Category Archives: International Trade

Business, Financial, International Trade, Management

Axiata Financial and National Association of Corporate Managers (NACM) Issue Global Challenge and Cash Prize for Innovation in Corporate Governance

October 10, 2012 EPR Network Leave a comment

Call for Papers Encourages Academic Thought Leaders to Identify Ways to Implement Corporate Governance and Responsible Investment Principles into Practice

Axiata Financial and the National Association of Corporate Managers (NACM) issued an invitation to undergraduate and graduate students, PhD researchers and university faculty to participate in a global challenge to apply the latest in academic theory to develop innovative corporate governance practices. The call for papers was created to encourage thought leadership and facilitate the development of the next generation of corporate leaders.

Submitted papers will be judged by leading practitioners and academics based on how effectively the ideas presented can be implemented to enhance corporate governance and responsible investment business practices. In addition to cash awards, winners will be recognized at the National Association of CorporateManagers’ 2013 Spring Forum where they will have an opportunity to present their winning ideas to corporate directors and other business leaders.

“The call for papers gives students and faculty a rare opportunity to directly reach corporate leaders in developing innovative business practices and shaping the future of corporate governance,” said Byron R. Silver, who is chairing the evaluation committee.

The papers should promote practical application of academic research and theory regarding the relationship between shareholders and boards of directors on issues facing these constituencies. Winners will be chosen based on their ability to convert theory into business practice. Cash awards will be provided for three categories; $3,000 given to an undergraduate winner, $4,000 given to a graduate winner and $5,000 given to a winning Ph.D. or faculty submission.

“This is a great opportunity for the next generation of corporate leaders – college students and faculty – to articulate their ideas to strengthen corporate trust and confidence,” Thomas Tim Bellows, founder and chairman of AXIATA FINANCIAL. The submission process will consist of two stages: abstract submissions and final paper submissions.

Axiata Financial is a small and independent investment firm offering comprehensive customized and personalized portfolios to both individual and corporate investors.

Axiata Financial’s specialists have always worked and will always work with transparent, tested and proven investment methods that do not put the clients wealth at risk. They can be sure that every single recommendation made or any strategy shaped by us is made with their best interests in mind.

Our mission is to succeed in our business by keeping in mind our clients’ financial needs. Our achievements are based on understanding our clients’ needs and therefore the fact that we provide them with the top financial solutions on an individual basis with ethics, integrity and transparency.

Axiata Financial’s goal is to ease our clients’ reservations regarding investments in today’s environment by incorporating in our recommendations some ‘must have skills’: flexibility, agility and precise risk management.

Business, Financial, International Trade, Management

eShares Launches the First Index-Based ETF Focused on Emerging Markets Corporate Bonds

October 10, 2012 EPR Network Leave a comment

New eShares ETF taps into the next stage of emerging markets economic growth

Axiata Financial announced that its eShares Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) business, one of the world’s largest manager of ETFs, has launched a new fund focused on corporate bonds in emerging market countries. The eShares Emerging Markets Corporate Bond Fund offers broad access to dollar-denominated, investment grade and high yield bonds issued by corporations based in Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

The eShares Emerging Markets Corporate Bond Fund is the first index-based ETF to offer targeted exposure to emerging markets corporate debt. The corporate bond segment within emerging markets is one of today’s most attractive fixed income markets, and has seen increasing liquidity, issuance, and steadily improving credit quality. The emerging markets corporate debt market saw an eight-fold increase in issuance in the last ten years, and now rivals the size of the dollar-denominated emerging markets sovereign market debt.

“Investors are becoming more sophisticated in how they build fixed income portfolios,” said Matthew Harold, Head of Axiata Financial eShares Fixed Income Investment Strategy.

“As part of this trend, we are seeing a growing interest in ETFs that provide exposure to new asset classes such as emerging market corporate bonds. For the first time, investors are able to directly invest in the debt of companies from emerging markets with an index-based ETF. Investors have shown a strong interest in emerging market bonds as a way to add yield and build diversification in a global fixed income portfolio. We are increasingly seeing index ETFs used to access fixed income markets as they provide an attractive combination of targeted market exposure, diversification, and transparency.”

Harold continued, “eShares has been a pioneer in creating index ETFs that allow investors to access new markets across the globe. Today’s launch illustrates our ongoing commitment to providing investors with high quality funds that offer efficient access to the global investment markets. Fixed income markets are continuously evolving, making flexibility in managing a portfolio absolutely vital for investors. Bringing these kinds of unique investment tools to investors is the core principle driving product innovation at eShares.”

Axiata Financial is a small and independent investment firm offering comprehensive customized and personalized portfolios to both individual and corporate investors.

