Le bras de fer entre l’Argentine et les «fonds vautour» se durcit
Malgré la dégradation de la note du pays par S&P et la décision défavorable de la cour de New-York, Buenos Aires «ne remboursera jamais» les fonds vautour
Pékin met la pression sur Tokyo
A l’instar du rachat d’Aegis Group par le groupe japonais Dentsu qui attend toujours l’aval des autorités chinoises, les délais d’approbation pris par Pékin dans les opérations de fusions-acquisitions de sociétés nipponnes aurait augmenté depuis quelques semaines à 30 jours, voire même 60 jours ou six mois, selon le journal qui cite des sources juridiques. Un allongement qui correspond au début du conflit sino-japonais.
L’Arabie Saoudite se fait justice à Londres
Dans un souci d’apaisement des craintes des investisseurs internationaux face au système juridique local, l’Arabie Saoudite serait selon le quotidien, qui cite des sources proches, en pourparlers avec le gouvernement britannique afin de pouvoir mettre en œuvre à Londres un tribunal dédié au règlement des litiges commerciaux avec le Royaume du Golfe.
William Blair lance un fonds sur les petites capitalisations internationales
Le gestionnaire américain William Blair & Company vient de lancer une sicav coordonnée investie à l’international, dans les petites capitalisations de croissance. Global Small Cap Growth sera géré par Andrew Flynn et Matthew Litfin, précise Investment Europe. Le portefeuille comptera 80 à 200 lignes, investi dans des titres ayant une capitalisation inférieure à 5 milliards de dollars.
Les fonds européens multi-actifs doivent revoir leur stratégie
Les fonds européens multi-classes d’actifs doivent repenser leur stratégie d’allocation dans un contexte de forte volatilité de marché, selon une étude que vient de publier l’agence d'évaluation financière Fitch Ratings.Les fonds multi-classes d’actifs domiciliés en Europe se sont redressés au troisième trimestre après une année 2011 décevante, relève l’agence. Les rendements moyens sur trois ans dans la catégorie Global Mixed Asset de Lipper sont plus en rapport avec les attentes des investisseurs mais restent très en deçà de leurs exigences à un horizon de cinq ans, selon Fitch qui s'étonne que les fonds d’allocation flexible affichent des résultats particulièrement médiocres en moyenne.
Fermeture aux souscriptions du Morgan Stanley Global Brands en Suède et aux Pays-Bas
Le fonds Morgan Stanley Global Brands ferme aux nouveaux souscripteurs en Suède et aux Pays-Bas, rapporte Investment Europe. Il est inaccessible aux nouvelles souscriptions depuis le 26 octobre en Suède et à partir du 31 octobre aux Pays-Bas. Il s’agit pour Morgan Stanley de protéger la performance du fonds, qui pèse déjà 8,8 milliards de dollars.
31/10/2012
Société Générale Securities Services mandaté par East Capital Sicav
Société Générale Securities Services (SGSS) a été mandaté en Italie par East Capital SICAV pour agir en tant qu’agent de transfert local. SGSS lui fournira des services d’agent payeur et de gestion des relations avec les investisseurs. SGSS en Italie propose une gamme de services titres incluant les services de compensation, de conservation et de banque dépositaire, d’administration de fonds, de gestion des liquidités et des services d’agent de transfert.
