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Alternatives

Frederick the Great and the euro crisis
Seven years have now passed since the credit boom started in 2005, which initially led to a fight for market share between the banks and, ultimately, a battle for their survival. Europe is, once again, in trouble. And Frederick the Great's covered bonds are the must-have fashion item among lenders desperate to preserve their capital.

Mike Foster

Nearly 250 years ago, in 1763, Europe’s great powers were in deep financial trouble, after fighting themselves to a standstill in the Seven Years’ War. Louis XV’s France, very much on the losing side, was set on a trajectory which led to financial crisis and revolution. Prussia’s Frederick the Great, with Britain, won the war. But that did not stop Federick worrying about the mountain of debt he had run up.

Stanhill Capital buys stake in sovereign gold
Hong Kong bank Stanhill Capital Partners has bought a controlling stake in Sovereign Gold, an investment company focusing on British sovereign gold coinage, as demand for gold remains strong.

Giulia Cambieri

Hong Kong bank Stanhill Capital Partners has bought a controlling stake in Sovereign Gold, an investment company focusing on British sovereign gold coinage, as demand for gold remains strong. 

Is the demise of Swiss private banking gathering pace?
What was going on nearly 10 years ago represented the first indication that the health of Swiss private banking was beginning to suffer. The boom in between only covered up the widening fault lines.

David Bain

Back in the early noughties, two originally family-owned Swiss banks called Vontobel and Bank Sarasin sought outside shareholders to bolster their ailing balance sheets. Both banks had been hurt by the bursting of the tech bubble and needed new investors to get them through a tough period.

Family offices were well prepared for the 2008 financial crisis, report
Single family offices in Europe and the US anticipated the financial crisis, and were well prepared to ride out the worst period of 2008.

Rashmi Kumar

Single family offices in Europe and the US anticipated the financial crisis, and were well prepared to ride out the worst period of 2008.

The unbearable tightness of money
Unemployment on both sides of the Atlantic is shooting towards record levels, stock markets are moribund and company profits are under threat. Sentiment has been wrecked by investors borrowing too much, banks lending too much and governments spending too freely.

Mike Foster

Unemployment on both sides of the Atlantic is shooting towards record levels, stock markets are moribund and company profits are under threat. Sentiment has been wrecked by investors borrowing too much, banks lending too much and governments spending too freely.

Indian fortunes grow faster than global wealth

The wealth held by India’s high net worth individuals has grown faster than the fortunes of the rich internationally, according to new research.

Rashmi Kumar

The wealth held by India’s high net worth individuals has grown faster than the fortunes of the rich internationally, according to new research.