Investing

INVESTING AS A MUSLIM

Published

7 years ago

30/07/2014

By Saker Nusseibeh, Chief Executive of Hermes Fund Managers

Many of the issues we face in business, or indeed in life, are universal. Often they have been faced by others in the past and the advice they gave or received provides a very rich seam of wisdom that is there for future generations to mine.

As a Muslim, I often turn to the rich history of my faith to find inspiration. The Prophet’s cousin, Imam Ali, who was often given to philosophical musings, once made the following observation. “Life is made up of but two days; one for you and one against you. If it is for you, do not take it for granted, and if it is against you, do not become despondent”. If you think carefully about this, it is a perfect piece of advice for business leaders. All ventures will endure some fluctuations in fortune. We all know instinctively that good leadership is needed when businesses are facing tough challenges. We expect leaders to provide strategic vision, empower people and boost morale as they guide it past its hurdles. However, this piece of advice reminds us that leadership is equally needed when businesses are doing well. That we should examine success carefully and not take the factors underlying it for granted. I can’t help but wonder whether the leadership of the Investment banking industry would have benefited from Ali’s perspective in the run up to the 2008 crises in questioning carefully the factors behind their runaway success at the time.

Saker Nusseibeh

The second piece of advice is one I received from my mother. She spent most of her life in Jerusalem working mainly to establish charities for Palestinian refugees, orphans and underprivileged families, as well as for the advancement of women. I always knew that she had done much work in this field, against a difficult political background and within a Palestinian community remarkably incapable of unified action. I was surprised, however, to discover when she passed away last Christmas the extent of her achievement, as it became apparent that she was often one of the main catalysts, if not the main catalyst, in the establishment of almost every charitable foundation, or school or woman’s organisation in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. I then remembered a piece of advice she gave me when I left home as a boy to come to school in England. “It is remarkable what you can achieve if you allow others to take the credit”. Thinking about it, it is perfect advice for business leaders whose aim is to achieve the strategic target set for the company by unleashing the potential of the workforce. It talks to what in modern management speak we call empowerment. It reminds us that people need to be recognised and of the power that can be realised in any organisations if employees can flourish and claim bits of success as their own, so that the enthusiasm generated by these individual victories leads to more achievement whereby the whole of the organisation advances. Crucially it reminds us, as leaders, to think of our priority, which ought to be success of the organisation, not personal recognition.

The final piece of advice was given to me recently by the man who introduced me into the City and who was a dear friend, the late Lord Charles Denman. A softly spoken man who was a war hero (awarded the MC), and who subsequently served England tirelessly throughout his life by advancing what we now call the UK’s soft power. During our last luncheon together he told me “The City has been good to you, now you should give back to the City so that she is there to serve the country in the future”. I took that to mean that I should work to ensure that what we do in the City is sustainable and is seen to be serving the country rather than profiteering. This led to the launch of the 300 Club and to joining the work done here in Hermes on sustainability and governance, as well as in other organisations such as UNPRI and Share Action, to ensure that the investment ecosystem delivers the benefits society expects from it. But again, I would argue that the advice Lord Denman gave is more universal. Good businesses should work to ensure that the ecosystem that allowed them to flourish is nurtured and sustained so that future ventures may emerge that may in turn serve society.

About the author

Saker Nusseibeh was appointed CEO of Hermes Fund Managers in May 2012 after joining in June 2009 as a main Board Director and Head of Investment to drive support and represent the Hermes investment capabilities. He is responsible for ensuring that all of Hermes’ investment capabilities deliver investment excellence and are able to compete at the highest levels in the third party market, as well as playing an integral part in Hermes’ drive to acquire new teams and businesses. Previous to Hermes, Saker joined Fortis Investments USA in 2005 as CIO Global Equities, moving on to become Global Head of Equities, responsible for managing the company’s 12 Equity centres. Prior to this he was CIO Global Equities and Head of Marketing of SGAM UK where he re-orientated the company offering to include high-alpha UK strategies and a Global offering, following on from the sale of Trust Company of the West (TCW) to SGAM, where he was Managing Director running various Global and International strategies as well as the London office. He started his career at Mercury Asset Management (MAM) in 1987.

Saker is the Chairman of the 300 club, a group of leading investment professionals from across the globe who have joined together to raise awareness about the potential impact of current market thinking and behaviours, and to call for immediate action. Saker is also a public member of Network Rail.

