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26/04/2011

Edhec outsources its indices and benchmarks activities

Hedge Week reports that the Edhec-Risk Institute has spun off its Indices & Benchmark activities, with the aim of becoming one of the major designers of beta intelligent indices for the asset management sector. The operation will have offices in London, New York, Nice and Singapore. Two experienced specialists have been recruited to develop the activity in Europe and North America. The new structure will house the existing range of indices and benchmarks from the Edhec-Risk Institute, including the FTSE EDHEC-Risk Efficient Index, EDHEC-Risk Alternative Indexes and EDHEC IEIF Commercial Property (France) Index.
26/04/2011

CNMV approves a volley of French-registered funds

On 19 April, the CNMV registered seven funds and 14 classes of shares in French-registered products, all of which are from Allfunds Bank. They are the Elan Convertibles Europe, Elan Euro Valeurs, Elan Midcap Euro, Neuflize Ambition and Neuflize Optimum funds, as well as R Convertibles and R Obligations privées.
26/04/2011

Haitong preparing a Yuan offshore high yield bond fund

Asian Investor reports that following the Haitong Global RMB Fixed Income Fund, which was launched in August, and a private placement in December, Haitong International Asset Management is now preparing a private placement of a new offshore high yield bond fund, denominated in Chinese yuan, which will pay quarterly dividends, to professional investors in Hong Kong and internationally.Joseph Lau, managing director, says that the fund invests in high yield bonds denominated in Hong Kong dollars, in synthetic bonds, bond denominated in dollars issued by Chinese businesses, and convertible bonds.The new fund has two share classes, one of them in Chinese yuan, for Hong Kong investors, and one in US dollars, for foreign investors. The objective is annual returns of 7-8%, which would result in dividends of about 1.5% per quarter.Assets already total HKD18bn (USD2.8bn), and Haitong’s objective for the product is to reach HKD50bn in assets.
26/04/2011

Barclays WM launches a closed bond fund

On 3 March, Barclays Wealth Managers España launched the Barclays Renta 2015 fund, a bond fund which was registered with the CNMV on 19 April, and for which the management firm is aiming for non-guaranteed annual returns of about 3.5% for subscriptions until 27 May 2011 which remain in the fund until 31 August 2015.At launch, all assets, which are rated at least A- by S&P, will have an approximate average duration of 4.2 years; they will be retained until 31 August 2015, and then sold. The product will invest in repos of Spanish public debt, money market instruments and checking deposits of at least one year with EU or OECD credit institutions subject to prudential controls. The portfolio will contain no securitisations or currency risks.CharacteristicsName: Barclays Renta 2015ISIN code: ES011398400Minimal subscription: EUR600Front-end fee: 5%Management commission: 1%Depository banking commission (Barclays Bank SA): 0.1%Penalty for early withdrawal before 31/08/2015: 3%
26/04/2011

Jefferies to release sub-funds of its Luxembourg Sicav in Spain

On 8 April, the CNMV issued licenses for two sub-finds of the Luxembourg Sicav Jefferies Umbrella Fund (JUF, USD1.05bn in assets), managed by the Swiss affiliate of the US Jefferies group. The JUF Global Convertible Bonds and JUF Europe Convertible Bonds funds will both be available for Allfunds Bank. So far, Jefferies has not applied for licenses for Japanese and Asian bond funds which are also sub-funds of the Sicav.
26/04/2011

Quarterly profits at UBS up

In first quarter 2011, net profits at UBS totalled CHF1.8bn, compared with CHF1.7bn in October-December. By comparison, the Swiss group one year ago earned net profits of CHF2.5bn in January-March 2010.The group announced on 26 April that its net inflows during the period under review totalled CHF22.3bn, compared with CHF7.1bn for the previous quarter, and that the group’s invested assets as of the end of March totalled CHF2.198trn, 2% more than at the end of December. Of this total, CHF791bn comes from the wealth management division, CHF700bn from Americas wealth management, and CHF569bn to Global Asset Management. The remaining CHF138bn are for the retail and business banks.
26/04/2011

RCM recruits a new head of RIFA from Volksbanker Immo

From 1 August, Andreas Witzani, a board member at the real estate fund management firm Volksbanken Immo, will become CEO of the Raiffeisen International Fund Advisory (RIFA), an affiliate of Raiffeisen Capital Management (RCM, EUR31.5bn in assets, of which USD29bn are under management) founded in 1998. He will oversee coordination of institutional and international distribution (outside central and eastern Europe), which corresponds to assets of EUR21bn. Currently, the two CEOs of RIFA are Matthias Bauer and Gerhard Aigner, directors of RCM.
26/04/2011

BlackRock manages the equivalent of Germany's entire annual GDP

In a long article dedicated to Rob Kapito, chairman of BlackRock, Die Welt observes that outside the finance industry, few know the US management firm which became the largest shareholder in Dax companies at the time of its acquisition of Barclays Global Investors and its iShares ETF brand. With assets of USD3.6trn, BlackRock manages the equivalent of Germany’s gross domestic product for one year.Though fate would have it that the acquisition of the Irish firm NTR (see Newsmanagers of 1 March) was announced shortly before the Fukushima disaster, Kapito says that demand for renewable energy is set to increase strongly at any rate.
26/04/2011

