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Earthtimes – Julius Baer, one of Switzerland’s largest wealth managers, reported Monday a net profit of 324 million Swiss francs (303 million dollars) in the first half of the year, down 37 per cent compared to the same period in 2008.
The private bank said it had 299 billion Swiss francs of assets under management at the end of June, 25 per cent less, year-on-year. Compared however, to the end of last year, when the financial markets were in turmoil, the bank said its position had improved and was experiencing inflows of new capital.
The bank dropped 2 per cent of its workforce, which now stands at 4,255 staff, and personnel expenses fell by 13 per cent to 587 million francs, reflecting a lowering of performance-related bonuses.
Bloomberg - Man Group Plc, the largest publicly traded hedge-fund manager, said it will cut its workforce by about 15 percent after fiscal year profit dropped and assets under management declined by a third.
Assets fell to $48 billion in the period ending March 31, from $75 billion the previous year, London-based Man Group said in a trading statement. Pretax profit will be $1.2 billion, down from $2.1 billion. The median estimate from four analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News had forecast assets of about $48.6 billion and a $1.14 billion profit.
West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) - California based Martin Asset Management (MAM) is replicating hedge-fund-like returns and risk factors through its ETF strategies without the heavy fees, lockups and non-transparent holdings, the boutique alternative investment firm said.
"Our approach allows investors to obtain the very same benefits as they would with a hedge fund without the limitations usually associated with hedge funds", says Francisco Martin, Senior Managing Director and Founder of Martin Asset Management.
"We use a similar investment philosophy as you would with ‘Global Tactical Asset Allocation’." Martin said, "It is an investment strategy that attempts to exploit short-term market inefficiencies by taking positions in various markets with a view to profiting from relative movements across those markets."
The approach focuses on general movements in the markets rather than on performance of individual securities within them Positions are generally taken with a relatively short-term time horizon (3 – 6 months) – hence the term Tactical Asset Allocation – and in markets across the globe – hence the term Global.
"Our philosophy is simple; we don’t charge any management fees but participate with a 10% performance fee and a High Water Mark. The transparency of a separate managed account and the elimination of all hedge fund imposed barriers make our approach much more attractive to the investor," says Martin.
MAM is expected to launch its new product by August of 2008.
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