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14/09/2011

SwissLife Banque Privée recruits a private banker

Valérie Frappier joined SwissLife Banque Privée as a private banker on 1 July 2011. With this recruitment, “SwissLife Banque Privée is continuing to strengthen its sales management,” the firm says in a statement. Frappier will report to Daniel Resta, director of private clients, and will aim to assist clients of the bank in optimising their private and professional assets, as an expert in private management and wealth management. Frappier was previously a client representative at Safra bank.
14/09/2011

First State to open an office in Paris

The Australian asset management firm First State Investments is preparing to open its first office in Paris. The opening of the office is imminent, according to a spokesperson for the firm, who could not provide more specific information. It is slated for next week or the week following. A person is expected to be appointed to direct the office, who one may suppose would be one of the two who have recently left positions at other companies. It will be First State’s first office in continental Europe; others will follow in other countries.First State, which belongs to Colonial First State Global Asset Management, the largest fund management firm in Australia (GBP99.2bn in assets as of 30 June), is already present in London and Edinburgh, but not yet in continental Europe. The firm manages Asian and emerging markets equity funds, global resources, global equities, publicly-traded real estate, and infrastructure.What is known about First State’s Parisian office so far is that its first occupant will be Philippe Taillardat, who has joined the firm to become co-director of the investment and infrastructure Europe management team, with Danny Latham, alongside Niall Mills, head of infrastructure asset management, and Marcus Ayre, head of infrastructure transactions.Taillardat has more than 20 years of experience in infrastructure and project financing. Since December 2010, he has been director of his own consulting firm, specialised in investment and financing solutions in the non-publicly traded infrastructure investment sector. He previously worked at Amundi Private Equity Funds, where he was head of development for non-publicly traded infrastructure funds of funds for institutional investors.
14/09/2011

BNP Paribas denies reports in Wall Street Journal

Following a column published on Tuesday, 13 September in the opinion pages of the Wall Street Journal, entitled “The Problem with French Banks,” by Nicolas Lecaussin, BNP Paribas has issued a statement officially denying the information including in the article. The column cites “an anonymous employee at BNP Paribas,” who is reported to have claimed that there are problems of liquidity in US dollars, and suggested that a “market in euros” should be created to respond to them. In response, the bank says that it finances itself in US dollars in the ordinary manner, either directly, or via currency swaps (see attached document from the bank).
14/09/2011

Bill gross increases exposure to Treasurys

Mutual Fund Wire reports that as of the end of August, the Total Return Bond Fund from Pimco, managed by Bill Gross, had increased its allocation to US Treasury bonds to 16%, from 10% at the end of July.
14/09/2011

BNY Mellon costs two pension funds money

At a time when BNY Mellon is already under a critical investigation by regulatory authorities of its trading activities on behalf of pension funds, a Wall Street Journal investigation finds that the bank made several “netting” currency transactions on behalf of two major public pension funds, in a way that could trigger higher costs.
14/09/2011

Former BNY Mellon AM vice-chairman becomes director at Jupiter

The Board of Jupiter Fund Management has appointed Jon Little, the ex vice chairman of BNY Mellon Asset Management, as an independent non-executive director with effect from 12 September 2011. Jon Little is currently a partner and founder of Northill Capital, a private investment business backed by one of Europe’s largest family offices. He has developed extensive experience of the asset management industry on an international scale over more than 20 years through roles with a number of global institutions. Jamie Dundas, Chairman of Jupiter Fund Management plc, said: «I am very pleased to welcome Jon to the Board. He has considerable expertise in running asset management businesses in the UK and overseas, particularly during his time as Vice Chairman of BNY Mellon Asset Management. His experience and wisdom will be very valuable to Jupiter as we seek to develop our successful UK brand and increase our share of the international asset management market.»
14/09/2011

Jeffrey Feingold takes over Magellan fund at Fidelity

After six months of poor performance for the Magellan fund (USD17bn), Harry Lange will “now explore other opportunities within the company,” Fidelity Investments has announced, adding that Jeffrey Feingold will now take over as manager of the product, the Wall Street Journal reports.Feingold is already manager of several funds at Fidelity, including the Trend Fund (USD1bn), which has outperformed its benchmark by 1.8% during the past year.
14/09/2011

S&P puts Groupama on RWN

The financial ratings agency Standard & Poor’s on 13 September announced that it has placed its BBB+ rating for Groupama on a watch with negative outlook.The ratings agency is concerned about the fact that the firm has not yet begun its program to reduce the sensitivity of its exposure to equities, which totalled 16% of investments as of the end of 2010. Standard & Poor’s estimates that credit risk has increased due to the group’s significant exposure to government bonds, particularly Greek and Portuguese bonds.
14/09/2011

