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Hedge Fund Managers Who Look "Trustworthy" Get More Business But See Worse Returns (Science Daily)
Hedge fund managers who appear "trustworthy" in photos attract more clients relative to their "undependable" looking counterparts. However, their clients see lower returns on investments.
"When hedge funds begin to perform poorly, people are less likely to pull out their investments if their managers appear trustworthy," said Dr. Zuckerman. "But this just should not be the case. All evidence points to the fact that appearance should not matter in hedge fund decisions by investors. Unfortunately, in this study we found that it does."
"My advice would be to ignore the way a person looks when researching investment opportunities," Zuckerman added.
The ECB Alone Can't Save Europe's Economy (Charles Schwab)
On Thursday the European Central Bank announced a massive quantitative easing plan, but "unless measures are taken to address the root causes of deflation, any boost Europe gets from the ECB's actions will be temporary," writes Jeffrey Kleintop.
"Structural reforms - removing bureaucratic barriers and making the environment more conducive to business - have shown evidence of working in Europe. Of countries forced to take on reforms required by bailouts, Spain and Ireland have shown remarkable economic improvement and have led growth in Europe," he adds.
Broadridge Is Going To Acquire The Trade Processing Business From M&T Bank (Financial Advisor Magazine)
"Broadridge Financial Solutions has signed an agreement to acquire the trade processing business of Wilmington Trust Retirement and Institutional Services. The latter is a unit of M&T Bank Corporation, a financial holding company headquartered in Buffalo, NY," reports Financial Advisor Magazine.
The transaction is expected to officially take place during the first quarter of 2015. The new entity will have a combined $290 billion in assets under administration.
Raymond James Had A Pretty Rough Quarter (WealthManagement.com)
Raymond James reported that although revenue and earnings were up year-over-year, "they fell sequentially, due in part to volatility and uncertainty in the capital markets segment as well as a $10.5 million adjustment related to mutual fund commissions," reports Diana Britton. Net revenues missed expectations by $10 million.
However, the firm has also started recruiting aggressively. In the last quarter, Raymond James added 71 new advisors, and there are 158 new net advisors since the first quarter in 2014.
There's Compelling Investment Value In The Intermediate UK Yield Curve (Advisor Perspectives)
"UK growth looks to be sustainable, with encouraging domestic demand, though we need to see business investment continue to pick up," writes PIMCO's Mike Amey. "Although inflation hovering below the 1% lower tolerance band of the Bank of England remains a concern, we think it actually give the central bank welcome breathing room during a period of uncertainty for the global economy."
"Looking ahead, we see compelling investment value in the intermediate part of the UK yield curve, namely five-to 10-year bonds, as the BOE plays the waiting game," Amey notes.