“Whereas western European banks are afraid to go to the Balkans because they’re not used to the environment of corruption, black money and illegal activities, we are used to this here in Greece”
A slightly embarrassed Greek analyst explains the confidence of the country’s banks in expanding in southeastern Europe
“Just having sharks in the tank is not a successful model. We want to have the sort of clients that market-makers want to provide liquidity for”
Cliff Lewis, CEO of Currenex, explains the rationale behind the sale of the business to State Street Global Markets. A cheque for $564 million didn’t hurt either
“I’ve seen a portfolio manager from an investment house having a meeting with the company saying: ‘I own a million shares but I don’t know what you do, tell me about your company’. For a CEO that’s disrespectful. We go the extra mile. We joined the National Chicken Council because we wanted to become experts in the chicken industry. I guarantee we’re the only buy-side firm on the National Chicken Council”
Kevin Richardson, of activist fund Prides Capital, shows that hedge funds can be strategic – and well informed – investors