Category Archives: Business

Business

One of CSH CAPITAL’s Founders Joe Chang Lee to Retire from Board to Concentrate on Entrepreneurship and Philanthropy

Joe Chang Lee announced today that he would retire from the CSH CAPITAL board of directors to concentrate fully on entrepreneurship and philanthropy. Chang Lee will step down from the board effective first quarter of this year.

Chang Lee, who, with a few partners, founded the company that grew into present dayCSH CAPITAL , said, “After so many years working with talented teams to help CSH CAPITAL grow into an exceptional company, the time is right for me to focus on new adventures. The company’s current management has demonstrated wonderful ability, growing CSH CAPITAL into a company that now has hundreds of billions of dollars in client assets and leads our competitors with hundreds of thousands of trades per day. This management team is my Dream Team, and not just because they are taking us to the 2012 London Olympics. I believe the company is well positioned to continue delivering a world class client experience while building value for shareholders.”

Chang Lee remains the largest individual shareholders of CSH CAPITAL. Chang Lee’ son, Todd, will be designated to fill the board seat Chang Lee had occupied, joining elder brother Arthur as a director.

Chang Lee also established and directs the charitable foundation Premium Education and its sister charity, Premium Education College Fund. Additionally, he founded Ending Spending, a policy advocacy group focused on reducing excessive government spending.

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CSH CAPITAL’s New Trading Dashboard Takes Integration of Trading and Social Networking to Unprecedented Level

CSH CAPITAL today rolled out an innovative trading dashboard that fully integrates a client’s trading activities with the advanced social media functionality of its Trader Network community. Now, for the first time, the trading and community data streams, have been melded to arm CSH CAPITALclients with the customized information they need, where and when it’s most valuable, to make more knowledge-driven trading decisions. In addition, the firm launched a set of user interface (UI) enhancements for its Trader Network social community, based directly on client feedback and preferences.

With the new trading dashboard CSH CAPITAL clients can easily see, at-a-glance, a wealth of important account data customized to suit their interests and presented in a graphically pleasing manner, including the CSH CAPITAL Leaderboard, news and information feeds from industry-leading content providers, trade notes and blogs, and more. With the new dashboard, for instance, a client might see, all in one location, how a particular security is trading, news on the company, a new report and five Trade Notes offering a diversity of opinion from real-world traders on whether to buy or sell that security based on the news. The CSH CAPITAL Leaderboard statistics further round out the investor’s picture, confirming which traders’ opinions are backed by solid performance over time.

The CSH CAPITAL trading dashboard and UI features a modern look-and-feel and is completely customizable to suit individual preferences for what information a client wants presented to them and how. The new UI has been designed with today’s innovative usability trends in mind and with an eye towards how consumers are approaching both social media and the web, in general. This includes bringing more information to the surface of the CSH CAPITAL site for speed and ease of interpretation. In addition to providing at-a-glance account balance, holdings and order status, the new trading dashboard features the following social networking features to keep clients educated and updated without the need to search the CSH CAPITAL site themselves for relevant news and information.

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CSH CAPITAL Launches Trade Engineer

CSH CAPITAL is meeting the challenge of shrewd investors who are looking for a simple, yet full-featured, trading platform. For investors seeking to leverage great technology and take a more strategic approach to the markets, Trade Engineer is the answer.

Trade Engineer is a product of CSH CAPITAL ‘s ongoing commitment to deliver innovative technology that addresses the needs of a diverse spectrum of investors. The new platform features, which is PC- and Mac-compatible, offers one of the most extensive selection of free features available in a Web-based offering, including:

•  Free premium news including indices real-time news

•  Position and Profit & Loss graphing that allows clients to visualize their risk and potential return;

•  Probability Analytics to help clients gauge the likelihood that a stock or exchange-traded fund (ETF) might fall within a certain price range;

•  Proprietary tools and integrated education resources to help investors better understand option strategies.

•  Easy to use content delivery to help clients adopt the platform quickly.

“Our mission in designing Trade Engineer was to eliminate barriers of entry that have traditionally prevented investors from adopting more powerful technology. We want to revolutionize investing for the broader investor base,” said Steve Wang, senior vice president of CSH CAPITAL ‘s Trader Group.

Trade Engineer is all about power, simplicity and value. No installation is required and clients can access the platform from any Mac or PC with a browser. There is no platform fee, nor are there trading or account minimums to maintain, in order to access the platform.