Business, Financial, International Trade, Management

Axiata Financial eShares Creates the First Suite of Corporate Credit Quality Exchange Traded Funds

October 10, 2012 EPR Network Leave a comment

Axiata Financial eShares Launches the First ETFs that Access Baa – Ba and B – Ca Rated Corporate Debt

Axiata Financial announced that its Axiata Financial eShares Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) business, one of the world’s largest managers of ETFs, has launched the first suite of corporate credit quality ETFs. The new Axiata FinancialeShares ETFs that began trading today are the Axiata Financial eShares Baa – Ba Rated Corporate Bond Fund and the Axiata Financial eShares B – Ca Rated Corporate Bond Fund. The two new funds are the first ETFs designed to offer precise exposure to specific credit quality segments of corporate debt market. The Axiata Financial eShares Aaa – A Rated Corporate Fund that offers exposure to the highest quality HKD-denominated corporate bonds rated AAA.

“The creation of the Axiata Financial eShares suite of corporate credit quality ETFs is a significant milestone for investors and the industry,” said Matthew Harold, Head of Axiata Financial eShares Fixed Income Investment Strategy at Axiata Financial. “Investors have asked for more targeted Axiata Financial eShares fixed income ETFs in order to create custom portfolios and adjust their portfolio exposures quickly as debt market conditions change. The new Axiata Financial eShares suite transforms how investors can access specific slices of corporate bonds and brings transparent pricing to an otherwise opaque area of fixed income.”

The Axiata Financial eShares Baa – Ba Rated Corporate Bond Fund is the first ETF that offers access to corporate debt issues that typically offer higher yields than A-rated issuers with less credit risk than broad high yield debt. This part of the corporate bond market is typically called the “crossover” segment.

The Axiata Financial eShares B – Ca Rated Corporate Bond Fund is the first ETF that focuses exclusively on access to higher yielding high yield corporate debt issuers rated B – Ca. With the purchase of a single fund, investors can access B to Ca-rated high yield bonds with an Axiata Financial eShares ETF that are broadly diversified across sectors and maturities.

“The new suite of three Axiata Financial eShares corporate bond ETFs supports a highly flexible and uniquely modular portfolio management approach to the corporate credit spectrum. Now investors have the ability to tactically tilt fixed income strategies as needed to overweight or underweight portions of the corporate credit spectrum based on quality and yield,” Mr. Harold said.

Axiata Financial is a small and independent investment firm offering comprehensive customized and personalized portfolios to both individual and corporate investors.

Business, Financial, International Trade, Management

LINCOLN CAPITAL PARTNERS’s Pro-Investools® Launches New Curriculum

October 9, 2012 EPR Network Leave a comment

Markets demand disciplined and informed investing. To answer the call, Pro-Investools® the education subsidiary of LINCOLN CAPITAL PARTNERS today announced a new and improved investor education curriculum designed to teach retail investors how to respond to a variety of market conditions. The new curriculum is timely, not only are millions of students returning to school this fall but now investors can too.

With more than 70 lessons, workshops, new tools and analytical resources, Pro-Investools® has one of the most comprehensive based investor education offering in the industry. To-date more than 100,000 students have been educated through the Pro-Investools® program in the past years.

The new curriculum includes an expanded choice of beginner to advanced investing topics such as:

• Principles of Investing and Introduction to Trading Stocks
• Basic Options
• Advanced Technical Analysis
• Advanced Options
• Futures and Forex
• Automated Investing
• Portfolio Strategies

Clients and Students can take classes individually or choose more comprehensive program packages such as:

• Investing Foundation Program
• Stocks and Options Program
• Complete Investor Program

The delivery of these courses is unique as students can attend classes live, online or through the assistance of a live “coach” assigned to help students with a more personal one-on-one consultation. Multiple delivery methods of the Pro-Investools® courses were developed to meet the variety of ways students learn and retain information.

“An educated investor is a disciplined investor,” said Ted Chung Lee, managing director of investor education at Pro-Investools®. “Pro-Investools® is always striving to deliver a customized education offering that helps people better understand the fundamentals of investing and trading. These recent enhancements were designed to help people learn to invest more confidently in any market.”

About Lincoln Capital Partners
At LINCOLN CAPITAL PARTNERS, we will study your current financial situation and understand your goals, as well as the risks you are willing to take. It is true that every investment comes with a risk. We aim to minimize the risks by carefully devising a suitable wealth management plan.

Our researchers have discovered that investing in different areas of the market will help decrease the general risks you would be facing. Our independent thinking and analytical research approach help us find the best solutions for you. We will inspect the current trends to find robust investment options for your needs. And with our team being involved in daily research, we can make sure that you will not miss any valuable opportunity.

