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| News & Scoreboard |
10 Questions For your Private Banker - 01/05
01/01/2005
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Big investors are suing some bond dealers for allegedly stripping valuable assets out of the collateralized debt obligations they managed and replacing them with weaker assets. (CDOs are bonds collateralized by pools of other bonds or loans.) Do I have any CDOs in my bond portfolio? If so, how do I know the firm that manages the collateral is acting in my best interests, rather than its own?
Private equity investments in homeland security firms got a boost in October when the trendsetting California Public Employees’ Retirement System announced that it would dedicate $25 million to a fund specializing in this sector. Does it make sense for me to follow suit?
Eliot Spitzer’s investigation of insurance brokers’ alleged bid rigging has battered the stocks of the leading firms and had some spillover effect on the share performance of insurance underwriters. What does it mean for my own access to insurance, and that of my businesses? Will it become less expensive, or more so as the costs of litigation weigh on the firms?
China’s first interest rate hike in nine years threw the financial and commodity markets into disarray. What does it mean for my investments there? Is it a precursor to liberalizing the renminbi? If so, should I invest now, or wait for uncertainty over the currency situation to ebb?
Congress’s investigative watchdog upbraided Wall Street and the SEC for failing to protect the markets from terrorism and natural disasters. The General Accounting Office said Wall Street firms’ efforts to shield themselves since 9/11 have fallen short. How would my portfolio or business be affected if one of my major financial counterparties was subject to attack?
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