“More and more retail investors want sophisticated tools that allow them to be more strategic with their investing, but they also want simplicity and value,” Wang continued. “Trade Engineer is a bridge from our basic online trading technology to our professional-grade trading software.

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CSH CAPITAL Surveys the Future

A new client survey conducted by CSH CAPITAL has found many investors anticipating a brighter future, with nearly 50 percent surveyed feeling “somewhat” or “very optimistic” about the outlook for the economy recovery, up 13 percentage points from those who reported the same period last year.

Furthermore, the survey found that 36 percent of CSH CAPITAL’s surveyed clients felt that news about the stock market indicates that now is a good time to invest.

“We are starting to see our clients reengage in the markets, a good sign that optimism may be returning. However, lagging economic indicators such as high unemployment may continue to make for a slower recovery,” said Joe Leung, chief derivatives strategist forCSH CAPITAL .

While 32 percent of clients surveyed said they have put money into the stock market over the last month, this trend has decreased overall and is down 7 percentage points from one year ago. Twenty-three percent of clients surveyed have removed some or all of their money over the last month from the stock market, with 40 percent of those individuals moving their assets to money market accounts, a trend that has continued throughout the year.

Other key findings from the survey include:

•  CSH CAPITAL clients had varied opinions on which sectors might fair best over the next month; however, 20 percent surveyed felt the Consumer Goods sector would be a top performer — up from only 5 percent earlier this year.

•  Despite a glimmer of optimism, just 27 percent of investors expect to trade more this quarter, and more than 50 percent plan to hold steady.

•  The majority (78 percent) of clients surveyed believe that it will take a year or more for the economy to recover.

•  Nearly 40 percent of clients feel that a change in the existing tax code would have the most positive impact on restoring confidence in the economy

•  Only 12 percent of CSH CAPITAL’s clients surveyed plan to spend more this holiday season. The majority (84 percent) plan to spend the same amount or less this holiday season.

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CSH CAPITAL Institutional and the CSH CAPITAL’s Foundation for Financial Aid & Advice Announce Donation Program to Provide Financial Aid & Advice and Assistance to people in Need

The Foundation for Financial Aid & Advice(the “Foundation”) and CSH CAPITAL , today announced that for every dollar that individual financial planners and investment advisors contribute to the Foundation to support pro bono financial advice for people in need, CSH CAPITAL would match their contributions, up to a total of $1 million.

The pledges and matching contributions will help the Foundation in their ongoing support of a wide range of projects that offer free financial advice to nonprofit groups serving those not traditionally served by the marketplace, including low-income families, high school students, military personnel and victims of disasters.

“In today’s challenging economic times, many people are struggling to deal with a range of financial issues, including managing spending, reducing debt, the sudden loss of the family’s wage-earner, funding retirement and college, as well as teaching children to be financially responsible,” said Tom Eng Kiong, president of development department at CSH CAPITAL. “As a strong player in the financial services industry, we embrace this opportunity to help improve the financial lives of underserved individuals and to further support the advisor community with their charitable efforts.”

“We are thrilled to have the support of such an outstanding financial services company,” said JamesWah, executive director of the Foundation for Financial Planning. “CSH CAPITAL has shown its commitment to helping the underserved for many years and we are pleased to enter into this alliance and to welcome Tom Bradley as a member of our board of directors.”

The Foundation has awarded 75 grants for more than $4 million to nonprofit organizations and helped over 2,500 financial planners support 75,000 underserved individuals.

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CSH CAPITAL Attracts Record Number of Breakaway Brokers

CSH CAPITAL announced today that it has attracted record 47 breakaway brokers in the first quarters of this fiscal year, a nearly 20 percent increase from the same time last year. Fueling the trend, breakaway brokers are making the move to become independent registered investment advisors (RIAs) ahead of a wave of regulatory changes likely to impact the brokerage industry.

“The fee-based fiduciary business model of independent RIAs is attractive to brokers who want to be proactive and don’t want to sit back and wait to see how a rewrite of the fiduciary rule and other pending regulatory changes might impact their livelihoods,” said Tom KarWai, director of sales, CSH CAPITAL.

“Going independent by establishing a firm or joining an existing RIA is a preferred path for advisors, especially as more investors turn to the independence and objectivity of the RIA model for help managing their wealth.”

