Find a Brokerdealer who is also Socially Responsible

Posted on December 1, 2014 by admin

BrokerDealer.com blog update courtesy of extract from Investment News.

Socially responsible investors look to promote concepts and ideals that the investors feel strongly about. Generally, socially responsible investors accomplish this by investing in stocks that the investor believes best hold to important values to the investor; advocate for share holders in corporate decisions; and investing in communities and helping with community service activities.

Socially responsible investing is on the rise, and women advisers are leading the way in offering clients opportunities to invest in a personally meaningful way.

The wealth management industry as a whole is opening its eyes to potential business gains from the increasing client demand for investments with environmental and social impact. Nearly half of the 1,913 advisers surveyed said they’ve offered an SRI options to clients because the clients requested it.

Most financial professionals expect investor interest in SRI to trend upward, especially among young, affluent investors who strongly value sustainable investments and want to put their money where their values are.

“It’s clear that [socially] responsible investment strategies are now a client expectation that advisers need to be equipped to provide,” said First Affirmative senior vice president Betsy Moszeter. “We are encouraged to see that industry professionals are looking ahead, and understand that the views and concerns of Millennial investors will need to be addressed in coming years.”

Socially Responsible Investors will work hard to make the voices of their investors heard and invest in businesses and governments that make a positive impact in our country and around the world.

With the need for socially responsible investors on the rise, find a Brokerdealer that supports the values you care about most and will invest in companies and governments that hold the same values up high as you do and an brokerdealer that will advocate for you. Brokerdealer.com provides several databases that offer many different socially responsible investors to work with.

BrokerDealer.com IPO Update: Native Ad Firm OutBrain Enlists Bankers for $1bil Offering

Posted on November 28, 2014November 28, 2014 by admin

BrokerDealer.com blog update with coverage of Tel Aviv-based native-ad company Outbrain Inc. is courtesy WSJ’s Orr Hirschauge.

TEL AVIV—Outbrain Inc., a provider of “native ads,” filed confidentially with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this month seeking preliminary approval to list shares on the Nasdaq Stock Market, according to people familiar with the matter.

If a decision is made to go ahead, Outbrain is expected to seek a valuation of around $1 billion, according to one person familiar with the matter.

It is unclear how much of the company it would seek to sell in any listing.

Outbrain has tapped brokerdealers Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan as lead underwriters for any listing, these people said. If the filing passes SEC scrutiny, the company is aiming to go public in the first quarter of 2015, according to these people.

Founded in Israel in 2006, Outbrain was a pioneer in native advertising, or ads that are meant to be more integrated into a website than other forms of ads, like pop-ups and banner ads. It is now based in New York.

Outbrain places content, like recommended further reading, on a website, linking to the publisher’s own content or sponsored content. Currently employing around 430 people, the company has raised roughly $100 million in the past from a list of investors including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Carmel Ventures, Glenrock Israel, Gemini Israel Funds Ltd., Index Ventures, Vintage Partners and HarbourVest Partners LLC.

To read the complete coverage, please visit the WSJ via this link

Top BrokerDealer Swings For Celebs & Sports Stars’ Wallets: Morgan Stanley Push

Posted on November 19, 2014 by admin

BrokerDealer.com blog update courtesy of extract from Investment News

6-Pack Broker-Dealer Morgan Stanley, whose brokerage helps manage more than $2 trillion of client assets, started a new unit that focuses on professional athletes and entertainers. This new initiative could prove to be prime meat for Morgan’s investment bankers and high-net worth advisors, when considering the many instances in which celebs and sports stars have faltered in their investment strategies.

The division has 69 advisers and will add a few more within the next year, Drew Hawkins, head of the Global Sports & Entertainment group, said Thursday. Many of them already had been working with celebrities, and brokers took a three-day training program on how to cater to those clients, he said.

Other brokerdealers have carved out a niche in their local markets to serve celebs and athletes; a full listing of those BDs is available via brokerdealer.com

Athlete pay has surged in recent years, with Giancarlo Stanton, a Miami Marlins outfielder, poised to sign a $325 million contract over 13 years, a Major League Baseball record, according to CBSSports.com. Kevin Durant, the National Basketball League’s reigning most-valuable player, re-signed as a Nike Inc. endorser with a contract worth $300 million over 10 years, Bloomberg News reported in September.

“The size of these contracts and the amount these individuals are earning tends to increase on a daily basis,” Hawkins said. “Celebrities and entertainers and those connected with those industries in a lot of cases make a lot of money, but they also have a lot of unique circumstances.”

