Word: assets
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...With the stock market shedding more than a third of its value this year, pension funds at big companies have been battered beyond recognition. What looked like safe stowaway spots where corporations securely tucked away assets for their employees' retirements now look like roller-coaster funds. In addition to sending shivers up the spines of employees who count on that income, the problem also threatens to haunt the bottom line at many major firms. Williams says some may be forced to consider mergers to accumulate bigger asset bases or may have to sell off strategic assets...
Harvard Management Company—the group in charge of investing the University’s $36.9 billion endowment—may be trying to unload a large portion of its riskiest assets, according to a recent article in the trade publication Private Equity Week. The article reported that HMC has hired Cogent Investment Bank to sell approximately $1 billion of its private equity portfolio on the secondary market. As of June 30, HMC’s planned allocation to private equity for 2009 was up to 13 percent of the University’s endowment, or just under...
...that unwinding has ramifications. At the same time, the onslaught of market moving news - economic data, corporate earnings, governmental action - keeps coming. There is a massive uncertainty in the air, and in a market it is perfectly logical - perhaps even necessary - for uncertainty to be reflected in asset prices. Uncertainty, as reflected in volatility, is legitimate information, too. In a panel discussion about volatility's implications, Morgan Stanley executive director Robert Shapiro took a step back and asked: "Why is volatility inherently bad?" Maybe it's not. But it is kind of ugly...
...property development, is resulting in a sharp falloff in construction. After 35% growth in real estate investment in the first half of the year, Wang estimates that growth dropped sharply to some 20% in July and August. The property sector accounts for about a quarter of all fixed-asset investment in China and about 10% of national employment. A slump could drag down other sectors like steel production. "Beijing cannot afford a collapse in the housing market," wrote Jing Ulrich, chairman of China equities for JPMorgan, in a recent note to investors...
Among the nonwealthy, the two assets that typically need to be divided are 401(k)s and the family residence. But suddenly 401(k)s aren't worth as much, and that home whose mortgage was the mother of all argument starters is not an asset at all. It can't be sold--or at least not for a price that provides money to start over...