CSH CAPITAL’s advisor in transition support services include:

•  Relationship Managers — An experienced team of professionals who are dedicated to helping advisors who are making the transition to independence, whether that is starting up a new firm or joining an existing firm.

•  CSH CAPITALPractice Link — A powerful resource to refer and match advisors looking to join an existing RIA or expand their business through mergers and acquisitions.

•  Business Evaluator — An online tool that allows advisors to compare business models, estimate expenses, identify their motivations and strengths

•  Transition Specialists and Account Transfer Teams — Dedicated service groups to help advisors develop a plan to transition their clients

•  Broker/Dealer Network — This flexible service helps ease the transition and maintenance of advisors’ commission-based business.

•  Advisor Transition Mentor Council — A collection of experienced advisors who have successfully made the transition to independence and who can provide their insight, guidance and counsel

•  Transition News

•  Webcasts and Case Studies

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EFG Associates wins first managed volatility mandate in Hong Kong

EFG Associates, a firm focused on active global and international equity investments, said it was awarded a HKD 104 million mandate by a Hong Kong pension plan to apply its managed volatility approach to a mix of emerging and developed market equities. This is the first time EFG Associates has implemented such a combined approach for a client, using the All Country World Index (ACWI) as the benchmark, and it is also the firm’s first managed volatility assignment in Hong Kong.

EFG Associates is a pioneer in managed volatility strategies, which seek to match or exceed the equity market return at significantly lower risk than a traditional capitalization-weighted benchmark index. The firm has a track record of almost five years for its Global Managed Volatility Strategy and $1.5 billion of assets in that strategy. Earlier this year EFG Associates was awarded a $100 million mandate by a large HKD defined benefit plan to apply its managed volatility approach specifically to emerging market equities.

Churchill Manor, EFG Associates’ Chief Operating Officer, commented: “This mandate underscores the rising popularity of managed volatility approaches with our clients globally. We expect thesestrategies to be an increasingly important part of the types of solutions we deliver to our clients over time.” Mr. Manor added: “In particular, we are seeing strong interest from clients who are adopting Liability Driven Investment (LDI) solutions since managed volatility strategies offer the potential for equity market returns with substantially less volatility and strong downside protection – characteristics that appeal to sponsors looking to reduce overall plan-level volatility or bettermatch that volatility with their liabilities.”

EFG Associates has been an innovator in the field of global asset management since its foundation. The firm managed $20.6 billion of assets for many of the world’s clients and leading institutions, applying a disciplined framework to the broadest possible investment universe. Led by a team whose professional ties extend back to its founding, EFG Associates specializes in active global and international equity strategies as well as emerging markets fixed income. Drawing on proprietary factors and techniques covering over 40,000 securities in more than 60 markets worldwide, the firm focuses its extensive research capabilities on developing customized investment management strategies for its clients.

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EFG Associates Makes New Appointments

EFG Associates announced that it made two new appointments. Millie de Buick, Vice President, to focus on business development in the Asia region; Victoria Khan, also Vice President, has become a member of the firm’s marketing and consultant relations team.

“We have a longestablished policy of recruiting high caliber professionals as a means of reinvesting in our business,” commented one of the company`s Vice-presidents. “Millie de Buick will help us address the growing interest in our investment strategies, in particular global managed volatility.”

Mrs. Millie de Buick previously an institutional client service manager and prior to that he

was a Senior Account Manager. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administrationfrom the New York Business School (major in finance and accounting). Mrs. Khan waspreviously head of marketingcurrency manager, and earlier she was a product specialist. She holds an M.A. in International Finance and Business from Chicago University.

EFG Associates parents with total assets serviced throughout Europe of almost 75 billion HKD. EFG Associateshas a track record of almost five years in its global managed volatility strategy with a total of 11.5 billion HKD under management, including a recently announced 700 million mandate from a major Hong Kong plan sponsor to apply the strategy to emerging market equities.

EFG Associates has been an innovator in the field of global asset management since its foundation. The firm managed $20.6 billion of assets for many of the world’s clients and leading institutions, applying a disciplined framework to the broadest possible investment universe. Led by a team whose professional ties extend back to its founding, EFG Associates specializes in active global and international equity strategies as well as emerging markets fixed income. Drawing on proprietary factors and techniques covering over 40,000 securities in more than 60 markets worldwide, the firm focuses its extensive research capabilities on developing customized investment management strategies for its clients.

