Pour 42 millions d’euros, le gestionnaire allemand Warburg-Henderson KAG für Immobilien a acquis l’immeuble de bureaux et de magasins Buchanan Street 61-79 de Glasgow. Cet actif est assigné au portefeuille du fonds immobilier institutionnel RZVK-Immo-Fonds qui est géré pour le compte des caisses de retraites de Rhénanie (Rheinische Versorgungskassen).D’autre part, Warburg-Henderson annoncé la nomination début juillet de Rena Knöpke comme directrice du marketing, de la distribution et du service à la clientèle. Elle faisait auparavant partie de l'équipe du suivi de la clientèle institutionnelle chez M.M. Warburg après six années passées chez Henderson Global Investors (2001-2007).
Dans le numéro 27 de sa revue Viewpoint* (octobre 2010), Chelsea Financial Services publie sa «Premier League» comprenant 96 fonds bien classés pour leur bonne performance et 102 figurant dans la «zone de relégation» pour leur mauvaise performance sur trois ans au 31 août ; ces derniers fonds (parmi lesquels 24 sont des produits de multigestion) pèsent au total 14,5 milliards de livres d’encours. 85 figurent dans la «drop zone» avec 13,2 milliards de livres.Quant à l’encadré sur la «dirty dozen» (le titre du film éponyme avait été traduit par «Les Douze Salopards»), il met en exergue les six plus grands fonds avec les plus mauvaises performances. Le SWIP Multimanager UK Equities arrive en tête de ce bide-parade, avec plus de 1,1 milliard de livres, devant le L&G Multimanager UK Alpha géré par Barclays Wealth (877 millions de livres). On note trois produits de Standard Life Investments (SLI) parmi les six premiers (3ème, 5ème et 6ème) et un autre fonds Swip en 4ème position.Par ailleurs, quatre fonds accusent des déviations négatives supérieures à 30 % par rapport à la moyenne du secteur sur 3 ans : Elite-Henderson Rowe Dogs FTSE 100 (33,64 %), Legg Mason US Equity 33,13 %), MFM Techinvest Special Situations (32,51 %) et EFA New Horizon High Income (30,55). La liste est complétée par SVM Global Opportunities (26,04 %) et City Financial Str Global Bond (26,01 %). http://www.chelseafs.co.uk/documents/Viewpoint-Issue27.pdf
Après avoir rejoint BNY Mellon en 2006 et dirigé jusqu'à présent les corporate trusts public finance pour la région centrale des Etats-Unis (200 personnes, 16 unités dans des Etats avec 32.000 comptes 90 milliards de dollars d’encours) Timothy Vara est nommé à compter du 1er janvier 2011 president de Bank of New York Mellon Trust en remplacement de Troy Kilpatrick, récemment nommé head of global business development & marketing de BNY Mellon Trust.BNY Mellon Trust fournit des services pour un encours d’environ 12.000 milliards de dollars sur 61 sites dans 20 pays. Parmi ses clients, l’entreprise compte des gouvernements et leurs agences, des sociétés transnationales, des établissements financiers et d’autres sociétés qui ont accès aux marchés mondiaux des capitaux. Parmi ses principaux services figurent la fiducie obligataire, la fonction d’agent payeur et le séquestre.
La fondation suisse Ethos, regroupant 75 caisses de pensions suisses, « est en train d'étudier » sa participation à une plainte collective aux États-Unis contre UBS, suite à ses pertes colossales durant la crise, rapporte la Tribune.
La Banque Sarasin a annoncé le lancement d’un nouveau fonds en actions intitulé Sarasin Sustainable Equity – USA. Il s’adresse aux investisseurs privés comme aux institutionnels et permet de participer au potentiel de croissance des entreprises américaines apportant une contribution à la durabilité économique et sociale, explique la banque dans un communiqué publié le 18 octobre. Ces dernières années, le gouvernement américain a adopté des mesures de stimulation destinés à soutenir les secteurs engagés dans une démarche de développement durable, comme les énergies propres ou renouvelables et les transports publics. Le Sarasin Sustainable Equity – USA a été lancé afin de tirer parti du potentiel économique découlant de ces mesures d’incitation. Avec la densification de la réglementation américaine et le durcissement prévu de la fiscalité aux Etats-Unis, ce fonds domicilié au Luxembourg constitue une solution de rechange intéressante pour les investisseurs qui préfèrent renoncer aux investissements directs en actions d’entreprises américaines.
