Kevin Hayes has stepped down as finance director of struggling hedge fund firm Man Group on the day the company is demoted from the FTSE 100.
Jonathan Sorrell, Man's head of strategy and corporate finance, will replace him at Europe's largest listed hedge fund.
Man, whose shares have slumped, is being replaced in the FTSE 100 list of the UK's leading companies by Babcock.
Mr Hayes is leaving to pursue "other interests", Man said in a statement.
He joined Man in 2007.
Man Group shares have tumbled since the last FTSE review in March, and are down almost two-thirds since last year.
The firm's funds have struggled as cautious clients withdraw money because of the market turmoil caused by the eurozone debt crisis.
Mr Sorrell, son of WPP advertising chief Sir Martin Sorrell, spent more than a decade at Goldman Sachs before joining Man last August.
In a statement, Man chief executive Peter Clarke said Mr Sorrell's experience "will be extremely valuable as we continue to develop and evolve in challenging world markets".
Horizon Technology Finance Set to Join Russell 3000 Index - msnbc.com
FARMINGTON, Conn., June 18, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Horizon Technology Finance Corporation (Nasdaq:HRZN) (the "Company" or "Horizon"), a leading specialty finance company that provides secured loans to venture capital and private equity backed development-stage companies in the technology, life science, healthcare information and services, and clean-tech industries, today announced that it is set to join the broad-market Russell 3000(R) Index when Russell Investments reconstitutes its comprehensive set of U.S. and global equity indexes on June 25, 2012. Based on its membership in the Russell 3000 Index, which remains in place for one year, Horizon will also automatically be included in the widely followed Russell 2000(R) Index for U.S. small-cap stocks.
Annual reconstitution of Russell's U.S. indexes captures the 4,000 largest U.S. stocks as of the end of May, ranking them by total market capitalization. The Russell indexes are widely used by investment managers and institutional investors for index funds and as benchmarks for both passive and active investment strategies. In the institutional marketplace, an industry-leading $3.9 trillion in assets currently are benchmarked to the Russell indexes.
Robert D. Pomeroy, Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Horizon, said, "We are excited to join the Russell family of indexes, significantly increasing Horizon's visibility in the investment community. Our membership represents an important milestone for Horizon that reflects the considerable success we have achieved in the execution of our investment strategy. As we maintain our focus on taking advantage of high-quality investment opportunities and generating attractive risk-adjusted returns, our inclusion in these key investment benchmarks will help further expand our Company's shareholder base."
The Russell 3000 also serves as the U.S. component to the Russell Global Index, which Russell launched in 2007. Total returns data for the Russell 3000 and other Russell Indexes is available at http://www.russell.com/indexes/data/US_Equity/Russell_US_Index_returns.asp .
About Horizon Technology Finance
Horizon Technology Finance Corporation is a business development company that provides secured loans to development-stage companies backed by established venture capital and private equity firms within the technology, life science, healthcare information and services, and clean-tech industries. The investment objective of Horizon Technology Finance is to maximize total risk-adjusted returns by generating current income from a portfolio of directly originated secured loans as well as capital appreciation from warrants to purchase the equity of portfolio companies. Headquartered in Farmington, Connecticut, with a regional office in Walnut Creek, California, the Company is externally managed by its investment advisor, Horizon Technology Finance Management LLC. Horizon's common stock trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol "HRZN." In addition, the Company's 7.375% Senior Notes due 2019 trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "HTF." To learn more, please visit www.horizontechnologyfinancecorp.com .
About Russell
Russell Investments ("Russell") is a global asset manager and one of only a few firms that offers actively managed, multi-asset portfolios and services that include advice, investments and implementation. Working with institutional investors, financial advisors and individuals, Russell's core capabilities extend across capital markets insights, manager research, Indexes, portfolio implementation and portfolio construction.
Russell has approximately $155 billion in assets under management (as of 3/31/2012) and works with 2,400 institutional clients, more than 580 independent distribution partners and advisors, and individual investors globally. Founded in 1936, Russell is a subsidiary of The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements included herein may constitute "forward-looking statements," which relate to future events or our future performance or financial condition. These statements are not guarantees of future performance, condition or results and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors, including those described from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statement made herein. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release.
CONTACT: Horizon Technology Finance Corporation Christopher M. Mathieu Chief Financial Officer (860) 676-8653 chris@horizontechfinance.com Investor Relations and Media Contacts: The IGB Group Leon Berman / Michael Cimini (212) 477-8438 / (212) 477-8261 lberman@igbir.com / mcimini@igbir.com
© Copyright 2012, GlobeNewswire, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Trade Forex as Sterling Falls Following BoE Announcement - Yahoo Finance
LONDON, June 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --
On Friday, June 15, the pound fell against the US dollar following the Bank of England's announcement of an emergency liquidity package the day before. But how will you profit from this fall?
In the guide below, we show you how you can profit from the depreciating sterling through a spot forex trading account from City Index.
BoE Announces Emergency Liquidity Package
On Thursday evening last week (14 June), Governor Mervyn King suggested more quantative easing (QE) could be on its way as the Bank of England announced an emergency liquidity package to support the British banking system.
In his keynote speech, King said that the BoE would also be providing cheap long-term funding to encourage lending to businesses and consumers.
Pound Depreciates against Dollar
Whilst many investors in the marketplace said the measures planned by King would support the UK economy; further suggestions of monetary easing prompted investors to sell-off sterling in early London trade on Friday (15 June).
