insto - Australian financial markets

Westpac chief economist Bill Evans says investors have overdone the Australian bond market rally, which he says has created a 50 percent probability of an RBA rate CUT by the end of the year.

In June 2010 Mallesons Stephen Jaques hosted a roundtable on opportunities for the Australian funds management industry in Asia. Here is an edited transcript of the discussion.

Retail bonds are a staple investment for Kiwis but issues in Australia ground to a halt this year. Has ASIC cleared the decks for change? Or should the government lead the way?

Macquarie’s US real estate investment trust asset Spirit Finance Corp is reportedly up for sale with a price tag of around US$3.5 billion. Reuters reports that Spirit has approached several potential buyers, with Barclays and Macquarie advising on the sale. Spirit’s other owners, which bought the REIT for US$3.5 billion in 2007, include Icelandic lender Kaupthing Bank.

PE Alert – 10 June 2010

NEW SITUATIONS

Corporates stop all philanthropic activity during a recession, don’t they? Well, they used to. the dynamic has changed, as recent events have shown. By Lachlan Colquhoun.

There were several ironies in the global economic crisis for the not for profit sector, says Professor Peter Shergold.

On the downside, the collapse and failure of Wall Street investment banks Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns robbed the sector of two philanthropic champions which had been pin-ups for corporate social responsibility (CSR).

MergerMarket's Q1 2010 M&A

The advent of the new decade saw a flurry of M&A activity throughout the Asia- Pacific. Australia was more subdued, but the pundits are predicting that the action will pick up later in 2010. Catherine Raisig reports.

PE Alert – 03 June 2010

NEW SITUATIONS

Blackstone rumoured to be interested in Burrup Holdings; reported on 27/05/2010

PE Alert – 27 May 2010

NEW SITUATIONS

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