Luxury

LAUNCHES, LIQUIDATIONS, AND MERGERS IN THE EUROPEAN MUTUAL FUND INDUSTRY, Q4 2013
Executive Summary
As of the end of December 2013 there were 31,724 mutual funds registered for sale in Europe. Luxembourg continued to dominate the fund market in Europe, hosting 8,617 funds, followed by France, where 4,797 funds were domiciled. For Q4 2013, 521 funds were created in Europe. During the same period 585 funds were liquidated and 337 were merged.

Meta Pro SpaceGlasses
Meta Pro launch the SpaceGlasses in July. 3D glasses that project your smart phone, computer or even apps inside the lenses so you become a mix of Iron Man and Minority Report. Competition for Google Goggles or will they just buy the company?

Makes 8
4 rashers streaky bacon
60g cheddar
175g self raising flour
1 tsp English mustard powder
2 eggs
200ml milk
85g butter, melted
1 Preheat the oven to gas mark 6/200C/180fan. Grease a muffin tin.
2 Cut the bacon into small pieces and dry fry until crisp. Leave to drain on kitchen paper.
3 Cut ¾’s of the cheese into small dice and grate the remainder.
4 Stir the flour, mustard powder and some salt and pepper together in a large bowl.
5 Whisk together the eggs and milk, stir in the melted butter.

Fitch Ratings-London-17 February 2014: Results from Fitch Ratings' 1Q14 European fixed income investor survey show that investors are more bullish on eurozone fundamentals. Only around one-third are concerned about a prolonged recession derailing credit markets - the lowest reading in almost three years. Only one-quarter said fundamentals would worsen for developed market sovereigns, down sharply since October. Nevertheless, deflation concerns have risen to their highest level since 2010.

His Royal Highness Prince Harry made his Goodwood Motor Circuit debut today (Saturday, February 15), as part of a track day run by the Royal Foundation Endeavour Fund.
After being greeted by Lord March, owner of Goodwood Motor Circuit, Prince Harry completed a handful of adrenaline-fueled laps of the historic circuit in a classic Aston Martin DB4, before another high-speed run, this time in a Lamborghini Gallardo.

Investment Update on the Barings Frontier Markets Fund Feb 2014
Recent Performance
2013 was a positive year for frontier markets, with the MSCI Frontier Markets index returning, in US dollar terms, 27.1% on a total return basis.* This performance was driven by a number of factors, with inflows into the asset class remaining strong, in contrast to the outflows witnessed in emerging markets. For the year to date, the index has risen 1.4% in US dollar terms on a total return basis, which compares to a fall of 8.3% for the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.*

The London Film Museum and EON Productions are delighted to announce that the BOND IN MOTION exhibition, the largest official collection of original James Bond vehicles, will be on display for the first time in London from 21 March.

An evening at Manchester’s Cornerhouse recently brought to mind a post-modern question. What constitutes a film?
The obvious answer, of course, is filmed footage in either digital or celluloid form. Yet for many people the definition would probably be more focused on narrative. That is, after all, the most prominent type of ‘film’, and for most people the idea of watching anything else- for example the experimental work of Jeff Keen- would be rather obscure (and, in the case of said practitioner, at times quite terrifying).

Classic Car Investment
It comes as no surprise over the last decade when banks have performed so poorly that canny investors are looking for alternative methods of increasing their capital. Anything to beat the poor interest rates available from savings accounts and traditional investments.
One of the most interesting to emerge recently is classic car investment. Not only can you invest in something that carries great history, looks fantastic and brings a certain cachet of glamour, but you get a good rate of return.

In a landmark achievement in the fight against conflict minerals, the leading industry initiative on conflict minerals, the Conflict-Free Sourcing Initiative (CFSI), has validated conflict-free smelters or refiners of all four conflict minerals for the first time in the initiative’s five-year history. The CFSI calls on more smelters and refiners to join the effort to become conflict-free by undergoing the CFSI’s independent, third-party conflict minerals audit.