How to Trade Forex
With a City Index forex trading account you can take a position on the future price movement of 37 currency pairs within the foreign exchange market.
As a global currency market - trading 24-hours a day from Sunday evening to Friday night - forex offers traders multiple opportunities to potentially profit from fast-moving major, minor and exotic currency pairs.
Unlike in traditional equity markets, trading forex with City Index allows you to profit from market movements - regardless of whether they are rising or falling.
With this in mind, using the example above whereby the pound depreciates against the US dollar - traders have the potential to 'go short' and sell the pound with the aim of potentially profiting from every pip that it depreciates further.
In addition, as a leveraged product - forex trading requires only a small percentage of the underlying market's total value as an initial deposit.
This enables traders to control a relatively large exposure for only a small amount, gain greater access to the global currency markets and possibly magnify gains.
It is important to remember, however, that as a leverage product, you also run the risk of losing more than your initial deposit. A forex risk management strategy should be used in order to limit potential losses.
Start Trading Forex
To start trading forex across a range of trading platforms - including mobile - you can apply for a forex trading account with City Index through their website: http:http://www.cityindex.co.uk
Read More Forex Trading Tips
If you found this article helpful, you may want to read more just like this. You can access a range of free forex trading tips, guides and articles through the City Index website also.
About City Index:
Today more and more individual traders are discovering the benefits of derivatives, and many of them are discovering them through a City Index trading platform.
As a group, we transact in excess of 1.5 million trades every month in over 50 countries. We provide access to a wide range of instruments including margined foreign exchange, CFDs and, in the UK, financial spread betting.
We constantly look to improve the performance of our platforms and expand our range of services. The result is our customers benefit from innovative trading tools with transparent pricing, competitive spreads, and a high standard of customer support. Visit http://www.cityindex.co.uk/ for details.
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Nigeria: Concern Mounts Over Forex Reserves Accretion - AllAfrica.com
The steady growth recorded by Nigeria's forex reserves since this year may discontinue as a result of the sharp drop in the price of crude oil.
THISDAY checks Sunday showed that the forex reserves -derived mainly from the proceeds of crude oil production, fell by $218 million in the last nine days, from $37.768 billion as at June 6 to $37.550 billion last Thursday.
The reserves which stood at $32,985 billion at the beginning of the year, improved remarkably to $35.608 billion at the end of the first quarter.
On the other hand, crude oil price settled at $83.99 per barrel on Friday, after touching an eight-month low near of $81.
This was attributed to concern over Spain's bank bailout, the euro debt scenario, among other external factors. The current value of the oil price reflected a drop by 35 per cent, compared with its peak value of $127 per barrel in mid-March.
At the current rate of decline, financial market experts predicted that forex inflow into the country would fall from the $4.31 billion it was in January to $3.34 billion next month, while they also forecast the external reserves would diminish to $22 billion- covering less than three months of imports.
The development has also impacted negatively on the naira as it has depreciated significantly against the United States dollar, especially at the interbank and parallel markets.
For instance, at the interbank market, the naira has so far fallen by N4.68 to N163.68 to a dollar on Friday, as against the N159 to a dollar it was on May 15. Similarly, at the parallel market, the local currency dropped by a total of N4.20 to close at N164.20/$1 on Friday, compared with the N160/$1 to a dollar it was a month earlier.
Managing Director of Financial Derivatives Company Limited (FDC), Mr. Bismarck Rewane, said the recent decline in oil prices was partly triggered by market sentiments of a further deepening crisis in the euro-zone, in conjunction with weak economic growth recorded in advanced economies in the first quarter of the year.
"The question however is how vulnerable are Nigeria's external reserves, should oil prices drop further, for example, to a low of $80 per barrel? The Federal Government's budget is benchmarked to oil price at $72 per barrel, while Bonny Light crude is trading at $98 per barrel.
This is a variance of $26 per barrel. At the current rate of decline, we expect forex inflows to fall from $4.31 billion in January to $3.34 billion in July.
"If oil prices were to drop to $80 per barrel (which is 50 per cent likelihood based on current trends), there is a 95 per cent likelihood that forex inflows will decline to approximately $3.03 billion."
"In this situation Nigeria's external reserves would be expected to follow suit and drop to a value as low as $22 billion, covering less than three months of imports. Resultantly, the CBN may be forced to allow the naira to depreciate sharply to N165/$1, to compensate for the substantial loss in oil revenue."
International Financial Advisory and Investment firm - Renaissance Capital (RenCap) also warned that the drop in oil price may pose some risk to the Nigerian economy if the trend continues, even as it expressed concern over the ability of the federal government to meet its revenue projections if the trend continues.
Vice President, Sub-Saharan Africa Economist, RenCap, Yvonne Mhango, said: "This evidently has implications for Nigeria given that it is an important oil exporter. Our estimates suggest that the risk to Nigeria's economy becomes significant if the average oil price for 2012 drops below $75 per barrel."
Similarly, FSDH Securities Limited, in its latest report, stated that "the recent sharp drop in the international price of oil has severe negative implications for the country's external reserves position in the short-to-medium term. The recent shortfall in crude oil production, coupled with the declining price of crude oil could put further pressure on the exchange rate in the face of growing demand, particularly from oil importers."
As a result of all these, the Coordinating Minister of the Economy/Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, last Wednesday, advised members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to be proactive in decision making, so as to forestall effects of possible economic recession based on happenings in the global economy. She had warned them to shun wastefulness in the management of the nation's resources.
Finance: A union to bank on - Financial Times
June 18, 2012 7:21 pm
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