p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) on Thursday, 20 January announced that it has been selected by Lærernes Pension, the life insurance and pension fund for over 127,000 teachers in Denmark, to manage its portfolio of investment grade US corporate bonds. The size of the portfolio is USD271m. It will be invested according to a passive strategy, on the basis of environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria, for the group’s EUR5.5bn fund. The SRI filter which SSgA will use was defined by Lærernes Pension.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports that the German parliamentary CDU/CSU and FDP groups are planning to amend the proposed open-ended real estate fund legislation. They are planning to remove the required markdown on property valuations when properties are resold within 2 years (10%) or 3 years (5%), and to reduce the minimal period a property should be held from 2 years to 1 year, to allow retail investors to make withdrawals limited to EUR30,000 per year, and to lower the maximal leverage level for the funds from 50% to 30%.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Indus Capital Partners will manage the fifth newcits from Morgan Stanley on the Irish platform FundLogic Alternatives. It is a long/short equity product with daily liquidity, which will focus on the Asia-Pacific region.CharacteristicsName: Indus PacifiChoice Asia FundManagement commission: 1.5%Performance commission: 20%
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The British investment management association (IMA) is considering changes to the absolute return fund category, which would add two subsectors for one-year and three-year funds, Money Marketing reports. This distinction would allow funds whose strategies are more long-term to retain their status as absolute return funds. Money Marketing reported last week that the FSA considers the absolute return label inappropriate in its current form (see Newsmanagers of 14 January 2011).
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The British investment management association (IMA) on 20 January announced that the introduction of new clauses in the AIFM directive could be damaging to investors.The professional association is reacting to a call for comments by the European Securities Markets Authority (ESMA) last month.The association claims that the directive is already a highly detailed document. “As a result, we call on ESMA now to introduce useless new terms in the level 2 and 3 measures, and to use directives rather than regulations at this level,” says Julie Patterson of the IMA.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Funds People reports that Vontobel Asset Management has entrusted its bond team, directed by Daniel Karnaus, with a new fund of emerging markets local currency bonds. The objective of the product, whose H share class in Swiss francs was launched on 18 January, with share classes in US dollars and Euros to be released on 24 January, is to outperform the JP Morgan GBI-EM Global Diversified index.The fund will invest in countries such as Brazil, Malaysia, Mexico, Poland, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, Indonesia, Hungary, Russia and Colombia, among others.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Legg Mason Global Asset Management has announced that it has recently registered the Legg Mason Western Asset Global Credit Absolute Return Fund, which is managed by Western Asset Management, an affiliate of Legg Mason specialised in international bonds, with the CNMV.The product is an absolute return product which invests in a diversified portfolio of corporate and high yield bonds, Funds People reports. The objective is to generate returns of 8-10%, with similar volatility, over a three-year cycle.The UCITS-compliant fund, with daily liquidity, is domiciled in Dublin, and managed by Dipankar Shewram.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Rothschild & Cie Gestion has launched R Souverain EuroRecovery, a fund which invests in “high risk” government bonds of the Euro zone, including Greece, Spain and Ireland, Sébastien Barbe, director and head of fixed income management at the management firm, announced at its most recent quarterly strategy committee meeting. The French-registered FCP fund, created on 30 December, will aim to outperform the Euro MTS Global index.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Californian pension fund CalPERS on 20 January announced that it earned net returns of 12.5% on its investments last year. Assets under management as of the end of 2010 totalled USD225.7bn, an increase of over USD65bn compared with their low point in March 2009 (USD160bn).Among the various asset classes, private equity performed best, with gains of 21.5% more than 7 percentage points more than its benchmark index. Equities earned returns of 14.6%, with gains of 17.3% for US equities and 12.8% for international equities. Fixed income has finished the year with returns of 11.6%.The only negative result was for real estate, were losses were limited to 5%, the lowest since the onset of the financial crisis, CalPERS reports.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Swedish investment firm Investor on 20 January announced a net year-on-year increase in the value of its portfolio in 2010, Agefi Switzerland reports. Net asset value, which means the value of investments, minus debt, increased 21% in one year, to SEK167bn (EUR18.7bn) as of 31 December 2010. This total, driven up by increases in the value of Swedish large caps, puts the value of the firm at SEK224 per share, compared with a value of SEK187 per share one year ago, and SEK200 at the end of third quarter. The board of directors has therefore proposed to increase the annual dividend to SEK5 per share, from SEK4 per share in 2009.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Pictet is presently still awaiting AMF approval to release a UCITS-compliant fund of hedge funds, managed by Cristina Bagnoli Mandic at Pictet Alternative Investments (PAI), in France. The product invests in CTA (futures), global macro and long/short equity markets, with a preference for liquid strategies, a major preoccupation of PAI (see Newsmanagers of 15 December 2010). The fund has weekly liquidity, and does not use swaps on offshore funds.