Selon L’Agefi suisse, Stefan Liniger succède à David McLellan au poste de CEO des affaires de trust globales de Rothschild Private Banking & Trust et devient membre de la direction du groupe. Au cours des trois dernières années, Stefan Liniger était à la tête du département Wealth Planning de Goldman Sachs à Zurich. Il était responsable du développement et de la réalisation de projets de clients nationaux et internationaux ainsi que du développement du secteur de la clientèle entreprises et des intermédiaires. Il doit prendre ses fonctions chez Rothschild le 3 janvier 2011. David McLellan sera nommé non-executive director au conseil d’administration de Rothschild Private Trust Holding.
La société de gestion Castlestone Management lance un fonds «Next 11", qui sera investi dans les actions d’entreprises de 11 pays émergents - Corée du Sud, Mexique, Turquie, Indonésie, Vietnam, Philippines, Egypte, Nigeria, Bengladesh, Pakistan et Iran – «offrant un potentiel de croissance similaire à celui des pays BRIC à un prix plus faible», selon un communiqué. Le nouveau produit sera géré par Arrash Zafari, gérant spécialisé dans les marchés émergents, lequel s’appuiera sur l’équipe d’analystes et le comité d’investissement de la société de gestion. De type long-only, le fonds sera géré activement et sera concentré autour de 30-35 positions, principalement par le biais d’investissements directs dans des actions. Mais le gérant pourra aussi utiliser des expositions synthétiques, des ETF et des fonds tiers. Les actions seront sélectionnées grâce à une approche fondamentale et «bottom up». Les entreprises bien valorisées et ayant une bonne gouvernance seront privilégiées.Le produit offrira une liquidité hebdomadaire. Dans les périodes normales, plus de la moitié du portefeuille sera concentrée sur la Turquie, le Mexique, la Corée du Sud, l’Indonésie et les Philippines, qui présentent une plus forte liquidité et des niveaux de gouvernance et de transparence supérieurs. Le fonds sera accessible aux investisseurs britanniques, européens, d’Afrique du Sud et d’Asie susceptibles d’investir un minimum de 10.000 euros, livres ou dollars.
Selon Hedge Week, la société de gestion indépendante Absolute Return Partners (ARP) va se présenter dans les toutes prochaines semaines sur le marché des fonds coordonnés avec le lancement d’un fonds actions au format Ucits. Le fonds intitulé ARP Global Equity Alpha Fund sera domicilié à Dublin.Les actifs sous gestion d’ARP s’élèvent à quelque 300 millions de dollars.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Union Bancaire Privée (UBP) announced on Monday, 18 October that it has appointed Yves Stein as head of its banking activities in Luxembourg. Previously, Stein served as head of the Private Banking profession worldwide at the Fortis group. This is not the first time that UBP has added to its personnel by taking on a former Fortis manager. On 8 April 2010, Eli Koen and Mathieu Nègre, who joined the firm as co-heads of equities markets for emerging Europe, both came from Fortis Investments. In addition, Richard Wohanka, CEO for asset management and alternative management at the Swiss group, came from the firm which was taken over by BNP Paribas. Several sources say that other management staff are likely to follow in the very near future.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } After joining BNY Mellon in 2006 and leading the corporate trusts public finance for the central United States region (200 employees and 16 locations for US state regional organisations, with 32,000 accounts and USD90bn in assets) until the present, Timothy Vara has from 1 January 2011 been appointed president of the Bank of New York Mellon Trust, replacing Troy Kilpatrick, who has recently been appointed head of global business development & marketing at BNY Mellon Trust. BNY Mellon Trust provides services on assets of about USD12bn, in 61 locations in 20 countries. Among its clients the business counts governments and their agencies, multinational businesses, financial establishments and other firms which have access to global capital markets. Among its principal services are bond debt trustee, paying agency and escrow activities.