Investing

Shares rise as cyclical stocks provide support; yields climb

Published

2 hours ago

19/02/2021

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Shares rise as cyclical stocks provide support; yields climb 1

By Saqib Iqbal Ahmed

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A gauge of global equity markets snapped a 3-day losing streak to edge higher on Friday, as the recent selling pressure on high-flying big technology-related stocks eased even as investors showed a preference for economically sensitive cyclical sectors.

Oil prices fell from recent highs as Texas energy companies began preparations to restart oil and gas fields shuttered by freezing weather, while the U.S. Treasury yields extended their recent rise.

The MSCI’s global stock index was up 0.47% at 681.88, after losing ground for three consecutive sessions.

On Wall Street, stocks steadied as cyclical sectors edged higher while tech names made modest advances after concerns about elevated valuations led to some selling in recent sessions.

“What we saw (this week) represents a market that is tired and may not do very much. So we are headed for some sort of a pullback, but I don’t think we’re there just yet,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York.

“Investors are not really pulling out of the market, but they are becoming more cautious. It already has factored in another good positive earnings season.”

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 119.97 points, or 0.38%, to 31,613.31, the S&P 500 gained 12.93 points, or 0.33%, to 3,926.9 and the Nasdaq Composite added 92.58 points, or 0.67%, to 13,957.93.

The S&P 500 technology and communication services sectors, housing high-value growth stocks, were among the smallest gainers in early trading, while financials, industrials, energy and materials rose more than 1%.

European shares edged higher on Friday as an upbeat earnings report from Hermes boosted confidence in a broader economic recovery. The pan-European STOXX 600 index was 0.64% higher.

U.S. Treasury yields on the longer end of the curve rose to new one-year highs on Friday as improved risk appetite boosted Wall Street, while the yield on 30-year inflation-protected securities (TIPS) turned positive for the first time since June.

Core bond yields have pushed higher globally, led by the so-called reflation trade, where investors wager on a pick-up in growth and inflation. Growing momentum for coronavirus vaccine programs and hopes of massive fiscal spending under U.S. President Joe Biden have spurred reflation trades.

The benchmark 10-year yield was last up 5.1 basis points at 1.338%, its highest level since Feb. 26, 2020.

Oil prices retreated from recent highs for a second day on Friday as Texas energy companies began preparations to restart oil and gas fields shuttered by freezing weather.

Unusually cold weather in Texas and the Plains states curtailed up to 4 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil production and 21 billion cubic feet of natural gas, analysts estimated.

Brent crude futures were down 28 cents, or 0.44%, at $63.65 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 66 cents, or 1.09%, to $59.86.

Copper jumped to its highest in more than nine years on Friday and towards a third straight weekly gain as tight supplies and bullish sentiment towards base metals continued after the Chinese New Year.

Spot gold XAU= was down 0.58% at $1,785.71 an ounce.

The dollar lost ground on Friday, extending Thursday’s decline as improved risk appetite sapped demand for the safe-haven currency and drew buyers to riskier, higher-yielding currencies. The dollar index was off 0.295%.

Bitcoin hit yet another record high on Friday, hitting a market capitalization of $1 trillion, blithely shrugging off analyst warnings that it is an “economic side show” and a poor hedge against a fall in stock prices.

(Reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed; Editing by Nick Zieminski)

Investing

Oil falls after surging past $65 on Texas freeze

Published

20 hours ago

18/02/2021

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Oil falls after surging past $65 on Texas freeze 2

By Stephanie Kelly

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil prices fell on Thursday despite a sharp drop in U.S. crude inventories, as market participants took profits following days of buying spurred by a cold snap in the largest U.S. energy-producing state.

Brent crude fell 41 cents, or 0.6%, to settle at $63.93 a barrel. During the session it rose as high as $65.52, its highest since January 2020.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 62 cents, or 1%, to settle at $60.52 a barrel, after earlier reaching $62.26, the highest since January 2020.

Brent had gained for four straight sessions before Thursday, while WTI had risen for three.

“The market probably got a little bit ahead of itself,” said Phil Flynn, a senior analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago. “But make no mistake, this selloff in oil doesn’t solve the problems. The problems are going to persist.”

Though some Texas households had power restored on Thursday, the state entered its sixth day of a cold freeze. It has grappled with refining outages and oil and gas shut-ins that rippled beyond its border into Mexico.

The weather has shut in about one-fifth of the nation’s refining capacity and closed oil and natural gas production across the state.

“The temporary outage will help to accelerate U.S. oil inventories down towards the five-year average quicker than expected,” SEB chief commodities analyst Bjarne Schieldrop said.

