PineBridge lance un Newcits
PineBridge Investments a annoncé le lancement d’un Newcits d’arbitrage de fusions et acquisitions, le PineBridhe Merger Arbitrage, rapporte Citywire. Il est géré par Lan Cai, managing director.
12/01/2011
Les banques suisses optimistes pour 2011
Selon L’Agefi suisse, un sondage d’Ernst & Young réalisé en décembre dernier auprès d’une soixantaine de dirigeants de banques suisses indique que 58% d’entre eux sont optimistes pour 2011 et qu’ils sont même 34% à juger les perspectives très favorables. Corollaire de cet optimisme, certaines banques n’excluent pas une augmentation de leurs effectifs.Les évolutions actuelles concernant le secret bancaire, un éventuel impôt compensatoire et la transparence fiscale, sont considérées par une grande majorité de banques (73%) comme positives pour l’avenir de la place financière. La concurrence devrait se renforcer dans le domaine de la gestion de fortune, avec à la clef des fusions et acquisitions.
12/01/2011
Chris Ryan prend les rênes de Perpetual
La société de gestion australienne cotée à l’ASX Perpetual a annoncé le 11 janvier la nomination de Chris Ryan en qualité de managing director et CEO, à compter du 14 février prochain. Chris Ryan prend la succession de David Deverall et sera membre du conseil d’administration. David Deverell, qui avait annoncé son intention de quitter la société le 23 juin dernier, restera jusqu’au 4 mars prochain pour faciliter la transition.Avec plus de trente ans d’expérience dans les services financiers dans la zone Asie-Pacifique, Chris Ryan a développé une expertise particulière dans la gestion d’actifs. Il a notamment dirigé les activités de gestion d’actifs dans la région de HSBC, Fidelity International et ING Investment Management. Il avait dernièrement développé une activité de conseil auprès de Citibank. Les actifs sous gestion de Perpetual s'élèvaient à 27,3 milliards de dollars australiens au 30 novembre dernier.
Aviva enregistre deux fonds supplémentaires en Italie
Aviva Investors vient de lancer en Italie les fonds Aviva Investors Sustainable Future Pan-European Absolute Return et Aviva Investors Global Convertibles Absolute Return Bond. Ils seront accessibles aux investisseurs particuliers soit via le canal des conseillers financiers soit par le biais des réseaux bancaires, précise un communiqué de presse.Les deux fonds appartiennent à la gamme Absolute Return Ucits III d’Aviva Investors qui représente 2,9 milliards d’euros d’encours. Avec l’enregistrement de ces produits, l’intégralité de la gamme Absolute Return d’Aviva Investors est désormais disponible sur le marché italien, sachant qu’elle est ouverte à la fois aux investisseurs institutionnels et aux investisseurs privés.
12/01/2011
Une arrivée dans l'équipe de gestion actions de Petercam
Petercam Institutional Asset Management a annoncé, mardi 11 janvier, l’arrivée de Kris Hermie au sein de son équipe de gestion de fonds d’actions orientés vers les stratégies à haut rendement de dividendes. L’intéressé a déjà rejoint Olivier Hertoghe en tant que co-gérant du Petercam Equities Europe Dividend, précise un communiqué. Entre janvier 2007 et décembre 2010, Kris Hermie évoluait au sein de l'équipe «Value - Dividend equity» chez ING Investment Management (IIM).Chez Petercam, il sera, entre autres, chargé du développement des futures stratégies de la société de gestion basées sur les actions à haut rendement de dividendes.
Bankinter lance un fonds garanti
Avec le Bankinter Podium Garantizado FI, Bankinter vient de lancer la commercialisation d’un fonds qui garantit 100 % du capital initial (au 15 février 2011) au bout de quatre ans et pour lequel la souscription minimale est fixée à 600 euros, indique Cinco Días.La rémunération équivaudra à l'échelle 1 pour 1 à l’appréciation d’un panier de trois actions équipondérées (Telefónica, Iberdrola et Santander), pour peu qu’elle ne dépasse pas 65 %. Si la revalorisation est supérieure, le souscripteur se verra rembourser à échéance la totalité de la valeur liquidative initiale.Bankinter ne facture pas de droit d’entrée pour ce fonds dont la commission de gestion se situe à 0,15 %.