31/10/2012
Amundi : quatre nominations au sein du pôle investisseurs et distributeurs tiers
Amundi a annoncé le 30 octobre la nomination de Patricia Bouchard, précédemment directeur financier, en tant que chief operating officer (COO). A ce titre, elle supervise l’ensemble des fonctions support et coordonne les projets du pôle IDT. Depuis 2002, Patricia Bouchard était directeur financier de Crédit Agricole Asset Management, puis d’Amundi en 2010. Elle sera remplacée à ce poste par Nicolas Calcoen, qui était depuis juillet 2010 directeur de la stratégie et du développement d’Amundi, en charge de la stratégie, du marketing stratégique et des affaires réglementaires. Il reste en charge de la stratégie et des affaires règlementaires.Patricia Bouchard et Nicolas Calcoen sont membres du Comité exécutif d’Amundi. Dans le même temps, Thierry Ancona prend la responsabilité du segment clients Corporate France et International. Il est ainsi en charge du développement commercial d’Amundi auprès des grands clients corporate. Thierry Ancona était depuis 2010 directeur général adjoint de CA Cheuvreux, en charge du Coverage des Grands Clients. Jean Sorasio prend la responsabilité de l’équipe de gestion dédiée aux solutions assurantielles. Il vient du groupe AXA, où il a travaillé d’abord en tant que chief investment officer d’AXA Life Japan, puis comme chief investment officer du Groupe AXA.Enfin, Christian Lemaire est en charge du développement commercial d’Amundi auprès des assureurs externes. Il était précédemment conseiller spécial auprès de la Direction Générale de CA-CIB. Ces nominations interviennent au sein du pôle investisseurs et distributeurs tiers d’Amundi.
31/10/2012
Hennessy acquiert dix fonds de FBR
Le gestionnaire californien Hennessy Advisors a annoncé officiellement le 26 octobre avoir bouclé l’acquisition des actifs de dix fonds FBR, qui ont désormais été rebaptisés Hennessy et qui portent l’encours de Hennessy à 3,1 milliards de dollars.
Pyxis lance un ETF de “loans”
Devant la forte demande de dette à haut rendement, Pyxis Capital s’apprête à lancer le Pyxis/iBoxx Liquid Loan ETF chargé à 0,47 %, rapporte Mutual Fund Wire. Ce sera le second ETF de ce type aux Etats-Unis, après le the PowerShares Senior Loan Portfolio lancé en mars 2011 et dont le TFE est de 0,76 %.
31/10/2012
Edram-Edrim : l'ensemble des expertises devrait être maintenu
Sous réserve de l’accord des autorités de tutelle, la fusion entre Edrim et Edram doit être effective au 1er décembre prochain, rapporte L’Agefi qui précise que, selon une source proche du dossier, l’ensemble des expertises devrait demeurer après la fusion. Le groupe attend une plus grande lisibilité de son offre de gestion et un bénéfice à la complémentarité des deux sociétés de gestion.
Un fonds cède un immeuble à Primonial REIM
Le fonds Sudeuropa, géré par Invesco Real Estate et représenté par son asset manager Constructa Asset Management, a cédé à Primonial REIM l’immeuble Atlas situé àMontreuil (93). D’une surface de 8.365 m², il est entièrement loué à deux entreprises de premier plan, précise un communiqué. Le montant total de la transaction s’élève à 26,4 millions d’euros.
Berkshire Hathaway profite du changement d'indices chez Vanguard
D’après CBS News, relayé par Mutual Fund Wire, l’adoption par Vanguard des indices CSRP se traduira par un investissement d’un milliard de dollars en actions de Berkshire Hathaway par le Vanguard Total Stock Index Fund. En effet, l’indice CSRP prend en compte aussi bien les actions B que les actions A de la société, alors que le MSCI ne retenait que les actions B.
31/10/2012
Nicolas Gambier rejoint Laffitte Capital Management
Laffitte Capital Management a annoncé le 30 octobre l’arrivée de Nicolas Gambier en qualité de responsable du contrôle des risques et du back-office.Son rôle sera d’apporter son expertise du contrôle et du suivi des risques réglementaires et de marché. Il supervisera également la fonction back‐office de la société de gestion. Après avoir débuté sa carrière chez OFI AM comme analyste/développeur informatique puis structureur chez SGAM AI, Nicolas Gambier était depuis 2005 analyste et gérant de portefeuille dans l’équipe multigestion alternative de Groupama AM.
31/10/2012
Investor confidence index weakens in October
For the month of October 2012, the State Street Investor Confidence Index is down 6.7 points, to 80.6 points, from a corrected level of 87.3 points in September. This significant decline for the global index is due to a decline in confidence in Europe. The European regional index has lost 10.3 points, to a total of 94.9 points in October. Appetite for risk on the part of institutional investors in North America has also fallen, with a decline of 2.7 points for the regional index, to 79.0 compared with a corrected level of 81.7 last month. Investors in Asia followed the same trend, with the regional index down 2.9 point to 84.5 points, its lowest level since the inception of the index. “Globally, the confidence of institutional investors is at its lowest level since the creation of the index in 1998,” says Ken Froot, author of the index. “The level observed today is 1.5 points lower than the previous lowest level, recorded in October 2008. Institutional investors are continuing to show a pronounced desire to orient their portfolios to allocations to bond and cash investments, to the detriment of equities, and this inclination, which appears to be a strong tendency, has gained momentum with the recent market correction.”
