Life goes on despite meltdown
By
Christine St Anne
Mon 03 Nov 2008
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown last month uttered the 'R' word. Brown told parliament Britain will "most likely" head towards a recession. A view also shared by the country's central bank chief.
At the same time, British tabloids continued their front-page coverage of pop idol Madonna and movie director husband Guy Ritchie's marriage meltdown.
Apparently Ritchie, a "typical English bloke" according to one tabloid, was banned from having his favourite fry-ups for breakfast; a rule strictly imposed by his "control freak missus".
Reading about the intimate details of any celebrity marriage bust-up is uncomfortable, but oddly a welcome distraction from the constant hellish events circulating the global markets.
And the tabloids did highlight one thing. Life goes on.
This month's cover story looks at how the volatile markets have tested the mettle of investment managers around the world. For those managers interviewed, it was important to stick to their core strategies as they steered their funds through the stormy markets. In fact, a few highlighted that some institutions may also benefit under such extreme market conditions, in particular banks.
And for the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia, its annual conference is on track for later this month. Registrations have not been hugely affected despite the event being held outside Australia. In fact, whole trustee boards have booked the three-day event as many are looking to experts and each other for answers during these testing times.
As a journalist I have never had to write about so many competing issues. After analysing the unintended consequences of the Federal Government's bank guarantee, a week later Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced such a guarantee could apply to market-linked funds if they turned themselves into banks.
By the time this magazine goes to press no doubt some sort of solution will be embedded before another market issue emerges. As one fund manager quipped: "No-one alive today could compare this to a similar crisis in their working life."
But we will continue our reporting, our analysis and coverage. I know I will be ready for a decent fry-up once this market mess is over.
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