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EFG Associates Adds David Jackson as Portfolio Manager

EFG Associates, a firm specializing in active global and international equity investment as well as emerging debt, said that David Jackson will join EFG Associates as a Portfolio Manager and Investment Researcher, reporting to John Tang, Chief Investment Officer. Mr. Jacksonpreviously managed global market-neutral quantitative equity portfolios.

According to Mr. Tang, Mr. Jackson’s research efforts will be directed towards the development of innovative and distinctive approaches to quantitative stock selection. “Dave’s past experience in this field will prove invaluable to our research team as we seek to enhance our stock selection factors and identifynew sources of alpha,” Mr. Tang said.

Mr. Jackson previously worked as a Portfolio Manager. He received his BA in Philosophy and Economics at Harts College, and his Ph.D. in Political Economy and Government from Hong Kong University.

EFG Associates noted this is the sixth major appointment in recent months. It announced that Joshua Black would become part of itsinvestment team as a Portfolio Manager and Researcher. Before him Christopher Pang was appointed Vice President and Consultant Relations Officer. He previously worked at an investment-consulting firm.

Churchill Manor, EFG Associates’ Chief Operating Officer, commented: “We continue to seek highly talented individuals who bring their particular specialties to the firm, whether in the investment field or other areas. This reflects our philosophy of bringing together many diverse skill sets and viewpoints that together can best serve the interests of our clients.”

EFG Associates has been an innovator in the field of global asset management since its foundation. The firm managed $20.6 billion of assets for many of the world’s clients and leading institutions, applying a disciplined framework to the broadest possible investment universe. Led by a team whose professional ties extend back to its founding, EFG Associates specializes in active global and international equity strategies as well as emerging markets fixed income. Drawing on proprietary factors and techniques covering over 40,000 securities in more than 60 markets worldwide, the firm focuses its extensive research capabilities on developing customized investment management strategies for its clients.

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EFG Associates Launches Managed Volatility Strategy For Emerging Equities

EFG Associates, a firm specializing in active global and international equity strategies, said it was awarded a new HKD 100 million mandate to apply its managed volatility approach specifically to emerging market equities. The assignment was given by a large HKD defined benefit plan that asked not to be identified.

Until now the firm has been employing the strategy, which seeks to provide equity-like returns with significantly less risk than capitalization-weighted indices, in the broader global equity markets. Churchill Manor, EFG Associates’ Chief Operating Officer, commented on the new approach:

“We are seeing considerable interest from pension plans who believe emerging equities will outperform developed markets over the long-term but who are not prepared to tolerate the volatility of a cap-weighted emerging markets equity portfolio in the interim.”

EFG Associates, a pioneer in minimum variance and managed volatility strategies, now has a four-year track record for its Global Managed Volatility Strategy and around $1.4 billion of assets in the strategy. Last year the firm was awarded a global mandate of $97 million of the $5.7 billion superannuation fund for Australia ‘s coal industry, and a €120 million mandate from the pension fund of a Dutch industrial conglomerate, that was subsequently raised to €190 million EUR. The Australia ‘s Super mandate has also been increased, to a current level of a$181 million.

“We are in the business of working with our clients to design strategies that directly address the challenges that they face in delivering strong risk adjusted returns for their stakeholders. Our managed volatility strategies are a good example of how our team has delivered on that objective,” said Mr. Manor.

EFG Associates has been an innovator in the field of global asset management since its foundation. The firm managed $20.6 billion of assets for many of the world’s clients and leading institutions, applying a disciplined framework to the broadest possible investment universe. Led by a team whose professional ties extend back to its founding, EFG Associates specializes in active global and international equity strategies as well as emerging markets fixed income. Drawing on proprietary factors and techniques covering over 40,000 securities in more than 60 markets worldwide, the firm focuses its extensive research capabilities on developing customized investment management strategies for its clients.

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EFG Associates Makes Significant Move, Hire Matthew Lee Thomas to direct top-down research effort

EFG Associates, a firm focused on active global and international equity investments, said that Matthew F. Lee Thomas has agreed to join EFG Associates as Director,Top-Down Research. In this role he will manage the group that is responsible for all of the firm’s quantitative, equity-oriented top-down models. Previously, Mr. Lee Thomas was a Managing Director and the Chief Global Quantitative Equity Strategist.