31/10/2012
Nicolas Gambier joins Laffitte Capital Management
Laffitte Capital Management on 30 October announced the arrival of Nicolas Gambier as head of risk control and back-office.His role will be to contribute his expertise in the controlling and monitoring of regulatory and market risks. He will also oversee back-office functions at the asset management firm.After beginning his career at OFI AM has an analyst/IT deveoper and then as a structurer at SGAM AI, Gambier has been an analyst and portfolio manager in the alternative multi-management team at Groupama AM since 2005.
31/10/2012
Edram-Edrim: All expertise will be retained
Pending clearance from the supervisory authorities, the merger between Edram and Edrim will be completed on 1 December this year, Agefi reports, adding that, according to a source familiar with the matter, all expertise will remain following the merger. The group plans to improve readability of its asset management product range, and benefit from the complementarity of the two asset management firms.
31/10/2012
Carmignac preparing an emerging market debt fund
Eric Helderlé, deputy CEO, has announced that Carmignac Gestion is planning to launch an emerging market debt fund aimed at European investors, Fundweb reports. Although the Carmignac asset management firm is not known as a specialist in bonds, it already has considerable experience in the area of emerging markets. But first, it will need to find suitable managers, says Helderlé,
31/10/2012
Amundi: four appointments to third-party investors and distributors unit
Amundi on 30 October announced the appointment of Patricia Bouchard, previously CFO, as chief operating officer (COO). In this role, she will oversee all support functions and co-ordinate projects for the IDT unit. Since 2002, Bouchard had been chief financial officer of Crédit Agricole Asset Management, and then of Amundi from 2010. She will be replaced in this position by Nicolas Calcoen, who since July 2010 had been director of strategy and development at Amundi, in charge of strategy, strategic marketing and regulatory affairs. He will continue to be responsible for strategy and regulatory affairs. Bouchard and Calcoen are members of the executive board at Amundi. Meanwhile, Thierry Ancona becomes head of the Corproate client segment for France and internationally. He will be responsible for the commercial development of Amundi serving major corporate clients. Since 2010, Ancona had been deputy CEO of Ca Cheuvreux, in charge of Coverage for Major Clients. Jean Sorasio becomes head of the management team dedicated to insurance solutions. He joins from the AXA group, where he worked first at chief investment officer at Axa Life Japan, and then as chief investment officer of the Axa Group. Lastly, Christiam Lemaire becomes head of commercial development at Amundi for external insurers. He had previously been a special adviser to the General Management at CA-CIB. The appointments are all in the third-party investors and distributors unit at Amundi.
31/10/2012
Hennessy acquires funds from FBR
The California-based asset management firm Hennessy Advisors on 26 October officially announced that it had concluded the acquisition of the assets in six FBR funds, which have now been renamed under the Hennessy brand and which bring assets at Hennessy to USD3.1bn.
31/10/2012
European multi-asset funds need to revise their strategies
European multi-asset class funds need to rethink their allocation strategies, in a context of high market volatility, according to a study which has recently been published by the financial ratings agency Fitch Ratings.Multi-asset class funds domiciled in Europe have recovered in third quarter, after a disappointing year in 2011, the agency reports. Average returns over three years in the Global Mixed Asset category from Lipper are more in line with investors’ expectations, but remain well below their requirements on a five-year horizon, according to Fitch, which expresses surprise that flexible allocation funds show particularly mediocre results on average.