BNY Mellon AM commercialise trois fonds supplémentaires en Allemagne
WestLB Mellon Asset Management KAG, filiale à 50/50 de BNY Mellon Asset management et de la WestLB, a annoncé le 11 janvier que trois fonds du groupe BNY Mellon AM viennent d’obtenir l’agrément de commercialisation en Allemagne pour trois fonds (irlandais) de plus. Il s’agit du BNY Mellon Global Dynamic Fund géré par Paul Brain chez le britannique Newton Investment Management (lire notre article du 30 septembre 2010), du Mellon Global Equity Higher Income Fund, géré par James Harries, également chez Newton (lire nos articles des 4 août et 27 septembre 2010), et du BNY Mellon Latin America Infrastructure Fund géré par la filiale brésilienne BNY Mellon ARX Investimentos (lire notre articles du 11 janvier 2011).Tous ces produits comportent un droit d’entrée de 5 %. La commission de gestion est de 0,75 % pour le Global Dynamic Bond Fund et de 2 % pour chacun des deux autres produits.
Universal lance un fonds équitable pour Sarasin
L’allemand Universal-Investment a annoncé le lancement le 3 janvier 2011 d’un fonds obligataire de développement durable géré par le suisse Banque Sarasin, le Sarasin-FairInvest-Bond-Universal-Fonds A.Ce produit de droit allemand investit à 80 % en titres libellés en euros et à 20 % en obligations libellées en devises. Les émetteurs, des signatures de premier ordre, sont aux deux tiers originaires des pays de l’OCDE, le reliquat étant composé d’obligations d’institutions internationales et, dans une moindre mesure, d’obligations d’entreprises.CaractéristiquesDénomination : Sarasin-FairInvest-Bond-Universal-Fonds ACode Isin : DE000A1C2XF8Droit d’entrée : 3,50 %Commission de gestion : 0,65 %Commission de conseil : 0,40 %
12/01/2011
Sal. Oppenheim redeviendra bénéficiaire en 2012
Dans un entretien avec la Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Wilhelm von Haller, détaché par la Deutsche Bank pour diriger Sal. Oppenheim, indique que la banque privée de Cologne atteindra l'équilibre financier au cours de cette année et devrait contribuer durablement au bénéfice du groupe Deutsche Bank à partir de 2012.Le manager indique que les souscriptions nettes ont repris depuis l'été et que le flux des démissions de collaborateurs est stoppé. Sal. Oppenheim a recruté 30 personnes et en a muté 50 à de nouveaux postes, tandis que de nouvelles embauches sont prévues pour 2011.Wilhelm von Haller pense que Sal. Oppenheim pourra fonctionner en tant que plus grande banque allemande spécialiste uniquement de la gestion de fortune, de la gestion de fonds et de la gestion institutionnelle avec 900 personnes (contre 2.200 avant l’abandon de certaines activités et la vente de la banque d’investissement ainsi que des filiales étrangères).Il insiste aussi sur le fait que les synergies avec la Deutsche Bank ne sont pas une priorité et que Sal. Oppenheim continuera d'être indépendante.
Union Investment rationalise sa gamme
Dans le cadre de la révision annuelle de sa gamme avec effet au 25 février, Union Investment a annoncé le 11 janvier la disparition par absorption de six de ses fonds. Cela cadre avec la stratégie pratiquée par Union de retirer des marchés qui doublonnent sur le plan des objectifs d’investissement ou qui affichent des encours trop faibles pour permettre une gestion économiquement raisonnable.Pourtant, Union n’a pas acheté de concurrent et n’a donc pas «l’alibi» de gammes parallèles, comme par exemple Allianz Global Investors (AGI) après l’achat de cominvest auprès de la Commerzbank dans le cadre de la cession par Allianz de la Dresdner Bank à la Commerzbank. Il faut donc croire que le gestionnaire central des banques populaires allemandes a succombé au moins un moment à l’effet de mode en lançant des fonds correspondant à l’air du temps et dont la rationalité économique n'était pas forcément assurée.Toutes ces fusions interviendront dans la plus stricte neutralité fiscale, sans frais pour les porteurs et de manière automatique. Nom du fonds Absorbé par : UniSelection: Europa UniEuroAktien UniMoneyMarket: EURO 2 UniMoneyMarket: Euro UniDollarBond UniMoneyMarket: USD UniEuroBond “XL“ UniEuroRenta Governments UniFavorit A UniFavorit: Renten UniFavorit -net- A UniFavorit: Rente
Brummer & Partners ferme un hedge fund
La société suédoise de hedge funds Brummer & Partners a été obligée pour la deuxième fois de son histoire de fermer un hedge fund, selon Dagens Industri. Il s’agit de son fonds Asie, qui a perdu 18,2 % entre son lancement en juillet 2009 et novembre 2010. Parallèlement la société lance deux nouveaux fonds, indique le journal suédois.