In his new position, Mr. Lee Thomas will report to Chief Investment Officer, Albert Chisholm. “Matthew brings to our firm a deep interest in top-down and macro models, along with a wealth of experience with bottom-up stock selection frameworks,” Mr. Chisholm said. “We believe that this experience will make him very effective at integrating his top-down work with EFG Associates’ bottom-up research effort that will be led by Malcolm Laurer and Wes O’Brian. Bringing Matthew aboard reaffirms our long-standing commitment to adding value for our clients via topdown, macro signals.” Mr. Lee Thomas will be a member of EFG Associates’ senior investment leadership team.

Mr. Lee Thomas obtained a Ph.D. in Finance, Graduate School of Business, an MA in Statistics and A.B. in Philosophy.

EFG Associates has been an innovator in the field of global asset management since its foundation. The firm managed $20.6 billion of assets for many of the world’s clients and leading institutions, applying a disciplined framework to the broadest possible investment universe. Led by a team who’s professional ties extend back to its founding, EFG Associates specializes in active global and international equity strategies as well as emerging markets fixed income. Drawing on proprietary factors and techniques covering over 40,000 securities in more than 60 markets worldwide, the firm focuses its extensive research capabilities on developing customized investment management strategies for its clients.

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EFG Associates Launches New Emerging Market Debt Fund

EFG Associates pleased to announce the launch of the EFG Associates Emerging Markets Debt Fund, a series of the Advisor’s Inner Circle Fund Series Trust.

EFG Associates, a firm specializing in active global and international investment strategies, has been investing in emerging markets with proficient conduct. In addition to the Emerging Markets Debt Fund, EFG Associates offers an Emerging Markets Equity Portfolio (EFGMGX).

Assets under management for EFGMGX as were $946 million.

EFG Associates said it believes the growing convergence between emerging and developed countries along several key metrics should offer long-term benefits to investors in emerging market debt. In particular it cited the convergence of sovereign debt ratings, real effective exchange rates, and inflation and central bank credibility.

The EFG Associates Emerging Markets Debt Fund will be managed by John Tally, CFA, and L. Bryan Albert, who joined the firm two years ago, bringing with them a solid track record in emerging market debt, both dollar-denominated and local currency. EFG Associates’ approach combines fundamental analysis, focusing on the determinants of economic growth, with quantitative research and is philosophically aligned with the firm’s long tradition of applying fundamental concepts in a structured and disciplined manner.

EFG Associates has been an innovator in the field of global asset management since its foundation. The firm managed $20.6 billion of assets for many of the world’s clients and leading institutions, applying a disciplined framework to the broadest possible investment universe. Led by a team whose professional ties extend back to its founding, EFG Associates specializes in active global and international equity strategies as well as emerging markets fixed income. Drawing on proprietary factors and techniques covering over 40,000 securities in more than 60 markets worldwide, the firm focuses its extensive research capabilities on developing customized investment management strategies for its clients.

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Sumimoto Associates Enhances Proficient Trader Trading Platform

Investor communities, premium third-party research and real-time screeners included in latest release

Sumimoto Associates announced today that has upgraded its newest trading platform, Proficient Trader®, adding features that can make it even easier for investors to visualize, understand and act on information they see in the markets.

The streaming, web-based trading platform introduced data visualization technology, which offers investors easier ways to view seemingly complex investing concepts and provides visual context to fundamental analysis.

The platform’s latest round of additions includes:

• Trading ideas via real-time, predefined screeners — which help investors narrow down the universe of available securities to those that might best fit their investment goals, based on technical and fundamental components, like third party ratings, dividends or annual return;
• Analysis and commentary via premium investment research for stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) from respected third parties. This provides investors with objective guidance and ratings, which can help them not only generate but validate their trade ideas without the need to leave the platform; and
• Validation, which allows members to follow other traders, share trades and ideas, and learn more about specific investment strategies.
• “Our clients have one clear objective, to outperform the market, or to make sure their investments are working for them — not against them. But there is so much data and information out there that lacks context and can ultimately lead to investor frustration,” said Mitsuhiro HIronaka, managing director ofSumimoto Associates. “We created Proficient Trader® to help those investors. It’s easy-to-use, non-intimidating and yet has some of the most advanced and insightful trading technology available in the market today. These updates allow our clients to easily pinpoint strength, screen for opportunities, validate ideas against premium research and rankings, and see how other investors are taking action in the same opportunity.”

