The Lyxor Hedge Fund Index was up +3.1% in 2012 (+1.1% in December). Twelve Lyxor Strategy Indices out of 14 ended the month in positive territory, led by the Merger Arbitrage Index (+3%) and the Long/Short Credit Arbitrage Index (+2.6%). Over the year, eleven Lyxor Strategy Indices out of 14 posted positive performances, three of them being up double digits: Long/Short Credit Arbitrage Index (+12.1%), Long/Short Equity Long Bias (+11.2%) and Fixed Income Arbitrage (+10.5%).

From a purely dividend yield perspective, Western investors could diversify into emerging markets where dividend growth is supported by low levels of company debt coupled and high profitability.

Credit Suisse today announced that it has signed an agreement to sell its exchange traded funds (ETF) business to BlackRock, Inc. (BlackRock). This is an important strategic step in an industry that requires significant scale, and allows Credit Suisse to realize value in a business successfully built over many years.

Past results do not guarantee future performance. However, they certainly set the tone for predictions of it. A year ago, the outlook statements for this year's equity performance were rather cautious, with forecasters extrapolating the poor trend of 2011. However, 2012 proved to be a good year and, unsurprisingly, the broker consensus is positive for 2013. Is this justified?

Financial market professional active on various fields for more than 20 years, Mory Doré is a key advisor of his company on portfolio and risk management for various financial institutions. In addition, he is also a trainer, teacher and columnist.