Tag Archives: black
New Funds: October 21
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4dc5971c-374a-11e3-b42e-00144feab7de.html#ixzz2iXVJIIAx ● US fund house Legg Mason Global Asset Management has launched the Legg Mason Western Asset Senior Loans fund to provide exposure to debt securities and non-investment grade loans. ● UK fund company Schroders has launched a new catastrophe bond fund, the Schroder GAIA Cat Bond fund, on its Luxembourg-domiciled Ucits platform, to invest in regions with a high concentration of insured wealth. ● Natixis Asset Management has unveiled the Natixis Global Risk Parity fund, which will invest in a wide range of asset classes, from equities to commodities, real estate and emerging market debt. ● Willstone Management, a UK-based art investment company, has obtained $100m from two New York hedge funds to launch what it claims is the first sizeable dedicated art-lending business for Europe. ● Three seasoned activist investors, Blake Nixon, Max Lesser and Christopher Mills, have joined forces to launch investment vehicle Worsley Investors as part of a new venture, Worsley Asset Management. The fund will take strategic holdings in UK small-cap companies that are trading at deep discounts to their latent value. ● Baring Asset Management is to launch the Baring European Opportunities fund to invest in smaller European companies, which it believes are substantially under-researched compared to larger cap stocks. ● AXA is expanding its €3bn smart beta range with the launch of the AXA WF Global SmartBeta Equity, a Luxembourg-domiciled Sicav. ● BlackRock’s ETF arm, iShares, has created a range of five ultra-short and short-duration bond ETFs designed as alternatives to money market funds. The ETFs, which are the first passive products in this space in Europe, carry total expense ratios between 20 and 45bp. ● FinEx has launched a physically backed gold ETF on the Irish Stock Exchange, which will be cross-listed in Moscow in a bid to drive the development of the Russian ETF industry. Continue reading
Tips To Handle Today’s Farmland Market
http://www.agricultu….jpg&type=admin Jeff Caldwell 09/23/2013 Looking for proof the farmland market is starting to plateau? Look no further than the fields of Iowa, where the often-foreshadowed plateau in land values seems to be reaching fruition, at least in parts of that state, new information shows. Iowa has seen a meteoric rise in land values in the last few years, some say more so than other Corn Belt states. Now as the costs and returns for a crop start to converge and factors like taxes start to compel landowners to keep their hands on their land, prices are starting to hit the plateau experts say has been on its way for months. “The dynamics of the farm market, specifically inputs, have rocketed. Cash rents have not kept pace with the profits farmers have gotten. People are wondering what will happen with cash rents,” says Randy Hertz, accredited farm manager and land consultant with Hertz Farm Management, Inc. “There are just fewer farms on the market now. The reason for that is when you’ve got a land market that increases in value, people don’t want to pay taxes on that increase. And you’ve got low interest rates. They say ‘I’m earning 3% to 3 1/2% on rented land. What would I do if I sold? I’d have to pay tax on $9,000 an acre in capital gains. You’re going to pay one-third of that in taxes, plus the privilege of 1% on a CD. So, you’ve seen a lot fewer farms for sale.” Recent data show that three crop-reporting districts of Iowa — the Corn Belt state that’s seen the greatest volatility in land price shifts in the last few years, Hertz says — saw a tapering-off in their climb in value: Northeastern, southwest, and west-central Iowa. Much of that slump has come as a result of commodity prices slipping, interest rates, taxes, and a continued lack of “stable alternative investments.” This is compelling landowners to hold tighter onto their land in many cases, says Kyle Hansen of the Iowa Land Realtors Institute, leader of a statewide survey of farm managers, rural appraisers, and ag lenders. The leveling off in land values isn’t quite yet reaching every corner of the Corn Belt, though. Even if prices stay in the black for the coming few months, that doesn’t mean the reversal in Iowa won’t spread to other major corn- and soybean-growing parts of the nation’s center. “These prices are not at the level of increases we’ve seen in recent years, but they are still upward,” says Dale Aupperle, a farm manager with Heartland Ag Group in Forsyth, Illinois, and chairman of the Illinois Land Values and Lease Trends project, which recently conducted a similar survey of land values in that state that showed values are still climbing, but leveling off in their rise. If the boat does tip, and values do dip into the red, how far might things go? “While most bankers expected farmland values to remain at current levels, an increasing number of respondents felt farmland values may have peaked. Compared with previous surveys, fewer bankers expected farmland values to keep rising. More bankers also expected farmland values to drop after harvest likely due, at least partially, to expectations of lower farm income,” says Nathan Kauffman, economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. “Among bankers anticipating a decline, though, a majority of estimated farmland values would fall less than 10% during the next year. Very few bankers expected that farmland prices would drop more than 10%.” So, what should you do? Hertz recommends three things to help navigate a shaky farmland market: Maintain a buying position. “As people get panicky, they may be willing to take a lower price or offer lower than the general public really would anticipate. It’s an emotional decision,” he says. Continue making cash grain sales. Doing so will help you keep a consistent income streaming in, regardless of where the land market is going and how those sales may affect your ability to secure more land. “How could you ever look a gift horse in the mouth? We can sell new-crop soybeans for over $13/bushel cash. Those are phenomenal prices. Yes, we’re going to get kicked in the shorts with our soybean yield, but you still have to sell the stuff,” Hertz adds. “You’ve still got to make a decision.” Look again at land rents. “If you had not increased along with where it should’ve been, you probably should’ve gotten an increase. If you were pretty good but not at top of the market, rent will probably be pretty good next year. If you were at the high for cash rent last year, probably adjust downward,” Hertz says. Continue reading