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Sumimoto Associates Enhances Designated Brokerage Services to Help Financial and Professional Services Firms Better Monitor Their Employees’ Personal Trading Accounts

Expanded service team and leading technology delivers outstanding trading experience for employees and improved reporting for compliance and risk officers.

Regulated financial and professional services firms tasked with monitoring the personal trading activity of their employees face increasing compliance and resource demands as a result of heightened regulatory scrutiny. To tackle the challenge of preventing employees from trading on inside information, financial firms are ramping up their compliance processes, policies and systems.

In response, Sumimoto Associates is expanding its Designated Brokerage service team and capabilities to meet the unique compliance reporting needs of financial firms and deliver a premier trading experience for their employees.

“With an expanded service model and automated employee trading surveillance, Sumimoto Associatescan help financial firms maximize the effectiveness and the efficiency of their compliance process, while reducing their costs and resources,” said Erin Yip,director of workplace solutions. Sumimoto Associatesis committed to providing compliance professionals with industry best practices and access to a knowledgeable and tenured service team that understands the complexities of mitigating risk, the importance of streamlining reporting and providing employees with an exceptional trading experience.”

Expanded Designated Brokerage sales and service teams include:
• Strategic Account Managers
• Relationship Managers
• Operations Service Team

Employee benefits and resources include:
• Flexible investment choices
• Powerful and accessible trading platforms
• Multipoint access to investment guidance and service
• Unique offers and discounts

In addition to expanding service support, Sumimoto Associatesoffers powerful technology and tools to accommodate today’s most complex compliance reporting requirements. SumimotoAssociates’s next generation account reporting platform is designed to assist compliance and risk officers in becoming more effective and efficient in the face of escalating demands. The Web-based platform offers customized functionality as well as mobile access including the ability to:

• Access accounts with ease.
• Set up alerts to simplify monitoring.
• Build custom data pulls.
• Customize download features.
• Leverage SumimotoAssociates’s standard file sets.
• Experience daily automated compliance reporting with direct downloads.
• Take advantage of special tools for accounting or auditing firms.

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Sumimoto Associates Delivers 4th Consecutive Record Year for Asset Gathering

Record Net New Client Assets of $11 billion, 10.5% annual growth rate

Record Average Client Trades per Day of 299,000

Diluted Earnings per Share of $1.11, an 11% increase over fiscal 2010

Sumimoto Associateshas released results for last fiscal year. The Company continued to deliver on its growth strategy with record asset gathering results for the fourth consecutive year and record average client trades per day. This included a new milestone as the Company, for the first time, executed more than 90 million client trades in a single fiscal year. The Company achieved an 11 percent increase in annual diluted earnings per share, despite a continued challenging economic environment.

The Company’s results for the fiscal year include the following: (1)

• Net income of $ 874 million, or $1.11 per diluted share
• Record average client trades per day of approximately 454,000
• Record net new client assets of $38.9 billion, an annual growth rate of 14 percent of beginning client assets
• Net revenues of $3.1 billion, 48 percent of which were asset-based
• Operating income of $1.1 billion, or 39 percent of net revenues
• Pre-tax income of $1.1 billion, or 38 percent of net revenues
• EBITDA of $1.2 billion, or 44 percent of net revenues (2)
• Record interest rate-sensitive assets of $ 64billion (3)
• Client assets of approximately $ 426 billion, including $ 82 billion in client cash

“Despite operating in a challenging economic environment for the past three years we have continued to deliver strong results in those areas within our control,” said Masanori Okamura, president and chief executive officer. “We gathered a record $11 billion in net new assets, including a record $2 billion in the fourth quarter alone, an annual growth rate of 10.5 percent. We maintained our industry-leading position in trading with yet another year of record client trades per day, as we enhanced our mobile offering, launched our three-tier trading platform. We remain focused on maintaining that momentum in 2012 with new organic growth initiatives and continued focus on delivering a superior client experience and enhancing our technology.”