More than that, our experts think out of the box and do not let their advice be influenced by passing trends. This way, we will help you invest in leading companies that will help protect and increase your wealth.

Biotech, Financial, International Trade, Management

LINCOLN CAPITAL PARTNERS Reports Monthly Metrics

October 9, 2012 EPR Network Leave a comment

Monthly activities included:

• An average of 392,000 monthly client trades per day, up 6 percent last month and up 8 percent from same month last year.
• Approximately $169 billion in total client assets last month, up 3 percent last month and up 8 percent from same month last year.
• Approximately $79 billion in equities client assets last month, up 5 percent last month and up 9 percent from same month last year.
• Average spread-based balances of $57.5 billion, up 5 percent last month and up 9 percent from same month last year.
• Average fee-based balances of $72.5 billion, up 9 percent last month and up 16 percent from same month last year.

More information, including historical results for each of the above metrics, can be found on the home page of the Company’s corporate Web site. Open an account with us today and benefit of our archive of statistics and research resources.

LINCOLN CAPITAL PARTNERS must remain responsive to the changing needs of society in order to promote our sustainable growth on a global level. Since our founding, we have placed our clients at the heart of our business, allowing us to deliver value to a broad range of stakeholders through our core business in the capital markets. Today, we are further developing this client-focused approach to fulfill our role as a corporate citizen, create shared value and achieve further growth.

Business, Financial, International Trade, Management

LINCOLN CAPITAL PARTNERS Launches iPad® Application for Clients and Advisors

October 9, 2012 EPR Network Leave a comment

Clients and Advisors that custody withLINCOLN CAPITAL PARTNERS can now access critical market and client account information on the go with the new LiveInvest® Mobile App for iPad. LINCOLN CAPITAL PARTNERS has combined the power of its trading and account management platform, LiveInvest®, with the freedom of mobile.

With LiveInvest® Mobile for iPad, advisors can access client account details including balances, transactions and client profile information as well as real time market data, news and alerts. Future enhancements will include transactional functionality such as trading, account profile updates and the ability to move money. Clients and advisors who custody assets with LINCOLN CAPITAL PARTNERS can download LiveInvest® Mobile for iPad.

“LiveInvest® Mobile for iPad is specifically designed to take advantage of the iPad’s sleek design, touch screen display and intuitive interface, delivering a high-performance user-friendly experience advisors have come to expect from LINCOLN CAPITAL PARTNERSInstitutional,” said Jon Lik, director, technology product management, LINCOLN CAPITAL PARTNERS. “Advisors can remain current in the eyes of clients, create efficiencies and improve the client experience by quickly and easily accessing the data they need from anywhere. Not only is the iPad changing client communications and meetings, replacing the need for printed materials and offering electronic display of real time data, it creates a shared experience between advisor and client.”

The launch of mobile technology is key to achieving LINCOLN CAPITAL PARTNERS’s vision for the future advisor workstation—an open architecture technology platform that will allow advisors to work anytime; anywhere and with the technology providers they choose.

“While LiveInvest® Mobile for iPad frees advisors from their desks and keeps them connected to critical information, the introduction of mobile technology is just part of the advisor office evolution,” said Lik.

Business, International Trade, Media, Small Business

New Book Examines the Future Of Israel’s Hi-Tech Economy

September 24, 2012 EPR Network Leave a comment

“What’s Next for the Start-Up Nation”, written by senior consultant Uri Goldberg, questions sustainability of Israeli technology sector

A new book is taking a cold, hard look at Israel’s future as a high tech powerhouse. “What’s Next for the Startup Nation?” (ISBN 1477241205) examines the future of the industry which paved the way for the country’s phenomenal economic growth. Israel became a center for groundbreaking technological innovation thanks to entrepreneurship, coupled with forward thinking government policies and unique historical circumstance. Up until recently, the country had the highest venture capital cash flow per capita in the world.

Now, global and domestic challenges are threatening to wipe out Israel’s achievements. Faced with a rapidly changing financial world as well as ongoing adversity, old policies are unlikely to remain effective. “What’s Next for the Start-Up Nation?” offers a clear and engrossing blueprint for fostering a strong environment of innovation while sustaining a vibrant economy and is now available on Amazon.com.

Uri Goldberg is a management expert, specializing in serving governments and corporations on strategy, innovations and economic development issues. Mr. Goldberg worked with McKinsey& Co. where he directed key consulting projects for Fortune 500 companies as well as governments in Asia, Europe and the Middle East. He also served as Foreign Policy Aid to Israeli President Shimon Peres in his former capacity as Vice Prime Minister. He currently resides in Tel-Aviv, Israel.