Eurazeo acquires OFI Private Equity from Macif

Eurazeo and OFI Private Equity Capital on 26 April announced that they have concluded a final agreement for the acquisition of OFI Private Equity Capital, a French investment firm specialised in majority investments in SMBs, listed on NYSE Euronext, by Eurazeo. By the terms of the agreement, Macif, Olivier Millet and other major shareholders in OFI Private Equity Capital have agreed to sell the entirety of their stakes in OFI Private Equity Capital (totalling 75% of shares nad 79% of subscription warrants), its management firm and its general counterparty partner for the issuance of new Eurazeo shares.The acquisition is a sign of Eurazeo’s ambition to be a powerful player in investment in businesses with significant potential for transformation. The deal allows the firm to consolidate its position on the private equity market in France and Europe, to now cover virtually all segments. The development of a genuine expertise in the SMB segment “represents a new pillar for us for long-term value creation, and will allow us to intervene even more profoundly in the dynamisation of the fabric of Frecnh SMBs,” the chairman of Eurazio, Patrick Sayer, says in a statement.OFI Private Equity invests in majority stakes in SMBs whose total value is less than EUR150m-EUR200m. The firm currently holds a portfolio of 10 firms, in which it acts as a long-term shareholder in the development of each of its participations.
26/04/2011

Sustainalytics sets up shop in Paris

Netherlands-based Sustainalytics has opened an office in Paris, Agefi reports. The group, a specialist in extra-financial analysis for socially responsible investment (SRI) which monitors 150 French shares, has appointed Antonio Celeste to handle relations with clients in France, Belgium, Switzerland and Italy.SRI analysis in France continues to be strong, the newspaper reports. According to Novethic, assets in SRI mutual funds on sale in France rose 42% in 2010, to EUR48bn.
26/04/2011

City bankers continue to earn high bonuses

The Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), which keeps track of bonuses paid in the London financial sector, esimates that bonuses have fallen by 8%, to GBP6.7bn in the 2010 fiscal year, compared with GBP7.3bn the previous year, Les Echos reports. However, the think tank notes that ordinary salaries grew by 7% in the first quarter of this year, compared with 2% for the United Kingdom as a whole. The CEBR recently announced that it estimated that available in comes corrected for inflation would be at least GBP910 lower this year in the United Kingdom due to the government’s austerity program.
26/04/2011

Ahorro Corporación recruits a partner from AFI

Sebastián Larraza, who was previously a partner at Analistas Financieros Internacionales (Afi), has been appointed director of alternative management at Ahorro Corporación Gestión, replacing Concepción Fernández, Funds People reports.Larraza will work with three others to oversee management of the VaR fund range and to put Ahorro Corporación’s plans in multi-management into action, as well as the plans of banking groups which have recently become shareholders in the firm.
26/04/2011

PGGM increases socially responsible investments

In 2010, the Netherlands pension fund PGGM, which manages EUR105bn in assets, increased its ESG (environmental, social and governance) investments from EUR1.1bn to EUR3.7bn, according to its latest annual reports on responsible investment.The manager has undertaken several initiatives, and has sought to evaluate the effects of climate change on its portfolios.
26/04/2011

At the end of 2010, 7.4% of Spanish fund assets had “reduced liquidity”

According to the CNMV bulletin for first quarter 2011, Spanish funds as of the end of December had EUR10.65bn in “reduced liquidity” assets, which represents about 7.4% of their total assets of EUR144bn, Cinco Días reports.Of these reduced liquidity assets, securitisations represented EUR3.26bn, compared with EUR4.71bn six months earlier, while surprisingly, AA or AAA-rated bonds falling into this category came to over EUR4.37bn, EUR650m more than at the end of June 2010.
26/04/2011

F&C adds to Investment Solutions team

Following the creation of its integrated Investment Solutions business in December 2010, F&C has further strengthened the team with the appointment of Nabil Owadally as a derivatives fund manager. At F&C, he reports to Alex Soulsby, head of derivative fund management.Nabil has joined F&C from Towers Watson where he worked as a consultant focused on providing derivative based investment strategy solutions to UK pension schemes. Prior to Towers Watson, he was an analyst at Aon Hewitt.
26/04/2011

Profits up slightly for cantonal bank of Lucerne

The cantonal bank of Lucerne has reported gross profits for first quarter 2011 of CHF59.4m, up 3.3% compared with the first three months of 2010. Net profits totalled CHF44.7m (+0.2%). Net inflows totalled CHF57m in the quarter under review. In total, assets under management at the bank as of the end of March totalled CHF25.5bn, compared with CHF25.2bn as of the end of December 2010.
26/04/2011

