VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Silicon Valley-based private co-investment platform F50 has the launched beta version of co-investment Syndication Platform. F50 facilitates both the online and offline transactions for investors and startups. It doesn't charge a transaction fee to founders.

Mobile startup Jana has a new influx of cash and an old industry hand as a new adviser. It recently nabbed a $57 million funding from Verizon Ventures for expansion in developing countries.

The micro venture capital (VC) funding space in India is witnessing a robust activity. A rising new breed of venture capital investors is keen on early-stage investment in startups. About 12 micro venture capital funds are operational in India.

BDC Capital, a subsidiary of Business Development Bank of Canada, has launched IT Venture Fund II with corpus of C$150 million. With an objective of bridging gap in the mid-stage funding, the new fund will support new generation of IT entrepreneurs in Canada.

Indian Rupee further fell in a narrow range and was nearing its record low. On the other hand, stocks on the Indian bourses staged a recovery. The S&P BSE Sensex was up 0.8 percent paring intraday loss of 1.2 percent. Overseas investors continued to offload in the Indian stock markets.

The volume of maturities of US investment-grade companies during 2016 and 2020 will be $864 billion. This is record high for the US investment-grade companies. However, they can easily access financial markets for refinancing their debt, observes global rating agency Moody's Investors Service.

Hedge funds in Asia witnessed losses the most in January 2016. The financial markets sell-off in the month made hedge funds suffer losses over 10 percent. Asia-focused hedge funds recorded losses of 3.1 percent indicating the worst beginning since 2008.

Anglo American Plc suffered a pre-tax loss of $5.5 billion (£3.8bln) for 2015 year. The 2015 loss was more than twice the loss incurred in 2014. As part of its future strategy, Anglo American is planning to shift its focus to copper, platinum and diamonds.

The market volatility, rising dollar and sluggish global economy are forcing foreign investors towards the US small business credit market for growth opportunities. Foreign investors generally prefer to invest in US treasury bonds. But the prevailing global conditions are propelling them to park their funds in small business credit market.

R-Square Macro Management is increasing its exposure to Russian currency Ruble. It's hoping on rebound in Ruble as it fell 37 percent from the recent high in 2015. Some asset managers scaled back their wagers on Ruble amid high volatility in the Russian currency.

The recent market crash in Indian stock markets is driving funds from equities to mutual funds (MFs). As a result, fixed income mutual funds are witnessing increased inflows of funds amid ongoing bear market.

The London property market is witnessing soaring buying activity for rental apartments ahead of new tax on home coming into effect from April 2016. The latest rush for buying is also pushing prices up.

The UK stocks, after suffering losses for three sessions in a row, rebounded. Barclays and other financial companies led the gains. After suspension of trading for a day, the trading in Barclays stock resume on Monday. The FTSE 100 index dropped 9.2 percent in 2016 so far.

Reeling under pressure, the hedge fund segment is facing talent crunch to render its services more qualitatively. Considering the need of the hour, billionaire Steve Cohen-owned hedge fund Point72 Asset Management is investing in grooming the talent pool. It's offering two programs to train young graduates.

The bonds are gaining momentum amid sluggish financial markets and uncertainty about the global economy. Majority of hedge funds are betting on the $4.5 trillion market as the safest for US corporate debt. Some hedge funds forecast the concerns may go beyond energy and junk bonds.