Business as usual.....

Hi,

Firstly, lots of people have commended us on the speed and pragmatism of our swine flu piece, see it below on this page if you haven't already.

Secondly, it has been a busy month for Links and one overwhelming sense I have seen this month is of 'business as usual' in the financial industry. Banks are starting to recruit in certain areas, hedge funds are raising money again, investors are starting to commit capital; the paralysis that had gripped many parts of the financial markets seems to have eased to the point that the machine as a whole is starting to function again.

I wouldn't say we are out of the woods yet as we remain particularly vulnerable to an unexpected downside event, and the economy and the financial industry as it recovers will look very different to the one that went into this crisis in 2007, however, people are now mentally gearing up for the future and are looking to take some risk.

One point I'd like to make is that there is still much needed flesh to add to the bones of the suggested reforms in the financial industry. It's possible that, as the economy recovers, politicians will lose the drive for change under the misapprehension that it will stifle the recovery. What economies need is genuine 'value add' in a whole range of business rather than an economy feeding off what was arguably a bubbling financial services industry. Failure to get the financial reforms right could see a repeat of the issues which have caused the current crisis from which we are only now escaping.

Happy hunting,
Andy