ProShares preparing an ETF of German govies

The US asset management firm ProShares (“The Alternative ETF Company”) has submitted a filing to the SEC for the first ETF on the United States market to exclusively replicate the evolution of German government bonds, including federal bonds and bonds issued by German regional governments (Länder), the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. The underlying issues will be rated either good or very good, will have a volume of at least USD1bn, and a residual duration of at least one year.
14/09/2011

Legg Mason launches Royce European Smaller Companies fund in France

Legg Mason Global Asset Management on 13 September announced the launch of the Royce European Smaller Companies fund in France (ISIN: IE00B4JZG492). The fund aims for capital growth over the long term, through investment in companies based in Europe, or whose activities are predominantly conducted in Europe, with market capitalisations of less than or equal to EUR5bn. The Royce European Smaller Companies fund, domiciled in Dublin, is managed by Royce & Associates, an affiliate of Legg Mason, one of the oldest and largest managers of small caps in the world, and replicates a strategy first debuted by the firm in December 2006. The fund uses a bottom-up approach for stock-picking, and managers seek companies which are undervalued compared with their intrinsic value. As of 31 July 2011, the three heaviest geographical exposures of the fund (France, Germany and the United Kingdom) represented more than 40% of the portfolio. Royce & Associates manages about USD38bn in open-ended and closed funds. The Royce European Smaller Companies fund is managed by David Nadel, director of international research at Royce, and Chuck Royce, co-CIO at Royce & Associates.
14/09/2011

Cerberus sets more modest goals for new fund

The Wall Street Journal reports that Cerberus Capital management is curently seeking to raise USD3.75bn for its first major fund to be launched since the financial crisis. This total represents half of the USD7.5bn which Cerberus partly used to acquire Chrysler and GMAC, both of which were severely affected by the crisis.Now, Cerberus is planning to focus on distressed firms of a smaller size, some of which are so small that they have no way to finance themselves on the junk bond markets.
14/09/2011

Alternative strategies boost returns for pension funds

Everett Ehrlich, president of the US consulting firm ESC Company, on 13 September published a report on the evolution of the role of alternative strategies in relation to US pension funds (“The Changing Role of Hedge Funds in the Global Economy,”) Agefi Switzerland reports. With complex evaluation models, the author demonstrates that even a modest allocation to hedge funds generates significant additional performance for pension funds. In absolute terms, hedge funds may contribute an additional USD13bn per year to the major US pension funds and university endowments. The author of the report, former undersecretary of State under president Bill Clinton, says that he is persuaded that “with USD13bn on the table, a growing number of IPs will consider hedge funds at least a partial solution” to the challenges they face.
14/09/2011

New Lyxor ETF released on Euronext Paris

NYSE Euronext has announced that on 12 September it admitted the Lyxor ETF MSCI All Country World Index (FR0011079466), which charges fees of 0.45%, to trading on its Paris platform. As its name indicates, the fund replicates the MSCI All Country World index.The European platforms of NYSE Euronext now list a total of 573 ETFs 671 times. Since the beginning of this year, 132 of these funds have been admitted to trading, of which 104 are primary listings, and 28 are cross-listings.
14/09/2011

Private banks struggle to gain foothold in Asia

At a time when Asia is a region with strong potential, and a steadily growing number of millionaires, private banks are struggling to survive in the region, particularly due to their high costs, the Financial Times reports. According to statistics from the Boston Consulting Group, the cost/income ratio in Asia last year totalled 81% for private banks, and may be as high as 90%, according to figures from PwC. The operating ratio in 2011 totalled 70% in Switzerland, the FT adds. Competition is very intense on the private banking market, where many banks have set up wealth management operations (Julius Baer, Lombard Odier, BSI, Clariden Leu, Barclays Wealth, Standard, Chartered, Rothschild, and others). Clients who for generations have been in the habit of managing their wealth themselves, are less willing to pay high fees for the portfolio models offered by banks.
14/09/2011
Gestion d'actifs

PSB Industries privilégie les fonds monétaires euros pour le placement de sa trésorerie

Dans un entretien paru dans la revue Option Finance, Didier Mangin, directeur financier de PSB Industrie revient sur la politique de placements de son entreprise: Nous avons privilégié le placement de notre trésorerie dans des fonds monétaires euros qui, s’ils offrent une rémunération très faible, ont l’avantage de ne pas subir les contrecoups de la crise boursière. Nous n’envisageons pas non plus de modifier la répartition de ces placements entre nos partenaires bancaires.
Gestion d'actifs
14/09/2011
Gestion d'actifs

La Caisse de Pensions CFF prévoit d'investir 300 millions de francs suisses sur les actions émergentes