12/01/2011
Henderson acquires Gartmore
The boards of Henderson and Gartmore announced this morning that agreement has been reached on the terms of a recommended acquisition by Henderson of the entire issued share capital of Gartmore. The combined estimated AUM of the new group is GBP78.1bn as at 31 December 2010, (GBP16.5bn for Gartmore). Under the terms of the Acquisition, Gartmore Shareholders will receive 0.6667 of a New Henderson Share for each Gartmore share. Based on the closing price of 138.2 pence per Henderson share on 11 January 2011, being the last business day prior to this announcement, the acquisition values each Gartmore share at 92.1 pence and values the issued share capital of Gartmore at approximately GBP335.3m.Gartmore shareholders will hold approximately 22.5 per cent of the enlarged share capital of Henderson immediately following completion of the acquisition, giving them the opportunity to share in the development of the enlarged business. Henderson has received irrevocable undertakings to support the scheme, in respect of a total of 218,252,401 Gartmore Shares representing, in aggregate, approximately 60 per cent. of the issued share capital of Gartmore including from Hellman & Friedman, Gartmore’s largest shareholder.Henderson has also secured commitments from the key Gartmore portfolio managers, who collectively have responsibility as lead managers for 84 per cent (including sub-advised AUM) of Gartmore’s Estimated AUM, that they will remain with the combined group and that they will agree to be bound by the scheme.
12/01/2011
Former SGAM UK manager joins Investment Solutions
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Rufus Warner, one of the founders of SG Asset Management UK, has been recruited by Investment Solutions, an investment services firm based in South Africa, to head its development in the United Kingdom, Financial News reports.
12/01/2011
ISAM recruits two heads from Man Group
ISAM, the London hedge fund manager set up by Stanley Fink, has hired two senior employees from Man Group, where Mr Fink was formerly working, the Financial Times wrote.Alexander Lowe, the former chief executive of Man global strategies, has joined ISAM as business development director, while Riva Waller, former head of managers at Man, has joined to become chief operating officer.
12/01/2011
Source makes major additions in distribution
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 11 January, Source announced that it has recruited five high-level heads for its distribution teams, to focus on the British, French, and Scandinavian markets, and on the bond and commodity asset classes.For institutional distribution in the United Kingdom and Ireland, Ceorgina Courtenay-Evans, director, who comes from Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Capital markets, has been recruited.For France, Luxembourg, Belgium and Monaco, Pierre Olivier Cohen will be director in charge of institutional investor clients, private banks, and fund distributors dedicated to retail clients. He joins from Pioneer Investments.Kenneth Barner-Rasmussen, who joins from Nordea Bank in Helsinki, is appointed director, and will be in charge of Scandinavian clients. For bonds, James Finch, head of the financial instututions team at Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) in London, joins Source as executive director. He will primarily be in charge of developing distribution of bond products, relying for the better part on the partnership established in December with Pimco (Allianz Global Investors group). Patrick Witteveen joins Source as director, to concentrate on sales of publicly-traded index-based products investing in commodities. He was in charge of sales activities serving institutional investors in Switzerland, Luxembourg and Singapore at ETF Securities, and also spent some time at Type group Securities, assisting in the establishment of their ETF trading desk in Geneva.
12/01/2011
Daiwa Global Asset Services chooses BNY Mellon as depositary
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } BNY Mellon Trustee & Despoitary (UK) has been selected by Daiwa Fund Asset Services, a division of Daiwa Securities Group Global Asset Services, as depositary for its funds licensed for sale in the United Kingdom. Daiwa Fund Asset Services is in the process of enlarging its hosting service for funds domiciled in Ireland as British products aimed primarily at institutional or high net worth private clients.
12/01/2011
New member joins equities management team at Petercam
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Petercam Institutional Asset Management announced on Tuesday, 11 January that Kris Hermie has joined its equities fund management team oriented to income strategies. Hermie has already joined Olivier Hertoghe as co-manager of the Petercam Equities Europe Dividend fund, a statement says. Hermie is also in charge of development of future strategies for the management firm based on income equities. Between January 2007 and December 2010, Hermie developed his skills in the “Value – Dividend equity” team at ING Investment Management (IIM).