AXA Real Estate has announced the appointment of Laurent Vouin as head of opportunistic funds.Based in Paris and reporting to Dennis Lopez, Axa Real Estate’s global chief investment officer, he will be responsible for overseeing the management of all the company’s opportunistic funds. Having joined AXA Real Estate in 2002, Laurent Vouin was previously head of Asset Management in France, overseeing a portfolio of assets valued in excess of EUR13 billion.
The fund management affiliate of Crédit Mutuel Nord Europe, UFG-LFP, is continuing its talks with the Cholet Dupont, with a potential takeover of the Cholet Dupont Partenaires platform dedicated to IFAs on the table, among other options.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } David Einhorn, head of the hedge fund management firm Greenlight Capital, revealed last week that he is shorting shares in the developer St. Joe Co., on the premise that the land the firm owns is worth only a fraction of what the firm values it at, the Wall Street Journal reports. Einhorn became famous due to his bets against Lehman. But Einhorn has found that St. Joe is one of the major bets of another hedge fund manager, Fairholme Capital Management, led by another emblematic personality, Bruce Berkowitz. Berkowitz, whose firm owns 29% of St. Joe, trusts the figures advanced by the firm.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Hedge Week reports that the independent management firm Absolute Return Partners (ARP) will in the next few weeks make its debut on the UCITS fund market, with the launch of a UCITS equities fund entitled ARP Global Equity Alpha Fund, which will be domiciled in Dublin. Assets under management at ARP total about USD300m.
Pressure is mounting among hedge funds as European Union finance ministers prepare to debate new rules for the sector in Luxembourg on Tuesday, according to the Financial Times. The negotiations is due to be discussed at 9.30am, ahead of the monthly meeting of finance ministers. Some hope Tuesday’s negotiations could finally lead to an agreement.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The European asset management association (EFAMA) on 18 October called the reasons offered by the European Commission for introducing a tax on financial activities in the asset management sector “seriously biased.” EFAMA noted that the Commission does not take into account the fact that the asset management sector has not received government support, and that it does not enjoy the security assurances such aid would offer. An increase in costs related to the introduction of a tax on financial activities would probably be borne by the final consumer, i.e., the investor. The phenomenon could result in an undesired distortion in the matter of small investors’ choice between direct investment in equities and investment via collective funds. That evolution “should concern governments, who are seeking to encourage investors to invest responsibly for retirement,” says Peter de Proft, chairman of EFAMA, cited in a statement. EFAMA therefore encourages the Commission to enter into dialogue with the various sectors of the financial industry to ensure that measures are “targeted, effective, and adapted.”
Castlestone Management has launched its Next 11 emerging markets equity fund, which will invest in companies from 11 countries – South Korea, Mexico, Turkey, Indonesia, Vietnam, The Philippines, Egypt, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Iran – with high potential for BRIC-like growth at a lower price. The fund will be run by Arrash Zafari, Castlestone’s emerging markets specialist and portfolio manager. Zafari will be supported by a growing in-house analyst team as well as Castlestone’s investment committee based in London and the British Virgin Islands. The long-only fund is actively managed and aims to hold 30-35 positions, primarily through direct investment in equities; the fund may also make use of synthetic exposure, ETFs and third-party funds. Equities will be selected through a fundamental-driven, bottom-up approach, with emphasis on companies with attractive valuations and strong corporate governance. The fund will offer weekly liquidity. In normal periods, over half of the fund’s holdings will be concentrated in markets, namely Turkey, Mexico, South Korea, Indonesia and the Philippines, that provide greater liquidity and higher levels of corporate governance and transparency. Minimum investment is USD/GBP/EUR10,000.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As of the end of September, legal fees related to the Lehman liquidation totalled USD982m, while 35 law firms, consultants and advisers earned USD49m in fees, commissions and charges in the month, the Wall Street Journal reports.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Funds People reports that Eric Ollinger, deputy director, and his management team at Capital@Work in Spain have acquired the company from its Belgian parent Capital@Work Foyer Group, in an MBO which was approved in early July by the CNMV, and which was finalised on 14 October. The company’s brand name, methodology, analysts, managers, products and investment philosophy remain unchanged.