BUSINESS

Vulpes Investment Management has been launched by Stephen Diggle, formerly one of the two cofounders of Artradis Fund Management. Vulpes, an alternative investments group, will cover multiple asset classes and offers products ranging from a new volatility fund to a global diversified fund and funds focused on agricultural land ownership and biotechnology.

Hedge funds will need to bow to the demands of their asset owners according the findings of a recent survey of hedge fund risk managers by Algorithmics, the leading provider of enterprise risk solutions. Asked to name the key market challenges currently facing hedge funds, survey respondents listed regulation and the pressure from investors for greater transparency as their biggest challenges.

HSBC Alternative Investments Ltd announces the expansion of its flagship HSBC GH Fund of Hedge Funds to clients holding CNH deposits.

The Australian dollar opens this morning at a rate of 1.0742 against the greenback, losing major ground against the US currency for a third consecutive day.

U.S. stocks fell Wednesday, pressured by disappointing economic data, weaker commodity prices and lackluster earnings reports.

European shares fell for the second straight day on Wednesday. Commodity prices continued to slide, US economic data was weaker than expected and investors fretted that China would continue to tighten monetary policy. In London trade shares in BHP Billiton lost 2.6pct with Rio Tinto down 3.3pct. The FTSEurofirst index fell by 1.4pct with the German Dax lower by 1.7pct and the UK FTSE was down by 1.6pct.

Indonesia’s economy, getting a boost from strong private consumption and investment flows, expanded by 6.5 percent in the first quarter compared to the year before, the Central Bureau of Statistics has reported

Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) is expanding its publishing business with a new line of romance books, with the new imprint Montlake Romance.

National Australia Bank Ltd. (NAB) said cash earnings for the half year ended March 31, 2011, were A$2.7 billion, a 21.7% rise from a year earlier. First-half statutory net profit rose 15.9% to A$2.4 billion as it won mortgage customers and boosted fees from business banking.

Trainee pilots with as little as 200 hours of experience are flying Qantas Airways’ (ASX: QAN) budget airline Jetstar, according to the pilots' association.

Inflation in the Philippines gained speed to 4.5 percent in April, after 4.3 percent in March, the government National Statistics Office has announced

Westpac (ASX: WBC) has now restored ATM and EFTPOS facilities following an earlier outage triggered by an air-conditioning fault at a data centre.

Australian retail sales slumped 0.5 per cent to a seasonally adjusted $20.46 billion in March from $20.55bn in February and rose from $20bn a year earlier, according to official national figures released today. Economists expected a 0.5 per cent rise in sales for March.

Australians are believed to be paying much higher costs for supermarket goods in comparison to other countries. This suggestion circulated as a result of an international survey conducted by 7News.

By Greg PeelIn February, Australian retail sales rose 0.8% (revised up from 0.5%) which surprised economists at the time but then replacement purchases in the wake of the Queensland floods were the clear driver.

- Coca-Cola Amatil 1H guidance slightly disappointing- Volumes and revenues solid, costs higher- Guidance historically conservative, brokers remain broadly positiveBy Chris ShawCoca-Cola Amatil ((CCL)) held its annual general meeting yesterday and at the meeting offered initial earnings guidance for...

New home loan borrowers are lapping up at an increasing rate the range of ongoing discount products on offer, according to Australia’s largest independently owned mortgage broker.

A big pullback in commodity markets sparked a sell off in the commodity currencies overnight, with the AUD falling back below USD1.0800.

Mr McKellar said the strong Australian dollar was underpinning record levels of car affordability.

Riskdata, the leading provider of risk management solutions to the alternative investment marketplace, announces that it has launched its Portfolio Designer offering. This revolutionary portfolio construction solution is the first one enabling the delivery of robust extreme risk diversification, based on limits for market, liquidity and operational risk, and integrating the portfolio manager's views on markets and assets.

Pulse Capital Partners, LLC , which identifies and partners with next generation hedge fund managers to institutionalize and accelerate their growth, announced a partnership with Hong Kong-based asset manager Ardon Capital Management Ltd. to launch an Asia-focused event-driven fund. The new fund will be called the Pulse-Ardon Asia Fund and is anticipated to launch in July 2011.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed down 83 points or 0.7% while the S&P lost 0.7% to 1347 and the Nasdaq fell 0.

Electronic Arts Inc. on Tuesday announced an agreement to acquire mobile game developer Firemint Pty Ltd. for an undisclosed amount.

Westpac Banking Corp. 's cash earnings for the six months ended March 31 increased 7% from a year earlier to A$3.2 billion. Statutory net profit for the first half rose 38% to A$3.96 billion.

Automatic Data Processing today reported that private sector jobs increased by 179,000 in April. That was well off the 200,000 new jobs that a consensus of economists' had earlier forecast and, worse, a significant decline of 22,000 jobs from March's 201,000 newly created positions.

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)'s Bing will be the default search engine and map application on Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM)'s BlackBerry smartphones, the software maker announced Tuesday.

The Philippines’ leading mall developer, SM Prime Holdings, has announced plans for the construction of its biggest mall ever – it will be built in China.

UMB Fund Services, Inc. (UMBFS) announces that its alternative investments division, JD Clark & Company (JD Clark), has been selected to provide alternative investment administration services for Luminous Capital.

Virgin is flying high under a new banner. After changing its name to Virgin Australia, the carrier has announced it has acquired new planes with new interior designs that promise a complete new "magical" experience.