BlackBerry’s ‘next-level’ Z30 launched in Dubai
BlackBerry’s ‘next-level’ Z30 launched in Dubai Alvin R. Cabral / 24 September 2013 BlackBerry has launched its new all-touch Z30 smartphone in the Middle East on Monday, with the first units having been made available at its BlackBerry Store in The Dubai Mall late last night, as the Canadian handset maker looks to ride the momentum borne out of its latest suite of BlackBerry 10 OS-powered devices. After the exclusive launch, the Z30 will be available through BlackBerry’s partners beginning today. While the competition in the smartphone segment is getting tougher by the day, BlackBerry is “actually doing very well” especially in the Middle East, according to a top official, who pointed out that the firm is still enjoying consumers’ trust with its devices and services. “The Middle East is definitely one of our key growth markets… because people trust us and have utmost confidence in BlackBerry,” Mike Al Mefleh, senior director of Product Management and Platform – Software Services at BlackBerry, told Khaleej Times in an interview. “We laid out the foundation with our OS 10 devices and we took it to the next level.” He pointed out that BlackBerry provides important aspects in mobile computing — security, integrity, privacy and reliability — components that are critical especially in today’s fast-paced and broader world of mobile computing. “As a consumer you want your information available to you, and we provide that,” Al Mefleh said, pointing out that its flagship BlackBerry Messenger, or BBM, continues to enjoy the support of users especially here in the region. “Consumers enjoy BBM because it is very secure and very private, unlike other social media apps,” he said, adding that in the Middle East, BBM’s penetration rate is at 98 per cent, and even 99 per cent in some countries. New flagship Z30 Last week, BlackBerry — the former Research In Motion — released a statement from its Waterloo What’s new in the z30? BlackBerry has touted its new all-touch Z30 smartphone as its “biggest, fastest and most advanced”. Here’s the lowdown: BlackBerry Priority Hub — You can now learn what conversations and what people are important to you making it fast and easy to find the messages and information you need. BBM now in any app and message previews everywhere — You can now get a preview of any message as it arrives in whatever app you’re using, and immediately dismiss it or tap it to read the full content and respond. Stereo audio and BlackBerry Natural Sound — The Z30 smartphone comes with stereo speakers that immerse you in your sounds, and makes conversations look like it’s face-to-face. New antennae technology — A new-generation antennae technology dynamically tunes reception to give better connectivity in low-signal areas. headquarters that it would be launching its Z30 smartphone this week in the Middle East and the United Kingdom, with other regions to follow soon. It comes after the company released its new devices running the latest BlackBerry 10 OS — the all-touch Z10 and the touch-and-type Q10 and Q5. Most recently, it unveiled the 9720 that runs on OS 7. The Z30 will be its “biggest, fastest and most advanced” smartphone to date, featuring BlackBerry 10 OS version 10.2, a five-inch Super Amoled display, a 1.7GHz processor with quad-core graphics and the largest battery — 2880mAh — yet on a BlackBerry device. It has four stereo speakers with BlackBerry Natural Sound, a new-generation BlackBerry Paratek Antennae that gives faster data transfers and many other features. Demonstrating the Z30, Al Mefleh says that the company continues to highlight its BlackBerry Hub — the “centre of communications” — on the phone, which has been well-received by users. Enhanced as the BlackBerry Priority Hub, it is now able to list the most important messages and collects priority messages. It also has a new attachment button to save time when sending files. He said that the BlackBerry Hub — as it has always been — is a “shift and transformation in making life easier for users”. A new notification feature has also been added on the Z30; for example, a message can be read and replied to while browsing, without closing the latter. This feature can also be disabled for privacy reasons. And good news for those considering a BlackBerry for their next phone: Al Mefleh confirmed that the Z30 will now be able to run more apps based on Google’s Android operating system, a welcome development in the cross-platform arena. He added that the number of apps available for the OS 10 on the BlackBerry AppWorld site is now up from an initial 50,000 to 140,000, meaning that users have a broader choice — and more reasons to get themselves a BlackBerry. Its typing and browsing feature was touted by Al Mefleh, calling it “the best typing and browsing experience… we keep improving and mastering this”. He says that continuing to improve user experience on a smartphone “is the future; we continue to make life easier and simpler”. “We have enjoyed the success of the BlackBerry OS 10. Since we introduced it, we have seen that… people have liked what we’ve given them.” Al Mefleh was confident that the Z30 — selling for Dh2,499 — will be met positively by consumers. And when asked on what other devices are to be launched in 2013, he reiterated an earlier announcement this year that BlackBerry was slated to roll out six new ones. “You know what we’ve launched; you do the math,” he said candidly. – alvin@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
