Continental divide. (Investments & Finance).If things don't always go as planned, they sometimes turn out all right anyway. That's the case with Metzler/Payden, a joint venture of Los Angeles-based fund manager Payden & Rygel and its German partner, Metzler Bank The B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. KGaA is a private banking company in Frankfurt, Germany. Metzler provided financial services as a merchant bank, in securities transactions, as asset manager and a corporate finance consultant. . The venture was launched in 1998, with the idea of getting U.S. investors interested in European growth companies, especially tech stocks. Initially it worked, but everyone knows how tech investments wound up. "That idea is dead right now," said Soeren Rytoft, senior vice president of Metzler/Payden. As equity prices fell, however, both here and worldwide, investors fled into the relative haven of fixed income securities -- bonds and the like. In Europe, the choices for fixed income securities are limited, because the market is less developed. So European investors targeted U.S. bonds -- a traditional Payden & Rygel stronghold -- and Metzler/Payden attracted its share of the flow. The euro's downward spiral against the dollar in the years after its launch accelerated the investment trend; the venture's assets under management Assets Under Management (AUM) is a term used by financial services companies in the mutual fund and money management or investment management business to gauge how much money they are managing. now stand at more than $1 billion. For the past year or so, the euro has reversed course, and recently eclipsed parity with the dollar. (Last week, the euro was trading at $1.08.) Soon, Rytoft figures, more American investors will begin considering European equities as a diversification tool. Last September, he moved to L.A. from Germany to set up five new European equity funds for U.S. investors. The funds, launched Jan. 1, include a European Emerging Markets Fund, meant to capitalize on Cap´i`tal`ize on` v. t. 1. To turn (an opportunity) to one's advantage; to take advantage of (a situation); to profit from; as, to capitalize on an opponent's mistakes s>. European investment in the economies of 10 Eastern European countries that were accepted into the European Monetary Union European Monetary Union An agreement by participating European Union member countries that includes protocols for the pooling of currency reserves and the introduction of a common currency. in December. Their membership commences in 2004. Eastern Europe Eastern Europe The countries of eastern Europe, especially those that were allied with the USSR in the Warsaw Pact, which was established in 1955 and dissolved in 1991. , Rytoft said, is attracting Western Europe Western Europe The countries of western Europe, especially those that are allied with the United States and Canada in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (established 1949 and usually known as NATO). investment in factories because of its cheap labor. He sees opportunities in the financial sector and insurance in places like Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic. He pointed out that after the last recession, in 1992, European stocks rebounded more quickly than the U.S., and geographic diversification might not be a bad idea for U.S. investors. "We believe it's about time It's About Time may refer to:
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion