Preciosa Dumlao

The Philippine government urged fellow Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-member countries to step up their efforts to realize the goal of building an ASEAN Community that is peaceful, stable, economically competitive and people-oriented.

The Philippines has invited one of Thailand's major oil players to invest in the country as part of government's efforts to bring down the spiraling cost of this very important commodity.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is calling on its 10-member-countries to come up with ways and means on how to address the ever increasing prices of goods and services.

Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino III has offered to help "in any way" to resolve the row between Thailand and Cambodia, Foreign Secretary Albert Del Rosario said Saturday.

After posting modest losses during the first half of April, US equity markets ended the month with positive performance. Commodities posted gains concentrated in precious metals while the US Dollar declined sharply. US treasury yields fell on analysts' negative outlook for US credit rating, while the environment for credit & corporate acquisition remained robust. Hedge funds posted gains for the month of April, with the HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index gaining +1.86% with positive contribut...

New York based CTA Systematic Alpha Management (SAM) has extended its contract with QuantHouse, a leading supplier of next-generation trading systems, to include QuantLINK, an advanced trading infrastructure interconnecting the heart of exchanges with proximity hosting at the source.

Hennessee Group LLC, an adviser to direct hedge fund investors, announced today that the Hennessee Hedge Fund Index advanced +1.3% in April (+3.80% YTD), while the S&P 500 advanced +2.9% (+8.4% YTD), the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased +3.98% (+10.65% YTD), and the NASDAQ Composite Index gained +3.32% (+8.32% YTD).

Asian-focused hedge funds posted steady gains in the first quarter of 2011, a volatile quarter for Asian financial markets dominated a continuum of dramatic developments, including economic, financial, environmental, social and secular.

An Australian guard dog names Axel, has been fitted with titanium teeth to replace the real once he lost and to effectively guard his post at a Melbourne prison.

A homeless Chinese woman has set up a home in the most unlikely place. On top of a 20ft tree.

They delivery anywhere!That's how the Ukrainian military, which is very hard-pressed with cash, is advertising the sale of their lethal fleet of helicopter gunships.

The Australian government on Friday announced it is planning to revive its controversial "Pacific Solution" to deal with its refugees problem. This early, Papua New Guinea has started to make plans to accommodate the huge number of boat people.

Environment Minister Tony Burke announced on Friday that the federal government has declared some 538,000 square kilometres of Australia's south-west oceans as marine protected areas. This means, all fishing activities in the protected zones are prohibited.

The National Bank of Australia Chief Executive Cameron Clyne on Friday said that Australia may be moving towards a "rising rate environment" and it is only a matter of time before the Reserve Bank of Australia announced a fresh round of interest rates hike,

Philippine authorities have launched a manhunt against a Filipino behind the smuggling of a fleet of luxury vehicles believed to be stolen from the U.S., with one expensive "chopper" belonging to a Hollywood scriptwriter.

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.

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.

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.

The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) on Wednesday cancelled the liquor licence of notorious Showgirls Bar found in the central business district in Melbourne, ending a long legal battle by the Victoria Police against the strip joint.

New homes sales jumped 4.3 percent in Australia in March, bringing to three consecutive months the sector registered gains which paints a positive outlook into the domestic housing market.

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.

The Australian government on Wednesday granted Chi-X the license to operate an alternative securities exchange in Australia, effectively ending the 20-year monopoly of the ASX Group Ltd. Chi-X is owned by Nomura.

The world's largest listed hedge fund Man Group plc announces the successful launch of an AHL open-ended fund in Japan, Nomura Global Trend, which has raised US$1.5 billion. The fund began trading at the end of April 2011.

Ermitage has entered into a contractual agreement with Nexar Capital Group, whereby Nexar will acquire Ermitage Limited from Caledonia Investments plc.

Advanced Capital, the leading European alternative investment specialist, headed up by innovative financier Robert Tomei, and award winning European hedge fund incubator, IMQubator, has announced a €50million joint seed investment into the new mCapital European & Asian Special Situations Fund.

Galena Asset Management Ltd („Galena‟) has restructured the Galena Energy Fund as of January 2011. The Geneva-based Energy Fund was seeded by Trafigura group, the parent company, in April 2009 with 50M$. The group committed another 50M$ early in January 2010.