12/01/2011
Hennessee hedge fund index up 3.04% in December
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Hennessee hedge fund index gained 3.04% in December, and 10.05% for the year as a whole, while at the same time, the S&P 500 gained 6.53% in December and 12.79% for the twelve months. Hedge funds showed their largest monthly gain of the year, but finished behind traditional equities indices for the year. Charles Gradante, co-founder of Hennessee Group, says this development is characteristic of a market environment driven by momentum rather than fundamentals. Since March 2009, the Hennessee hedge fund index has gained 39%, compared with 71% for the S&P 500. But since the beginning of the credit crisis in September 2008, the index has gained 16%, compared with a loss of 2% for the S&P 500 index. The best-performing strategies for the year 2010 as a whole were event-driven, distressed, fixed income and emerging markets.
12/01/2011
BNY Mellon AM releases three more funds in Germany
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } WestLB Mellon Asset Management KAG, a joint venture controlled 50/50 by BNY Mellon Asset Management and WestLB, on 11 January announced that three Irish-registered funds from the BNY Mellon AM group have been granted a sales license in Germany. The funds are the BNY Mellon Global Dynamic Fund, managed by Paul Brain at the British firm Newton Investment Management (see Newsmanagers of 30 September 2010), the Mellon Global Equity Higher Income Fund, managed by James Harries, also at Newton (see Newsmanagers of 4 August and 27 September 2010), and the BNY Mellon Latin America Infrastructures Fund, managed by the Brazilian affiliate BNY Mellon ARX Investimentos (See Newsmanagers of 11 January 2011). All three products carry a front-end fee of 5%. Management commission is 0.75% for the Global Dynamic Bond Fund, and 2% for each of the other two products.
12/01/2011
Union Investment rationalises product range
td p { margin-bottom: 0in; }p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As a part of its annual revision of its product range, which will take effect from 25 February, Union Investment announced on 11 January that six of its funds will be absorbed into other funds. This is in line with the strategy relied on at Union of withdrawing products from the market which are redundant in terms of investment objectives, or which have excessively low asset levels to allow for economically reasonable management.Union has not acquired any competitors, and since does not have the alibi of parallel product ranges, as do Allianz Global Investors (AGI), after its acquisition of cominvest from Commerzbank as part of the sale by Allianz of Dresdner Bank to Commerzbank. Therefore, the central asset management firm for the German co-operative banks must be understood to have succumbed to the trends of the times, launching funds which are fashionable at a particular time, but which were not necessarily economically rational. All the mergers will be undertaken with the strictest fiscal neutrality, automatically and with no fees for shareholders. Name of fund Absorbed by UniSelection: Europa UniEuroAktien UniMoneyMarket: EURO 2 UniMoneyMarket: Euro UniDollarBond UniMoneyMarket: USD UniEuroBond “XL“ UniEuroRenta Governments UniFavorit A UniFavorit: Renten UniFavorit -net- A UniFavorit: Rente
12/01/2011
Positive bottom line in 2010 for ETF activity on NYSE Euronext
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In 2010, two new providers launched ETFs replicating the Nyse Euronext indices: the German firm ComStage (Commerzbank), and the Portuguese Espirito Santo Activos Financeiros (ESAF). In total, at the end of last year, NYSE Euronext listed 491 ETFs from 16 providers 56a times in Europe (Frankfurt had 761 ETFs), which represents a year-on-year increase of 9.35%: 111 ETFs were launched, while 47 were removed from listing. For the year 2010 overall, total trading volumes for ETFs totalled EUR97.9bn, compared with EUR76.9bn the previous year (+27.3%), while the number of transactions increased 23.5% to nearly 2.27 million. As of the end of December, total assets in all ETFs listed on European markets of NYSE Euronext were up 24.8% year on year, to EUR132.7bn. NYSE Euronext says that the average spread for all ETFs listed was 34.2 basis points last year.
12/01/2011
PineBridge launches a Newcits fund
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } PineBridge Investments has announced the launch of a mergers and acquisitions arbitrage Newcits fund, the PineBridge Merger Arbitrage, Citywire reports. The fund is managed by Lan Cai, managing director.
12/01/2011
Brummer & Partners closes a hedge fund
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Swedish hedge fund firm Brummer & Partners has for the second time in its history been required to close a hedge fund, Dagens Industri reports. The product in question is the firm’s Asia fund, which lost 18.2% between its launch in July 2009 and November 2010. Meanwhile, the fund is launching two new funds, the Swedish newspaper reports.