Pour sa première allocation aux actions émergentes, la Caisse de Pensions CFF des Chemins de Fer Fédéraux suisses (12,8 milliards de francs suisses d’encours fin juin) a l’intention de lancer un appel d’offres, probablement au travers d’IPE Quest pour une poche de 300 millions de francs, rapporte IPE. Ce montant sera prélevé sur la subvention de 1,1 milliard de francs que la Confédération doit verser au quatrième trimestre. Pour le premier semestre, la CP CFF a affiché une performance de 0,59 % contre une perte de 0,16 % pour le benchmark. Source: IPE
Gestion d'actifs
14/09/2011

Castelbajac repris par le groupe sud-coréen EXR

Le couturier Jean-Charles de Castelbajac a annoncé la reprise de la société de prêt-à -porter par le groupe sud-coréen EXR, déjà fabriquant sous licence pour la marque en Corée. Placée en redressement judiciaire au printemps après le retrait de son propriétaire, le fonds de pension suédois The Sixth National Swedish Pension Fund, la griffe était depuis lors à la recherche d’un investisseur.
14/09/2011

Les gestionnaires de fonds anticipent une récession en Europe

La crise de la dette souveraine en Europe devrait mener la région vers une récession lors des douze prochains mois et la plupart des investisseurs n’anticipent pas une hausse des taux d’intérêt américains avant 2013, d’après l’enquête mensuelle de Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Selon l’enquête réalisée auprès d’un panel de 286 gestionnaires de fonds gérant 831 milliards de dollars, 55% des gestionnaires estiment que l’Europe tombera en récession, alors que seulement 14% le pensaient en juillet. «Il n’arrive pas souvent de voir une constatation si explicite sur une seule région, mais c’est ce que nous observons aujourd’hui», a déclaré Gary Baker, directeur de la division stratégie actions en Europe chez BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research.«L’enquête montre que le moral en Europe est tellement mauvais que le risque de contagion dans le reste du monde augmente de manière significative», a-t-il ajouté.
14/09/2011

Le Portugal optimiste sur l'effet des réformes

Malgré des réformes structurelles difficiles, le gouvernement estime qu’il pourra atteindre ses objectifs et retrouver la croissance, a indiqué Carlos Moedas, chargé du plan de sauvetage auprès du Premier ministre. «Je suis convaincu que nous serons capable de réaliser les réformes programmées. Ce sera le meilleur moyen pour retrouver la croissance au Portugal» a-t-il déclaré. Dans le cadre du programme d’aide de 78 milliards d’euros qui lui a été accordé, le pays doit abaisser son déficit à 5,9% du PIB, après 9,2% l’année dernière. Le gouvernement de centre-droit mène une série de mesures telles que réduction des dépenses et augmentation des impôts ainsi que des réformes économiques afin d’atteindre les objectifs fixés par le plan de renflouement. «L’incertitude persistante entourant la situation des pays périphériques affecte défavorablement le Portugal» a néanmoins déclaré Poul Thomsen, le chef de la mission d’inspection FMI au Portugal.
14/09/2011

L’Espagne sous l’œil exigeant de Fitch

L’agence de notation estime qu’il existe un risque que le pays voit sa note dégradée du fait du ralentissement de la croissance et du retard pris par les régions dans leurs objectifs de réduction des déficits, a indiqué le directeur de Fitch Ratings, Douglas Renwick. «Les risques pour la note souveraine sont à la baisse» a-t-il estimé. Fitch a mis note la note «AA+» de l’Espagne sous perspective négative, alors que Moody’s note le pays «Aa2» et S&P «AA».
14/09/2011

La croissance asiatique résiste

La Banque de développement asiatique n’a révisé que marginalement à la baisse ses prévisions de croissance pour la région à 7,5%, contre 7,8% prévu en avril dernier. Cette révision est imputable au ralentissement de la croissance dans les pays développés, mais résiste grâce à la forte croissance de la consommation privée, notamment à Hong Kong, en Chine, en Malaisie, aux Philippines et en Thaïlande. La croissance en Chine devrait atteindre 9,3% cette année (contre 9,6% estimé en avril) et l’inflation 5,3% (contre 4,6% estimé en avril).
14/09/2011

Oaktree à l’assaut d’un fabricant de jouets

Oaktree Capital Management a lancé une offre hostile de 670 millions de dollars visant Jakks Pacific, dont il détient d’ores et déjà une part proche de 5% du capital. A 20 dollars par titre, le fonds offre une prime de 25% sur le cours de clôture de la cible hier soir.
14/09/2011

Les rendements américains toujours plus bas

Le Trésor américain a vendu 21 milliards de dollars d’obligations à 10 ans à un taux de 2%, contre 2,14% consentis à la dernière adjudication le mois dernier. Les acheteurs indirects, dont les banques centrales, ont perçu 48,5% du total, contre 35,4% en août. Le Trésor avait déjà cédé hier 32 milliards de dollars d’obligations à 3 ans au taux record de 0,334%, et mettra sur le marché demain 13 milliards d’obligations à 30 ans.

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