Aurelia Butler

He told a conference that interest rates will rise until the ECB thinks inflation can be brought down to its medium-term target of 2% “as quickly as possible”.”We are on the way to achieving it… but we cannot hesitate in this process” of controlling inflation, he said.The ECB raised the rate it pays on bank deposits by 50 basis points to 2% on Dec. 15, moderating its policy-tightening push after two consecutive 75 bps hikes.ECB rates “should be reaching levels very close to the highest values” of the current cycle of monetary policy normalisation, “if we are not subject to more exogenous shocks in international and energy prices”, Centeno said.Annual consumer price growth in the euro zone slowed to 9.2% in December from 10.1% in November, data from Eurostat showed on Friday, below the 9.7% forecast in a Reuters poll.Centeno welcomed the four-month low reading, singling out a significant slowdown in Germany. He expected “some resistance” at the beginning of this year as automatic updates to wage contracts kick in.”In January and February there may be a kind of plateau in the inflation figure, but the expectations are that it will come down in line with the December ECB forecasts,” he said.The ECB forecast a gradual decline in average inflation but only approaching its target within three years. More

LONDON (Reuters) – Hedge fund fees have dropped to their lowest level since the global financial crisis in 2008, research firm Hedge Fund Research (HFR) said on Friday, as high inflation and recession fears hit investors. HFR said hedge fund base fees fell from the second to the third quarter of 2022 by one basis point (bps) to an estimated 1.35% and that average incentive fees tumbled 4 bps to 16.01%.Both estimated fees represent their lowest levels since HFR began publishing the estimates in 2008, a note from the firm added. It was a challenging year for some classes of hedge funds, particularly long-only stock investing firms broadsided by declines across all of Wall Street’s three main indexes, which booked their first yearly drop since 2018 as surging inflation and the risk of recession dented investment in equities.The HFRI 500 Fund Weighted Composite Index, which tracks many of the biggest global hedge fund performances, posted a year to date decline of 2.78% through November 2022, whereas a larger index tracking the total industry fell by 3.87% to the end of November 2022. Hedge fund managers are traditionally known for their two-and-20 fees, which means a lower constant percentage is applied to the amount of assets managed in the hedge fund and then a higher incentive fee applied as a part of profit sharing when performance numbers rise.”Fees are still too high, especially in relation to the meagre result, which unfortunately has been going on for too long,” said Bruno Schneller, a managing director at INVICO Asset Management.Fee structures can vary significantly depending on the fund, he said. HFR said that larger hedge funds did better in the third quarter of 2022. The top hedge funds in their weighted composite index had a positive 10.9% return while the bottom decile averaged a negative 14.3%. “The hedge funds that attract the most capital and charge the highest fees are usually the managers with a long, successful track record,” said David Bizer, managing director of investment firm Global Customised Wealth. “Many of the best funds are closed to new capital in order preserve their ability to generate attractive returns.” The hedge funds that are easy to get into might not be the best ones to invest in, he added. According to HFR, the number of new hedge funds launched fell to 71 in the third quarter of last year, nine fewer than in the previous quarter and the lowest since the fourth quarter of 2008. More

Gross domestic product (GDP) will likely rise 7% this fiscal year, compared with 8.7% the previous year, the Ministry of Statistics said in its first estimate for the period. The preliminary projection is much lower than the government’s earlier forecast of 8%-8.5%, but above the central bank’s projection of 6.8%.The government uses the advanced GDP estimates as a base to work out its economic growth and fiscal projections for the next budget due on Feb. 1. February’s will be the last full budget before Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to bid for a rare third term in elections due in summer 2024. India’s economy rebounded after COVID-19 restrictions were eased around mid-2022, but the war in Ukraine has spurred inflationary pressures, prompting the central bank to reverse the ultra-loose monetary policy it adopted during the pandemic years.It has raised key interest rates by 225 basis points since last May to 6.25%, the highest in three years, and another modest hike is expected early this year. More