12/01/2011
Universal launches a sustainable development bond fund for Sarasin
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The German management firm Universal-Investment has announced the launch of a sustainable development bond fund, managed by the Swiss firm Banque Sarasin, the Sarasin-FairInvest-Bond-Universal-Fonds A, on 3 January 2011. The German-registered product invests 80% of its assets in securities denominated in euros, and 20% in bonds denominated in other currencies. Two thirds of the issuers, all of them top-ranked, are from OECD countries, while the remainder is a combination of bonds from international institutions, and to a lesser degree, corporate bonds. Characteristics Name: Sarasin-FairInvest-Bond-Universal-Fonds A ISIN Code: DE000A1C2XF8 Front-end fee: 3.50% Management commission: 0.65% Advising commission: 0.40%
12/01/2011
Deka invests in Marseille
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } For its institutional retail fund Deka S-PropertyFund No. 2, the German management firm Deka Immobilien has acquired the Marseille building Le Patio (8,900 square metres), located in the Prado district, and leased to the Caisse Primaire Centrale d’Assurance-Maladie (CPCAM) and an affiliate of Electricité de France, for EUR26m. It is the first institutional investment for Deka in the southern French city. The vendor of the property is the management firm Custom House Capital.
12/01/2011
AMF issues new securitisation regulations
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The French financial market regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), on 11 January published modifications to its general regulations, laid out in the announcement dated 5 January 2011, which appeared in the 9 January 2011 issue of the Official Journal, which take on board new rules for securitisation organisms, which will eventually replace common debt funds, and which may take the form of securitisation companies or common securitisation funds. The AMF has also published instruction number 2011-01 of 11 January 2011, which applies articles 421-17-1 to 421-17-18 of the general regulations, which lay out conditions and procedures for the issuance of a visa for the prospectus and sales details for financial securities issued by securitisation organisms, the content and distribution conditions for prospectuses, in keeping with article 212-7 of the general regulations of the AMF, and periodical documents published by the securitisation firm, or in the case of a common securitisation fund, the management firm. The AMF has also published a series of “questions and answers from the AMF related to securitisation organisms” (AMF position no. 2011-12, dated 11 January 2011), which responds to frequently-asked questions on the subject for professionals. The issued discussed there largely are related to the role of the management firm, the role of the depositary, eligible assets, offering to the public or the admission to trading of financial securities, and sales of the financial securities issued.
12/01/2011
French government launches consultation on modernisation of UCITS IV directive
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The French minister of the economy, Christine Lagarde, on 11 January announced that a proposed bill to modernise the legal framework for asset management, in order to strengthen protections for investors and savers as well as the competitiveness of products and actors at the time that UCITS IV legislation is transposed into French law, has been submitted to public consultation. In addition to the legal requirements, the consultation aims to fulfil “a market strategy to develop the French asset management industry, set out by the High Committee” on 15 October 2010, the minister says in a statement. In addition to the proposed legislation, the ministry has also submitted for consultation a draft bill which lays out the details of taxation for sales of shares in Sicav funds to non-resident shareholders. These details aim to ensure a competitive tax regime for the Paris industry as host to European master funds. Responses to the present consultation are due by 11 February. The consultation will be followed by a second consultation which will focus on funds which do not fall under UCITS IV, and other French-registered collective investment organisms. It will begin in February, the French government says.
12/01/2011
Bankinter launches a guaranteed fund
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } With the Bankinter Podium Garantizado FI, Bankinter has released a fund which guarantees 100% of initial capital (as of 15 February 2011) after four years, for which the minimal subscription is set at EUR600, Cinco Días reports. Remuneration will be equivalent to a 1-to-1 scale with the appreciation of a basket of three equally-weighted shares (Telefónica, Iberdrola and Santander), up to 65%. If the revualation is more than that, the subscriber will receive the totality of initial net asset value at maturity. Bankinter will not charge a front-end fee for the fund, with a management commission of 0.15%.
12/01/2011
Two new heads at Swiss Life AM
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Swiss Life Asset Management (France) announced on Tuesday, 11 January that new members have joined the management firm: Gilles Frisch, head of the Asset Opportunities management unit, and Anne-Frédérique Cabasset Doyer, head of institutional clients. From 2 November 2010, Frisch, 41, who previously held the position of director of credit arbitrage management at Dexia Asset Management, is appointed to the Fixed Income Europe management department at Swiss Life AM. Doyer, 42, previously worked in the Exane group, where, a statement says, she was active in every step of the sales process for financial products, including management of calls for bids, design of sales assistance tools, adaptation of product offerings to local regulatory contexts, and creation of funds. At Swiss Life AM, she joins the sales team, and will report to Alain Konrad, director of business development.
12/01/2011
S&P upgrades rating of Janus Capital Group
S&P has upgraded Janus Capital Group’s credit rating to BBB- from BB+, with a stable outlook. The asset manager becomes investment grade.