Jersey’s links with India and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations will be strengthened this month through the official launch of Jersey Finance’s representative offices in Abu Dhabi and Mumbai and the signing of a Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) with India. A Jersey delegation consisting of States of Jersey Ministers, the Director-General of the Jersey Financial Services Commission and representatives of Jersey’s finance industry will travel to India for the launch on 15th March of Jersey Finance’s representative office in Mumbai. The group will then head to Delhi to sign the TIEA with India on Friday 18th March, a

Following the recent oil price spike, investors fear for corporate profitability and global growth, according to the BofA Merrill Lynch Survey of Fund Managers for March.   A net 24 per cent of asset allocators now expect corporate operating margins to fall over the next 12 months. This represents the sharpest month-on-month decline since the survey began asking this question in 2004. As recently as January, a net 10 per cent were expecting margins to expand. A net 32 per cent of fund managers still look for corporates to increase profits in the next year, but this is down significantly

TrimTabs Investment Research and BarclayHedge report that the hedge fund industry posted an estimated inflow of USD2.9 billion (0.2% of assets) in January 2011, the sixth straight inflow. “This inflow is very bullish for the industry because January typically delivers a heavy redemption related to year-end,” said Sol Waksman, founder and President of BarclayHedge. “Additionally, February is historically a strong month for new fund subscriptions, and our preliminary data suggests the industry took in as much as USD10.0 billion last month.” Hedge fund investors exhibited a weaker appetite for risk in January. All six equity fund strategies redeemed assets, and