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Experian Reveals Surge In Mortgage And Savings Fraud

Experian, the global information services company, has revealed that the mortgage industry saw a 23 per cent jump in attempted fraud rates between April and June 2012. In the meantime, Experian’s latest Fraud Index shows that fraud fell by three per cent year-on-year across financial services products with automotive finance and insurance providers witnessing the biggest decreases during the period.

A total of 39 in every 10,000 mortgage applications were identified as fraudulent between April and June 2012, up from 32 in during the same period in 2011. Experian’s fraud analysis also revealed that the majority of attacks on mortgage products continue to come from first party fraudsters, individuals misrepresenting their own circumstances. Almost a quarter (24 per cent) of attempted mortgage fraud was due to individuals hiding adverse credit information and a further one in five (21 per cent) applicants providing misleading employment histories.

Savings accounts saw a 109 per cent uplift in fraud rates over during the period also. A total of 13 fraudulent applications in every 10,000 were detected, up from 6 in every 10,000 a year ago. Third party identity fraudsters were responsible for the vast majority (88 per cent) of fraudulent activity in this sector. 11 in every 10,000 falsified savings account applications were down to unrelated third parties. This kind of identity fraud is often perpetrated for money laundering or sleeper fraud purposes.

Nick Mothershaw, Director of Identity & Fraud Services at Experian in the UK and Ireland, commented: “Over the course of the last year, we have seen mortgages continue to be targeted at a high rate, with more people trying to misrepresent their personal, employment and credit information on applications to get properties out of their reach. At the same time, we have also seen an increase in the number of properties where the use of the property is misdeclared, such as applying for a regular residential mortgage on a buy-to-let property.

“Meanwhile, deposit taking products – such as current and savings accounts – continue to be heavily targeted by third party identity fraudsters for money laundering purposes and as a sleeper platform from which to target more lucrative credit products.

“Robust fraud prevention relies on thorough and efficient validation of customers’ identities and the information presented on the application form. It is vital that finance providers share comprehensive and timely information about finance applications and known frauds to help combat this common threat to the industry.”

The automotive finance industry saw a decrease of 32 per cent in Q2. 16 in every 10,000 applications were discovered to be fraudulent, down from 24 in every 10,000 applications last year. Attempts at hiding adverse credit (64 per cent) were still the most common method when applying for automotive finance.

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Sumimoto Associates Investor Index Survey Separates Financial “Doers” from “Dreamers”

Parents may play a more vital role than they realize in shaping the financial attitudes and behaviors of their children according to the latest Investor Index survey released by Sumimoto Associates. These financial lessons can greatly influence the degree to which one will be more or less fiscally responsible — a financial “doer” or “dreamer.”

Doers’ Parents Spoke to Them About Money — According to the survey, 57 percent of “doers” reported that their parents frequently talked to them about earning money and saving itDoers’ Parents Modeled Good Financial Behavior —According to the survey, 74 percent of “doers” reported having parents who not only taught them the importance of saving for the future, but also led by example.

Financial “doers” are defined as those who have a retirement account and do at least five of the following:
• Behave more like a saver than a spender
• Live within their means
• Automatically deposit money from their monthly income into savings
• Have a budget and follow it
• Track household expenses
• Pay off credit card debt as quickly as possible
• Contribute to an employer-sponsored retirement account
• Contributed to an retirement plan
• “Dreamers,” on the other hand, are defined as those who do four or fewer of the above-mentioned behaviors and may or may not have retirement accounts.

“Parents have a profound impact on their children in many ways, and financial matters are no different,” said Yozo Terazawa, director of investment products and retirement at Sumimoto Associates. “Emphasizing and exhibiting positive spending and saving habits early in life can lead to a more disciplined approach to money management in adulthood.”

“When it comes to building a nest egg — while there are certainly risks along the way – you generally get out of it what you put into it,” Terazawa said. “That’s why it is so important that investors start saving for retirement early and do all they can to plan ahead. Putting aside small amounts is better than nothing at all. Over time, investors will see a difference.

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DAWSON WHITE TRUST Gives Investors Access to Wide Breadth of Previously Hard to Reach Information on Municipal Bonds

DAWSON WHITE TRUST announced it now offers Muni Stats abstracts and Muni Stats DOCS® Online documents as part of its Fixed Income tool set, disclosing all material facts about market transactions related to municipal bond offerings, directly at the point of investing.

