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Insurers and investors should prioritise investing in assets with little or no correlation to financial markets given the uncertain future for the global economy, according to PDL International, a provider of investment services to institutional and high net worth clients.
Speaking at the first Asia Conference on Investment and Portfolio Management for the Insurance Industry in Hong Kong, Keith Campbell Golding (pictured), chief representative for PDL in Asia, told an audience of senior management figures at insurers across the region that given the current economic climate, picking the right combination of assets in investment portfolios has never been so important.
Jeff Keen (pictured), fund manager, Waverton Global Bond fund, J O Hambro Investment Management (JOHIM), on the impact of the Fed’s and ECB’s stimulus measures…
September saw the official confirmation of long awaited stimulus initiatives from both the Fed and ECB. The Fed announced an open-ended QE programme, focused on purchasing USD40bn of mortgage-backed securities (MBS) a month as well as extending its conditional commitment to leave its policy rate at near-zero through mid-2015. It also stressed that future policy action will depend on how economic conditions develop with a particular focus on the level of unemployment.
Meanwhile, the ECB
Maranon Capital has made an investment in Performance Health and Wellness Holdings to support the acquisition of the business by Gridiron Capital and Performance Health’s management team.
Maranon arranged and led a syndicate that provided mezzanine debt and an equity co-investment.
Headquartered in Akron, Ohio, Performance Health is a designer, manufacturer and marketer of branded rehabilitation and wellness products. The company’s products include a line of topical analgesics and a broad range of rehabilitation and wellness products including progressive resistance bands and tubing, exercise balls, hand exercisers, stability trainers and a number of other specialty products. In addition, the company
Preqin’s initial public offering pipeline data reveals that there are currently 42 private equity and venture capital-backed companies globally set to list in the coming weeks, seeking to raise USD8.4bn in public offerings.
Twenty-four of these companies are buyout-backed, and a further 18 VC-backed companies have currently filed for an IPO.
In addition, as of 15 October, 19 PE-and VC-backed companies have completed their IPOs or follow-on share sales during the month, raising USD4bn in their offerings. This is in marked contrast to the whole of Q3 2012, when USD6.5bn was raised in public offerings during the whole quarter, indicating
Altus Capital Partners II, along with members of management, has acquired Gulf Coast Machine & Supply Company (GULFCO), a provider of forging solutions to energy and industrial end markets.
Founded as a small machine shop in 1919 and based in Beaumont, Texas, GULFCO’s equipment and professionals offer advanced ring rolling, open die forging, machining, heat treating, and testing for products formed into rolled rings, discs, bushings, blocks, and gear blanks.
GULFCO is a preferred supplier for blue-chip customers operating in highly demanding environments such as subsea production facilities, refineries, offshore oil and gas rigs, mining machinery, off-highway equipment, hydraulic fracturing
Shareholder activism is expected to rise in the fourth quarter and into 2013 as investors push for management changes at companies that have performed poorly on a consistent basis, according to a report by law firm Schulte Roth & Zabel.
Produced in association with mergermarket, the Shareholder Activism Insight report is based on a series of interviews with corporate executives and activist investors, and provides a review on emerging trends in shareholder activism, as well as insights into the changing corporate landscape investors and executives will face in the coming years.
The industries expected to see the biggest increase
Accel-KKR, a technology-focused private equity investment firm, has made a majority equity investment in Accellos, a supply chain execution software company focused on the SMB segment.
Accel-KKR is backing Accellos as it drives growth and rapid adoption of its unified suite of supply chain execution solutions.
Accellos was founded with a vision that small and mid-sized business, and logistics service providers were in need of a single-source supply chain software partner. This vision has manifested itself in the acquisition and integration of six supply chain software companies and the development of a unifying product technology – the AccellosOne platform. Over
Funds advised by IK Investment Partners are to acquire a majority of the shares in Vemedia Pharma, a supplier and distributor of over the counter medicines in the specialist areas of sleeping and calming products and vitamins.
The acquisition agreement was entered into with the three largest shareholders of Vemedia following a competitive auction process run by ING and Michel Dyens & Co. Bank Degroof was acting as adviser to IK.
The selling shareholders are Damier, controlled by Vemedia’s chief executive Yvan Vindevogel, Indufin Capital Partners (an investment company jointly owned by listed investment company Luxempart and investment company De
Funds advised by European private equity fund PAI Partners are to purchase a 78.39 per cent stake in Marcolin, an Italian eyewear manufacturer, at a price of EUR4.25 per share from family and private owners in a proprietary primary LBO transaction in one of its core investment sectors.
On completion, PAI Partners will promote a mandatory public tender offer for the remaining equity, which is publicly traded, at EUR4.25 per share, with the aim of de-listing the company. The transaction is expected to close in late November.
Marcolin is one of the largest and fastest growing eyewear manufacturers in Italy
Private equity firm Advent International is to acquire KMD, a Danish IT services and software company, from EQT and ATP.
Advent’s investment is subject to customary regulatory approval and is expected to complete by year-end.
Founded in 1972, the company has a long track record as a trusted partner to the Danish public sector. KMD is a market leader in software, services, and business process solutions for the delivery of mission critical public sector services in Denmark. KMD’s technology and service platform administers and processes welfare benefits, private and public sector salaries, and local government finances.
KMD has
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