Scot Blythe |January 23, 2009

4 min read