Morgan Stanley will provide customized loans to the individuals and their outside businesses, offer insurance against injuries or voice damage and give advice on philanthropic endeavors, Hawkins said. He declined to identify any of the firm’s celebrity clients.

BrokerDealer Banks Bagged in IPO Mess: Finra Claims Conflict of Interest is Widespread

Posted on November 14, 2014 by admin

Brokerdealer.com blog update courtesy of excerpt from Bloomberg LP and reporters Leslie Picker and Dakin Campbell

Wall Street brokerdealers are changing the way they pitch for IPOs as investment banks prepare to settle with regulators, people with knowledge of the matter said, following claims analysts inflated estimates to win business for their banks.

The settlement with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or Finra, which may be announced next month, will focus on meetings between analysts and companies ahead of their IPOs, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. At least seven banks, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), may be asked to pay a fine of about $50 million collectively as part of an agreement, the people said.

“We cannot confirm the existence of enforcement investigations or related matters,” Nancy Condon, a spokeswoman for Finra, said in a statement.

Continue reading →

BrokerDealers Drill for Gushers in Middle East: Equity Stake Exports to Surpass Oil

Posted on November 12, 2014November 12, 2014 by admin

Arab Spring Comes to Saudi Stock Mart; BlackRock Leads ETF Charge in Advance of Doors Opening to Foreign Investors; Country’s Largest Bank Raises $6bil in Region’s Biggest IPO

BrokerDealer.com blog update includes extracts from Bloomberg LP reports by Arif Sharif and Sarmad Khan.

Based on recent developments, global investors are now slated to drill for stakes in Saudi Bourse offerings thanks to yesterday’s announcement from ETF behemoth BlackRock, coupled with the next year’s scheduled opening of markets to foreign investors, whose appetite for stakes in Middle East companies is expected to surpass demand for oil, currently the country’s primary export.

Excerpt below courtesy of Bloomberg LP reporting by Arif Sharif

BlackRock Inc. (BLK) plans to start an exchange-traded fund for Saudi Arabian shares as the biggest Arab bourse prepares to open its market to foreigners.

The world’s largest money manager has sought approval for its iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia Capped ETF from the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, according to a filing posted on the SEC’s website. The fund will seek to track the results of an MSCI provisional Saudi Arabia index, according to the filing.

“The underlying index is designed to measure the potential equity market in Saudi Arabia, should the market open up to foreign investors,” the filing said. The index “may include large-, mid- or small-capitalization companies and components primarily include financials, materials and telecommunications companies,” it said.

Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest exporter of crude oil, is preparing to open its $526 billion stock exchange to foreign investors next year. Foreigners currently can’t buy Saudi-listed shares directly, accessing the market through equity swaps and exchange-traded funds instead.

The full story from Bloomberg LP is here

Saudi Arabia’s NCB Rises 10% in Trade Debut After $6 Billion IPO

Reporting courtesy of Sarmad Khan, Bloomberg LP

National Commercial Bank jumped the most allowed on its trading debut after raising $6 billion in the Middle East’s largest share sale.

Shares of Saudi Arabia’s largest bank by assets climbed 10 percent to 49.5 riyals at 12:31 p.m. in Riyadh. The Tadawul All Share Index (SASEIDX), the kingdom’s main measure, gained 0.2 percent.

IPOs in Saudi Arabia, the Arab world’s biggest economy, are picking up as the Tadawul All Share Index plans to open to foreign investors next year as it pursues a $130 billion spending plan to boost non-energy industries. Saudi Arabia typically sells stakes in state-owned companies to the public at below market value as part of efforts to redistribute the country’s wealth.

“For a couple of days at least, or may be three, you will see the stock going limit up,” Saleem Khokhar, head of equities at NBAD Asset Management Group, which oversees about $2.5 billion, said by phone from Abu Dhabi. “It started trading at discount and anything between 50 riyals and 55 riyals is very good value, so you will see investors rushing to grab what’s available.”

National Commercial Bank (NCB) sold a 25 percent stake at 45 riyals a share, attracting 311 billion riyals ($83 billion) of bids for the 300 million shares offered to Saudi investors. It sold another 200 million shares to the nation’s pension fund. The IPO was the second-biggest this year globally after Chinese e-commerce business Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd.’s $25 billion offering, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Electrical Industries Co. is the latest Saudi company to announce plans for a share sale.

Before the regulator set a limit on daily price moves, offerings surged on their first day of trading. Alinma Bank (ALINMA), a Shariah-compliant lender based in Riyadh, soared 60 percent when it started trading in June 2008, and Saudi Arabian Mining Co. jumped 53 percent in its debut the following month.

To continue reading this story from Bloomberg LP, click here