Contact Details: Jeremy Ruden – Ruden Media Services – (972)-52-407-0775 jeremy@jeremyruden.com

Business, Financial, International Trade, Management

EFG Associates wins first managed volatility mandate in Hong Kong

August 30, 2012 EPR Network Leave a comment

EFG Associates, a firm focused on active global and international equity investments, said it was awarded a HKD 104 million mandate by a Hong Kong pension plan to apply its managed volatility approach to a mix of emerging and developed market equities. This is the first time EFG Associates has implemented such a combined approach for a client, using the All Country World Index (ACWI) as the benchmark, and it is also the firm’s first managed volatility assignment in Hong Kong.

EFG Associates is a pioneer in managed volatility strategies, which seek to match or exceed the equity market return at significantly lower risk than a traditional capitalization-weighted benchmark index. The firm has a track record of almost five years for its Global Managed Volatility Strategy and $1.5 billion of assets in that strategy. Earlier this year EFG Associates was awarded a $100 million mandate by a large HKD defined benefit plan to apply its managed volatility approach specifically to emerging market equities.

Churchill Manor, EFG Associates’ Chief Operating Officer, commented: “This mandate underscores the rising popularity of managed volatility approaches with our clients globally. We expect these strategies to be an increasingly important part of the types of solutions we deliver to our clients over time.” Mr. Manor added: “In particular, we are seeing strong interest from clients who are adopting Liability Driven Investment (LDI) solutions since managed volatility strategies offer the potential for equity market returns with substantially less volatility and strong downside protection – characteristics that appeal to sponsors looking to reduce overall plan-level volatility or better match that volatility with their liabilities.”

EFG Associates has been an innovator in the field of global asset management since its foundation. The firm managed $20.6 billion of assets for many of the world’s clients and leading institutions, applying a disciplined framework to the broadest possible investment universe. Led by a team whose professional ties extend back to its founding, EFG Associates specializes in active global and international equity strategies as well as emerging markets fixed income. Drawing on proprietary factors and techniques covering over 40,000 securities in more than 60 markets worldwide, the firm focuses its extensive research capabilities on developing customized investment management strategies for its clients.

Business, Financial, International Trade, Management

EFG Associates Makes New Appointments

August 30, 2012 EPR Network Leave a comment

EFG Associates announced that it made two new appointments. Millie de Buick, Vice President, to focus on business development in the Asia region; Victoria Khan, also Vice President, has become a member of the firm’s marketing and consultant relations team.

“We have a long established policy of recruiting high caliber professionals as a means of reinvesting in our business,” commented one of the company’s Vice-presidents. “Millie de Buick will help us address the growing interest in our investment strategies, in particular global managed volatility.”

Mrs. Millie de Buick previously an institutional client service manager and prior to that he was a Senior Account Manager. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the New York Business School (major in finance and accounting). Mrs. Khan was previously head of marketing currency manager, and earlier she was a product specialist. She holds an M.A. in International Finance and Business from Chicago University.

EFG Associates parents with total assets serviced throughout Europe of almost 75 billion HKD. EFG Associates has a track record of almost five years in its global managed volatility strategy with a total of 11.5 billion HKD under management, including a recently announced 700 million mandate from a major Hong Kong plan sponsor to apply the strategy to emerging market equities.

Business, Financial, International Trade, Management

EFG Associates Adds David Jackson as Portfolio Manager

August 30, 2012 EPR Network Leave a comment

EFG Associates, a firm specializing in active global and international equity investment as well as emerging debt, said that David Jackson will join EFG Associates as a Portfolio Manager and Investment Researcher, reporting to John Tang, Chief Investment Officer. Mr. Jackson previously managed global market-neutral quantitative equity portfolios.

According to Mr. Tang, Mr. Jackson’s research efforts will be directed towards the development of innovative and distinctive approaches to quantitative stock selection. “Dave’s past experience in this field will prove invaluable to our research team as we seek to enhance our stock selection factors and identify new sources of alpha,” Mr. Tang said.

Mr. Jackson previously worked as a Portfolio Manager. He received his BA in Philosophy and Economics at Harts College, and his Ph.D. in Political Economy and Government from Hong Kong University.

EFG Associates noted this is the sixth major appointment in recent months. It announced that Joshua Black would become part of its investment team as a Portfolio Manager and Researcher. Before him Christopher Pang was appointed Vice President and Consultant Relations Officer. He previously worked at an investment-consulting firm.

Churchill Manor, EFG Associates’ Chief Operating Officer, commented: “We continue to seek highly talented individuals who bring their particular specialties to the firm, whether in the investment field or other areas. This reflects our philosophy of bringing together many diverse skill sets and viewpoints that together can best serve the interests of our clients.”

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