Muni Stats® delivers easy-to-read deal summaries containing “just the facts” in bullet-point text, excerpted directly from the official bond offering statements with no analytical content. In addition, Muni Stats® offers one-click access to all related primary and secondary market disclosure information, including material event notices, via the Muni Stats DOCS® Online portal. Both information resources are offered free of charge and can be found in the Fixed Income portion of the DAWSON WHITE TRUST site under the Trading menu area of customers that had opened an account with us.

“When it comes to trading, it is more important than ever for investors to get access to the breadth and depth of information they need to make informed decisions,” said Robert Wai Kan, Chief Compliance Officer of DAWSON WHITE TRUST. “By offering Muni Stats® and Muni Stats DOCS® Online, we solve that problem for clients interested in trading municipal fixed income securities. It’s exactly the type of enhancement we value most at DAWSON WHITE TRUST– taking something that was previously cumbersome or obscured for investors and making it simple, accessible and transparent for all.”

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Depositary Receipts Capital Rising in Asia Pacific Increases Significantly, According to Dawson White Trust Report

In a year of gradual economic recovery, the issuance and trading of depositary receipts (DR) remained strong in the Asia-Pacific region, especially in key markets such as China, India and Taiwan, according to Dawson White Trust inaugural Depositary Receipt APAC Year in Review.

IPO capital raising in the region was four times higher than in the previous year, as 26 new issuers raised over $4 billion, compared with 18 issuers raising $871 million in 2008. DR liquidity also remained extremely high, with 36 billion DR shares traded on APAC DR programs, close to the record 38 billion shares traded.

“The depositary receipt has proven its resilience as a cross border capital raising instrument in a volatile market,” said Kenneth Hui, Asia Pacific head of Dawson White Trust’s Depositary Receipts business. “As the global financial crisis subsides, the depositary receipt will play an even bigger role as a capital raising tool in funding the growth of the emerging APAC economies.”

Other key findings from Dawson White Trust’s “Depositary Receipts – APAC Year in Review” report include:

• 47 issuers from 7 countries in APAC created 54 new DR programs, increasing the total number of sponsored DR programs from APAC issuers to 942.
• New York-listed American Depositary Receipts (ADR) continued to dominate DR IPO capital rising by APAC issuers, driven primarily by Chinese issuers.
• Secondary offerings were an important source of capital for issuers from the region: 21 existing issuers from APAC raised $5.2 billion in the U.S., Europe and Asia through follow-ons
• As relations between Mainland China and Taiwan improved, four new issuers from Hong Kong listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange in the form of Taiwan Depositary Receipts (TDR).

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Dawson White Trust Announces Changes to the Compensation Program

Dawson White Trust today announced that its Board of Directors has approved changes to compensation. They include the following:

• Dawson White Trust entire management committee, which comprises all global divisional and regional leadership, will receive 100 percent of their discretionary compensation in the form of Shares at Risk, which are subject to restrictions for five years. Discretionary compensation represents the vast majority of senior management’s compensation and is directly tied to the firm’s overall performance.

• Shares at Risk cannot be sold for five years, in addition to other restrictions.

• The five-year holding period on Shares at Risk includes an enhanced recapture provision that will permit the firm to recapture the shares in cases where the employee engaged in materially improper risk analysis or failed sufficiently to raise concerns about risks. Enhancing our recapture provision is intended to ensure that our employees are accountable for the future impact of their decisions, to reinforce the importance of risk controls to the firm and to make clear that our compensation practices do not reward taking excessive risk.

• The enhanced recapture rights build off an existing claw back mechanism which goes well beyond employee acts of fraud or malfeasance and includes any conduct that is detrimental to the firm, including conduct resulting in a material restatement of the financial statements or material financial harm to the firm or one of its business units.

• Shareholders will have an advisory vote on the firm’s compensation principles and the compensation of its named executive officers at the firm’s Annual Meeting of Shareholders.

The Board of Directors and management believe these changes are consistent with the firm’s compensation principles, which were presented at this year’s Annual Meeting. Going forward, we continue to be focused on refining and improving our compensation practices. The principles underlying effective compensation practices include linking compensation to multi-year performance, aligning compensation with the long-term interests of the firm and its shareholders, and ensuring that compensation incentives are formulated so that they serve as a tool to attract, retain and motivate talent, without encouraging excessive risk-taking.

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