Prices dropped despite a decrease in U.S. oil inventories. Crude stockpiles fell by 7.3 million barrels in the week to Feb. 12, the Energy Information Administration said on Thursday, compared with analysts’ expectations for an decrease of 2.4 million barrels.

Crude exports rose to 3.9 million barrels per day, the highest since March, EIA said.

“The big nugget was the big jump in exports of crude oil,” said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital in New York. “We’ll have to see what happens with that next week weather in Texas, but I have been looking for a pickup there for a while.”

Oil’s rally in recent months has also been supported by a tightening of global supplies, due largely to production cuts from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allied producers in the OPEC+ grouping, which includes Russia.

OPEC+ sources told Reuters the group’s producers are likely to ease curbs on supply after April given the recovery in prices.

(Additional reporting by Yuka Obayashi in Tokyo; editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise, Steve Orlofsky, David Gregorio and Jonathan Oatis)

Investing

GameStop frenzy sparks fresh investment in stock-trading apps

Published

1 day ago

18/02/2021

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GameStop frenzy sparks fresh investment in stock-trading apps 3

By Jane Lanhee Lee

OAKLAND, Calif. (Reuters) – The recent trading frenzy centered on GameStop Corp and other “meme” stocks is sparking a wave of investor interest in start-ups aiming to mimic the success of Robinhood Markets Inc, whose no-fee brokerage app has helped drive a trading boom.

Public.com, a direct competitor to Robinhood that boasts a host of blue-chip backers, said on Wednesday it had raised $220 million, valuing it at $1.2 billion on the private market. Another well-heeled rival, Stash, said earlier this month it had raised $125 million, while Webull Financial LLC, backed by Chinese investors, is also raising fresh funds after enjoying an influx of new users.

Robinhood, meanwhile, raised some $3.4 billion in the midst of the GameStop furor to assure its stability amid rapid growth and demands by its trading partners that it post more collateral.

The fresh investments are coming even as government regulators ramp up scrutiny of Robinhood and others involved in the GameStop trading. A U.S. congressional committee on Thursday grilled the chief executive of Robinhood and a YouTube streamer known as “Roaring Kitty,” among others, as it probes possible improprieties, including market manipulation.

Robinhood came under stiff criticism from some quarters for restricting trading in GameStop and other shares at the height of the frenzy, a move the company says it was forced to make due to requirements of partners that settle trades. It has also drawn scrutiny for a business model that relies on payments for sending trading business to partner brokerages, a practice Public.com and some other rivals are pledging to avoid.

Investors see rich opportunity in bringing easy stock trading to smartphone users globally, though the companies say they are also cognizant of the risks.

Stash, which doubled its active accounts to over 5 million by the end of last year, operates with only four trading windows a day to discourage rapid speculative trading, it said.

U.K.-based Freetrade.io told Reuters by email that its user numbers last year grew six-fold to 300,000 and by mid-February had reached 560,000. It said it had raised a total $35 million, including from crowd-funding rounds from over 10,000 customers.

But it does not offer margin trading or riskier offerings. “These products encourage investors to behave as if they are gambling or speculating rather than investing,” a Freetrade.io spokesman said.

Interest in trading apps is soaring globally. In Mexico, trading app Flink launched seven months ago and already has a million users, according to co-founder and chief executive Sergio Jimenez. He said Mexicans can buy fractions of U.S. stock through the platform, but not Mexican stocks – yet.

“Ninety percent of them are investing for the first time,” said Jimenez.

Flink raised $12 million in a funding round in February led by Accel, an early investor in Facebook. Accel is also an investor in Public.com and Berlin-based Trade Republic Bank Gmbh, which allows European retail investors to buy fractions of U.S. stocks, according to Accel partner Andrew Braccia.

“The bigger story here is there’s just this global trend of… accessibility,” he said.

Start-up investors also see opportunity in the infrastructure behind the trading apps. DriveWealth, which serves Mexico’s Flink and 70-plus other online trading apps around the world, has hundreds more partnerships in the pipeline, according to founder and chief executive Bob Cortright. DriveWealth provides the technology to power digital wallets and trading apps, and also provides clearing and brokerage service to its business partners.

“This is this is only beginning,” said Cortright. “The fact that you could have a smartphone in your hand in India, for instance, and buy $10 worth of Coca-Cola stock at an instant, that’s pretty game-changing.”

Venture capital investments in U.S. fintech companies hit a record last year with $20.6 billion invested, according to data firm PitchBook. Globally, around $41.4 billion was invested in fintech companies in 2020.

(Reporting By Jane Lanhee Lee in Oakland; Editing by Jonathan Weber and Dan Grebler)

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