31/10/2012
Valuation of hedge funds increasingly sophisticated, Deutsche says
The level of sophistication applied to operational due diligence by institutional investors in hedge funds has increased considerably, according to a European survey undertaken by Deutsche Bank of fund of fund professionals and consultants, representing over USD411bn in assets under management. Institutional investors are requiring a much higher level fo transaprency of hedge fund managers, the survey says, adding that since the financial crisis, operational due diligence teams have been playing an increasingly major role, as 73% of funds of funds and 80% of consultants have set up dedicated teams which operate separately from the due diligence process applied to investment.In the past 18 to 24 months, operational due diligence teams have vetoed investments due to a lack of independent oversight, lack of transparency, valuation problems, or insufficient involvement in terms of capital engaged by managing partners in their funds.However, the survey funds that although investors now have much more powerful evaluation techniques, hedge funds have also met their new and increased requirements with significantly higher levels of transparency.
31/10/2012
Credit Suisse veterans join Döttinger/Straubinger
The asset management firm Döttinger/Straubinger, an affiliate of the family office Spudy & Co, has recruited two Credit Suisse veterans for its board. Klaus Deng and Maik Käbisch had been head of foundations and marketing, and of family offices, respectively, Das Investment reports.
31/10/2012
German institutionals rethink their asset allocation
According to a survey of 80 German institutional investors with total assets of “well over EUR250bn,” Universal-Investment has drawn the conclusion that the current interest rate environment is leading professionals to noticeably revise their strategic asset allocation, Fondsprofessionell reports.One quarter of heads surveyed are planning to avoid traditional bond investments in the future, while 30% are planning to increase their exposure to equities, and 43% are planning to increase the proportion of their portfolios dedicated to real estate. Many are considering investments in loans or infrastructure.
31/10/2012
Former Oppenheimer manager assists SinoPac
The Taiwan-based financial group SinoPac has recruited the former CEO of Oppenheimer Investments Asia, Steve Bernstein, to lead a new portfolio management services platform, which will be based in Hong Kong, Asian Investor reports.The platform will begin trading on 1 December, Bernstein says, and plans to recruit for its functioning and development.Assets at SinoPac Financial Holding total about USD34bn.
31/10/2012
Société Générale Securities Services wins a mandate from East Capital Sicav
Société Générale Securities Services (SGSS) has been mandated in Italy by East Capital SICAV, to act as a local transfer agent. SGSS Will provide payment agency and investor relationship management services. SGSS offers a range of third-party services in Italy, including settlement custody and depository banking, fund administration, liquidity management and transfer agency services.
31/10/2012
SLI plans to add to emerging market product range
After recently announcing the launch of the bond product Emerging Market Debt OEIC Fund (see Newsmanagers of 26 October), Standard Life Investments (SLI) on 30 October released the Global Emerging Markets Unconstrained SICAV, another emerging market fund, which concentrates the best ideas from the British asset management firm from all sub-funds of the equity asset class, without constraints. The fund is managed by Ross Teverson, who will construct a concentrated portfolio of 30 to 50 holdings, focusing his exposure to maximise outperformance, by investing in companies which cover both emerging and frontier markets.
31/10/2012
Axa IM releases linker in Germany
BaFin has recently issued a sales license for Germany for the inflation-linked fund AXA WF Universal Inflation Bonds, managed by a team of three people, led by Jonathan Blatora, Axa IM announced on 30 October. The Luxembourg-registered fund was launched three months ago (see Newsmanagers of 23 July). The inflation-linked bond team is responsible for approximately EUR20bn in assets at Axa IM.
31/10/2012
Berkshire Hathaway benefits from change of indices at Vanguard
According to CBS News, relayed by Mutual Fund Wire, Vanguard’s adoption of indices from CSRP will result in an investment of USD1bn in shares in Berkshire Hathaway by the Vanguard Total Stock Index Fund. The CSRP index takes into account both B and A share classes in the firm, while the MSCI index considered only B shares.
31/10/2012
Pyxis launches a loan ETF
Due to strong demand for high yield debt, Pyxis Capital is planning to launch the Pyxis/iBoxx Liquid Loan ETF, which will charge fees of 0.47%, Mutual Fund Wire reports. It will be the second ETF of its type in the United States, after the PowerShares Senior Loan Portfolio fund, launched in March 2011, whose TER is 0.76%.