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } “Now, tactically, we want to take our profits on equities from emerging markets, particularly Brazil, India and China,” says Emmanuel Bourdeix, head of equities, diversified and structured management at Natixis Asset Management. He points to risk and an overly rapid appreciation of currencies, as well as overly restrictive monetary policies in these countries. The equities specialist prefers developed markets, particularly Europe. In this region, he sees a “catch-up effect,” in a region which has suffered greatly from European debt problems. He predicts that European equities will gain 10% this year. More generally, 2011 “will be the year of equities,” says Bourdeix. For fixed income, Ibrahima Kobar, head of fixed income management at Natixis AM, says he is convinced that Portugal will seek financial assistance in 2011. He adds that the European Central Bank (ECB) is unlikely to raise its rates this year.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The French asset management firm Financière de l’Echiquier on Thursday, 20 January announced that it collected EUR700m in inflows in 2010. It now manages over EUR5bn, an increase of 44% for the year.One third of these inflows came form outside France, largely in Germany, Italy and Spain, countries which are growth areas for distribution of Arty funds, which include equities and bonds from European businesses, and Echiquier Global, which invests in global large cap equities.The asset management firm now manages EUR1.6bn for institutional investors, who represent nearly half of inflows.In terms of investment strategy, the management team estimates that 2011 will be as auspicious as 2010, but that the assets to bet on will be different. “For example, fiscal differences in European states will create opportunities in the sector of outsourcing of public services, and the fall of valuations in southern European countries will also make it possible to buy high-quality businesses at attractive prices,” a statement says.On the basis of these predictions and the stock-picking method practiced by the management firm, its chairman, Didier Le Menestrel, predicts assets of EUR15bn by 2015.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Darren Spencer has been recruited as director, alternative investments for the Americas institutional consulting group. Spencer, who worked for a fund of hedge fund boutique, and was global head of alternative investments at Aon Investment Consulting, comes as an addition to the network of directors to advise alternative investments, which already includes head for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Australasia and Japan and North-East Asia. Spencer will be based in New York, and will be in charge of directing the development and deployment of alternative investment strategies for consulting clients of Russell in North America.
La Banque Centrale de Turquie a abaissé jeudi son taux directeur de 25 points de base à 6,25%. «L’inflation devrait baisser sensiblement en janvier, restant inférieur à l’objectif de fin d’année de 5,5% durant le premier trimestre», explique la banque centrale dans un communiqué.
La SEC a voté à l’unanimité en faveur de nouvelles règles permettant aux investisseurs de recevoir une information de meilleure qualité préalablement à un investissement dans des ABS (Asset-backed securities). Concrètement, les investisseurs pourront voir à quelle fréquence les émetteurs de titres ont reçu des demandes de rachat, notamment pour les actifs liés à des créances toxiques.
Le fonds de pension des retraités du secteur public californien a enregistré une performance de gestion de 12,5% en 2010, soutenue par les actifs alternatifs (+21,5%) et les actions américaines (+17,3%). Le montant des actifs gérés à fin décembre par le plus important fonds de pension outre-Atlantique s’élève à 228 milliards de dollars.
L’arrêt des transactions sur le marché spot traduit le décalage existant avec les marchés dérivés. Bruxelles envisage aussi de renforcer sa régulation.
Les tableaux ci-contre présentent les meilleures et plus mauvaises performances en euros des fonds sur le marché des fonds actions américaines et le marché des fonds actions françaises au cours du mois de décembre 2010. Ces performances sont mises en perspective par le calcul de la volatilité et du ratio de Sharpe sur trois ans d’historique ainsi que du rendement depuis un an.
Le graphique ci-contre montre l’évolution de l’appétit pour le risque, mesuré par la corrélation de rang entre les rendements des facteurs de risque et la volatilité qui leur est associée. Si la corrélation est positive, l’aversion pour le risque a baissé ; si la corrélation est négative, elle a augmenté.
Dans un entretien accordé au quotidien, le président du London Stock Exchange, Chris Gibson-Smith, assure qu’il reste ouvert à de «nouveaux partenariats» dans le futur. Une fusion resterait toutefois à ses yeux «difficile à mettre en œuvre, en raison de la diversité des régulations sur les différents marchés».
La société d’investissement PAI Partners, qui compte lancer une levée de fonds critique, devrait initier la vente de sa dernière participation phare, SPIE, au second semestre de cette année, indique le journal qui ne cite pas ses sources. Le fonds, qui envisageait un scénario de cotation en Bourse, aurait finalement favorisé un processus de vente classique, «qui lui offre une visibilité sur la valorisation» poursuit le quotidien.
Le gérant britannique a subi au dernier trimestre une décollecte de 1,1 milliard de dollars sur ses fonds long only. Il a notamment perdu un mandat d’un milliard sur actions européennes au sein de GLG, acquis le 14 octobre dernier. Sur les fonds alternatifs, la collecte n’a été que de 100 millions. A fin décembre, Man gérait 68,6 milliards de dollars, en intégrant GLG, contre 65,9 milliards en proforma à fin septembre.
L’Agence France Trésor a placé ce matin 2,995 milliards d’euros de BTAN indexé sur l’inflation française à 5 ans (échéance le 25 juillet 2016) et de coupon 0,45%, pour une demande de 6,33 milliards. Le rendement moyen offert est ressorti à 0,55%. L’AFT avait prévu d’en émettre pour un montant compris entre 2 et 3 milliards d’euros.