Latest news with #LewisJones
Mint
06-07-2025
- Business
- Mint
Dollar Doubters Seed Historic Gains for Developing World Debt
(Bloomberg) -- US policy volatility has sent money managers scouring the world for alternatives, propelling local bonds from emerging-market countries to their best first half in 16 years. The surge in demand for fixed-income assets in EM currencies is largely the flip side of sinking confidence in the US dollar, which has tumbled almost 11% this year. That's its worst performance since the 1970s, and the losses are across the board, with the greenback falling against 19 of the 23 most-traded emerging-market currencies, and by at least 10% against 10 of them. The upshot is that an index of emerging-market local debt has returned more than 12% in the first half of the year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, beating hard-currency bonds, which were up 5.4% in the same period. The first-half gains were the strongest since at least 2009. 'I don't think anyone had this much dollar weakness on their bingo card,' said Edwin Gutierrez, head of emerging-market sovereign debt at Aberdeen Group Plc. 'We thought local-currency debt would outperform hard-currency, but not by the magnitude that it ended up.' The money is flowing in unprecedented amounts. EM-debt funds attracted more than $21 billion so far this year, Bank of America Corp. said on Wednesday, citing EPFR Global data. These funds drew inflows for each of the past 11 weeks and $3.1 billion in the week through July 2. Boosting the case further is the prospect of interest-rate cuts in developing countries, according to Lewis Jones, a debt manager at William Blair Investment Management in New York. 'We expect more capacity from emerging central banks to cut rates, and also the trend of a weaker dollar versus the euro to continue,' he said. 'For European investors it could look more attractive looking forward.' Latin American economies have handed investors some of their best returns, with Mexico's local bonds, known as Mbonos, generating a gain of 22%, while some of Brazil's government bonds have returned more than 29%. The Brazilian notes bounced following a sharp selloff late last year, while traders piled into bets that policymakers are done with their hiking cycle. 'We remain invested in Mexican bonos, the trade is not over for us,' said Adriana Cristea, senior investment manager at Pictet Asset Management, adding that the firm has positions in local bonds across emerging markets regions, from Latin America to EMEA and Asia. Improving economic fundamentals in some emerging markets may also bring new issuers to the market. Ghana, Africa's top gold producer, is planning to resume domestic bond sales later in 2025 after short-term borrowing costs fell to the lowest in three years. Easing tensions between Israel and Iran also boost the investment case for local debt from the developing world. Despite the rally, Aberdeen's Gutierrez isn't yet looking to take profits on positions in EM local debt. He said his main overweights are Colombia, the Philippines and South Africa. More broadly, investors favor Brazil, South Africa and Turkey, BofA's head of global emerging markets fixed-income strategy David Hauner wrote in a note on July 3 based on feedback from clients. 'It will be a multi-year process' of rethinking US exposure, said Brad Godfrey, co-head of emerging markets debt at Morgan Stanley Investment Management, who helps oversee $20.6 billion. 'It will be a relearning process for some people that hadn't been exposed to local in a while.' --With assistance from Selcuk Gokoluk and Srinivasan Sivabalan. More stories like this are available on
South Wales Guardian
08-06-2025
- Sport
- South Wales Guardian
Ammanford rider bonus in British Supersport Championship
Lewis Jones competed at the North Gloucester Road Racing Championship at the Pembrey race circuit on Saturday, May 31 and Sunday, June 1. The weekend consisted of Lewis racing in the IMS National 600 and the Prince of Pembrey Phoenix open races. With three wins in the Prince of Pembrey Phoenix Open Lewis was the bonus prize money winner. (Image: Gavin Elliott ) Saturday started with qualifying where conditions were tricky with rain falling during both qualifying sessions. For the IMS 600 qualification, Lewis claimed position six and for the Prince of Pembrey, he qualified in position 14. Lewis had steady laps due to suffering from the adverse weather conditions and suffering from low grip on the tyres. However, in the IMS 600, the conditions improved, and Lewis began feeling happy with the feeling of his bike. Despite starting from position six, he went on to win the race with a best lap time of 59.398, securing pole position for the second race on Sunday. In the first race of the Pembrey Phoenix, Lewis had a moment at the second corner which dropped him back but battled back to finish position five with a best lap time of 59.838 and attained position five for the second race on Sunday. Conditions improved overnight for Sunday, resulting in Lewis making the most of his pole by getting into a rhythm and winning the race with his personal best lap time in the race of 59.172. Then, in the next Prince of Pembrey Phoenix Open race, Lewis started from position five and had a good battle Daniel Nelms for the first half of the race before passing his fellow rider to win the race. Finally, in the third respective races of the IMS 600 and Prince of Pembrey Phoenix Open, Lewis started in pole position, going on to win both races riding smooth and relaxed. It was a successful weekend for the team and Lewis who benefitted from more bike time before the British Supersport Championship returns in a few weeks at Snetterton.
