Asia-based hedge funds poorer by $4b
HONG KONG • Investors pulled US$2.9 billion (S$3.9 billion) from Asia-based hedge funds in the first quarter, the highest outflows in seven years, according to data from eVestment.
March redemptions from managers in the region approached US$2 billion, according to an e-mailed statement from the data provider.
Investors are pulling out as Asia's hedge funds on average dropped 5.5 per cent in the first two months of 2016, marking the worst start to the year since Eurekahedge began to compile data in 2000.
They rose 3.2 per cent in March, paring the year- to-date loss to 2.5 per cent.
BLOOMBERG
Seoul wants to refloat shipbuilding sector
SEOUL • South Korea has vowed to restructure the country's shipbuilding and shipping sectors, now crippled by mismanagement, slowing global demand and competition from China.
Shipbuilders, including Hyundai Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine, have racked up massive losses after slumping oil prices sapped demand for tankers and offshore drillers.
Hanjin Shipping rounded off the top three firms that dominated the world's shipbuilding market during the 1990s and 2000s and, although they had combined sales of more than 68 trillion won (S$80 billion) last year, an extended export slump, regional rivalry and overcapacity have taken their toll.
Seoul's regulatory body said it would press them to sell more assets, shed jobs, slash worker pay and streamline their business plans.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
McDonald's selling euro bonds
LONDON • McDonald's is marketing euro bonds, taking advantage of borrowing costs that have fallen to the lowest in a year because of the European Central Bank's stimulus.
The fast-food chain is offering securities maturing in January 2021, November 2023 and May 2028, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified.
McDonald's, which earns about two-thirds of sales outside the United States, last sold euro-denominated bonds in May in a 2 billion-euro (S$3.05 billion) offering.
BLOOMBERG