Botín family internationalises its real estate portfolio

Cotizalia reports that according to the specialist press, the Spanish firm Luresa Inmobiliaria has mandated the consultants Gresham Down and Knight Frank to advise it on the management of its assets in the United Kingdom. This corresponds in reality of the strategy of the GlanEuro Property fund, which is listed in Dublin and will be renamed Luri 5 UK Property Fund. Assets total EUR74m, and the fund owns 21 commercial properties throughout the United Kingdom.Luresa (La Unión Resiñera Española) is a management firm controlled by Santander, whose major subscribers are the members of the Botín family. There are already four other Luri funds, one of which bought the Astro tower in Brussels for EUR90m in 2008.
26/04/2011

LRI Invest changes depositories

Due to requirements imposed by the European Commission, LRI Invest (EUR8bn in assets) will not be able to continue to use LBBW Luxembourg as its depository. Pending permission from its supervisory authority, Luxembourg’s CSSF, it has decided to retain MM Warburg Luxembourg and Banque LBLux for its current and future assets. As LRI Invest intends to seek out clients from outside the German-speaking countries in order to obtain fund mandates, the choice of a partner as a depository bank fell on BNY Mellon. The migration is expected to be completed by 31 December this year.
26/04/2011

Le Venezuela relève la taxation des compagnies pétrolières

Le président vénézuélien Hugo Chavez a relevé l’imposition des compagnies pétrolières, engrangeant ainsi des recettes fiscales supplémentaires à l’approche de l'élection présidentielle de l’an prochain. Le dirigeant populiste a prédit qu’avec la guerre en Libye le cours du pétrole continuerait de monter et il a expliqué que les recettes fiscales supplémentaires seraient versées dans un fonds de développement social.
26/04/2011

Scottish Widows bientôt mise en vente

Lloyds Banking Group est près de mettre en vente Scottish Widows, a rapporté le Times hier. Le nouveau patron Antonio Horta-Osorio doit donner fin juin les conclusions d’une étude stratégique et cette cession en serait l’une des composantes. Selon le journal, Scottish Widows pourrait être vendue entre cinq et sept milliards de livres.
26/04/2011

Hong Kong renforce la régulation des agences de notation

La nouvelle règle imposera le 1er juin aux agences d’obtenir un permis auprès de l’autorité locale et de suivre un code de déontologie, qui inclut en particulier des règles sur les conflits d’intérêts. Les analystes employés depuis moins de deux ans devront obtenir des permis individuels après passage d’un examen.
26/04/2011

Le yuan atteint un niveau record

Soucieuse de lutter contre l’inflation, la banque centrale chinoise a continué vendredi à laisser le yuan s’apprécier, et la devise a terminé la journée à un nouveau plus haut historique. Malgré des rumeurs en ce sens, la plupart des traders estiment que la Banque populaire de Chine ne procèdera pas pour autant à une réévaluation ponctuelle de la monnaie.
26/04/2011

OFI Private Equity dans l’escarcelle d’Eurazeo

Selon l’accord dévoilé ce matin même, la Macif, Olivier Millet (Président du directoire d’OFI Private Equity), et les autres principaux actionnaires d’OFI Private Equity Capital, qui investit de façon majoritaire dans des PME dont la valeur d’entreprise est inférieure à 150/200 millions d’euros, se sont engagés à apporter la totalité de leurs participations dans OFI Private Equity Capital (soit 75% des actions et 79% des bons de souscription d’actions (BSA)), sa société de gestion et son associé commandité en échange de titres nouveaux Eurazeo. Cette dernière veut voir dans cette opération, d’un montant total de 132 millions d’euros, l’expression de sa volonté d’être un acteur incontournable de l’investissement dans des entreprises au potentiel de transformations significatif.
26/04/2011

Le fonds des retraites japonais va puiser dans ses actifs

Selon le quotidien Nikkei de dimanche, le fonds de gestion des retraites publiques japonaises a l’intention d’amputer ses actifs d’environ 6.400 milliards de yens (78 milliards de dollars) au cours de l’exercice pour combler un trou dans le paiement des pensions. Le fonds d’investissement des retraites de l’Etat (GPIF), dont le montant des actifs s'élève à 1.400 milliards de dollars, est un important acteur du marché des obligations d’Etat japonaises.
26/04/2011

La Chine compte développer les marchés dérivés

Les autorités du pays envisagent de développer le marché de gré à gré des obligations pour les investisseurs institutionnels et qualifiés, indique le journal qui cite des propos du vice-gouverneur de la banque populaire de Chine, Yi Gang. La Chine compte également poursuivre l’ouverture de son marché obligataire.
26/04/2011

Pékin choie son fonds souverain

China Investment Corp devrait percevoir 100 à 200 milliards de dollars supplémentaires de la part du gouvernement chinois, qui cherche à atténuer son exposition à la dette publique des Etats-Unis. C’est ce qu’avance le quotidien de sources proches, dont l’une évoque des «réticences bureaucratiques». CIC a d’ores et déjà alloué les 110 milliards disponibles pour mener à bien sa mission d’investissements à l’étranger. Le fonds souverain a notamment accompagné les secteurs comme l’énergie où les matières premières, fers de lance de l’expansion internationale chinoise. Les réserves de change du pays ont doublé depuis la création de CIC en 2007, à plus de 3.000 milliards de dollars.

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