Powys County Times
01-05-2025
- Sport
- Powys County Times
Brecon braves earn praise after Plate Cup final defeat
BRECON Rugby Club was represented in the nation's capital last week. The Powys club's under 13s team descended on Cardiff for the final of the Cardiff Rugby Plate Final at Cardiff Arms Park. The youngsters met Llandaff in the final and despite their opponents having virtual home advantage the Powys club were cheered on throughout by an army of supporters comprising of family and friends. The final whistle blew at 21-5 but Brecon certainly put up a good fight in what was a hard fought and hugely competitive game. Llandaff hit the scoreboard early with a great try and conversion leaving Brecon under pressure. A fantastic response culminated in a wonderful try from Ollie Watson which followed the ball being moved along the line. Brecon lost their talisman and captain Lewis Jones just after 10 minutes due to a knock to the head but this served to galvanise the team. The second-half was dominated by Brecon in both territory and possession. However, Llandaff's defence was able to hold out despite the pressure Brecon applied and despite a valiant effort they failed to get over the try line again. Wave after wave of attack was rebuffed and as Llandaff defended right up until the final whistle. A club spokesperson said: 'Reaching the final was a great achievement for the boys and an occasion that the players, coaches and supporters will never forget. 'They can certainly all walk away with their heads held high despite defeat.'
Telegraph
23-04-2025
- Telegraph
Paedophile left free to kidnap girl after police failings
Police failings left a dangerous paedophile free to kidnap a six-year-old girl, an internal review has found. Workload pressures within Merseyside Police were among a catalogue of errors which led to a lack of 'supervisory oversight' that allowed Lewis Jones to sexually assault the child. The then 21-year-old was first arrested in 2020 on suspicion of grooming and molesting a 12-year-old he met on Snapchat. But he had still not been charged two years later in August 2022, when he snatched a six-year-old from a park in Droylsden, Greater Manchester, where she had been playing. Now, an internal police review has highlighted how the initial case against him drifted without him being charged, allowing him to carry out the second attack. A copy of the review, obtained by the BBC via a freedom of information request, showed the force's unity and protecting vulnerable people (PVP) teams – which specialise in investigating rape and sexual offences – were negatively affected by staffing pressures. It found a leading detective constable had held on to a file even when they were transferred away to help another unit with its workload. This meant progress on the case was stalled. Following this, a different detective constable held on to the case during a temporary promotion, meaning they had less time to work on it due to an increased workload. Upon securing a permanent promotion, the detective was reluctant to reallocate the work to a junior detective, which resulted in further delays. Additionally, senior detectives were not told of any of these problems because of a problem with police databases, the BBC reported. Progress should have been checked every 16 weeks up the chain of command, but this didn't happen as there were problems with the police system in identifying the officer in the case. During these delays, Jones moved to Manchester with his father. On August 17 2022, he visited a play area in a park where he had sat on a bench, furtively taking photographs of playing children. He then approached the victim and, after offering to help make a den, grabbed her, covered her mouth and carried her off to a nearby wooded area. Jones sexually assaulted the child and also took indecent photographs before he was disturbed by people searching for her. After being recognised by his father in CCTV footage from appeals by Greater Manchester Police, Jones was taken to a police station. At Manchester Crown Court in 2023, Jones was jailed for life and told he would have to serve a minimum of 12 years before he would be considered for parole. 'Egregious failings' At the hearing, Judge Hilary Manley hit out at delays in charging Jones for the earlier offences. In what she described as 'an extremely troubling state of affairs', she slammed the force's 'egregious' failings, having released Jones under investigation. Her comments prompted the force's review. A Merseyside Police spokesman said: 'Our thoughts at this time remain with the victims of Lewis Jones and their families. 'We now conduct reviews of all rape and sexual offence cases within the unity and PVP teams to ensure the correct OICs [officers in charge] are clearly identified. 'We identified learning in relation to rape and sexual offence cases being moved out of the unity and PVP teams when staff members transfer out of the department. 'We have since reviewed all relevant cases to reallocate them back to the department accordingly. 'More staff have been recruited to support long-term workloads and improve the timeliness of investigations being submitted for charging advice.'