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Since 2005, European equities fund managers have reduced their average exposure to Italian blue chips from 7.3% to 4.3%, Il Sole – 24 Ore reports, citing figures from Morningstar. Midcaps show a similar trend. Only Italian small caps are continuing to do well, with their presence in European portfolios increasing from 5.8% to 6.8%. However, the Frankfurt stock exchange is attracting asset managers: the exposure of funds to German large caps has increased from 10.4% to 15%. The weight of French and English stocks, on the other hand, have remained stable.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } BBVA Asset Management has released three funds of funds with no leverage for sale in Spain, two of them absolute return products, BBVA Evolución V.5 (ES113555009) and V.10 (ES113988036), and one «global» product, Quality Valor (ES114122031). The last two of these are reprofiled versions of funds which were launched on 4 August 1998 and 30 March 1999, respectively, while the V.5 fund was created only on 21 January this year. The V5 and V10 funds, which invest primarily in ETFs, have performance objectives of 110 and 250 points higher than the Eonia, respectively, with average annual volatility of 2-2.5% to 5%, and 4-8% to 10%. The Quality Valor fund, which will be more actively managed (investing in active funds instead of ETFs) aims for the Eonia plys 150 basis points, with volatility of about 4%, but is qualified in the prospectus as having a “very high” risk profile, compared with “moderate” for the V10 and “moderate to low” for the V5. Management and performance commissions for the three funds are 1.25% and 15%, respectively. Currently, assets in the V5 fund total EUR7.05m, while the V10 has EUR42.36m, and the Quality Valor fund has EUR11.39m. All of them are available from BBVA Quality Funds.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In September 2009 and in March 2010, RREEF (Deutsche Bank) and Moor Park Capital Partners acquired the properties in which 948 branches of BBVA and Sabadell had been located, for EUR1.15bn and EUR403m respectively (see Newsmanagers of 18 September 2009 and 29 March 2010). Now, Cotizalia reports, the real estate fund management firms have begun to sell off the properties, not in one piece, but individually, in the case of RREEF, and through small real estate agencies in the case of Moor Park.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Banco Best has now added 27 products from GLG Partners to its range of products, including hedge funds and European and emerging markets equities funds, Funds People reports. The products are available in euros, US dollars and pounds Sterling, and include several strategies, such as alpha and alpha select.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Amundi announced on Monday, 18 October that it has launched the Amundi Funds Multimanagers Long/Short Equity fund, a sub-fund of its Luxembourg Sicav Amundi Funds. The sub-fund, managed by Amundi Alternative Investments, invests in UCITS III funds which use Long/Short or equities arbitrage strategies, as well as volatility management. Management of the portfolio will be undertaken in three stages. The first is analysis and selection of funds and due diligence; the second is portfolio construction and management, with a top-down approach that integrates the scenario and outlooks defined by economists and strategists at Anumdi. The portfolio is then optimised and the various allocations are adjusted according to the market outlooks of the Investment Committee and the constraints defined for the portfolio. Then, in the third step, the portfolio is protected against extreme risks. In periods of market stress in particular, the manager may choose to allocate up to 10% of assets from the sub-fund to funds specialised in volatility management strategies, a statement says.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to estimates from Europerformance, assets in French collective management as of the end of September totalled EUR838.59bn, compared with about EUR828.6bn three months earlier (see Newsmanagers of 20 July). In third quarter, funds saw net outflows of EUR7.18bn, while market effects were positive to the tune of nearly EUR15.95bn, compared with negative market effects of EUR13.88bn in April-June. The scale of the net outflows was considerably smaller than in second quarter (EUR28.l21bn), but in the twelve months to the end of September, the French mutual fund market has seen outflows of EUR58.6bn, compared with EUR50.8bn in the twelve months to the end of June.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to information obtained by Newsmanagers, HSBC is planning to launch six new ETF funds by the end of October, which would be listed in Paris.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Banque Sarasin has announced the launch of a new equities fund, entitled Sarasin Sustainable Equity – USA. The fund is aimed at private as well as institutional investors, and allows them to participate in potential growth at US businesses which contribute to economic and social sustainability, the bank explains in a statement released on 18 October. In the past few years, the US government has passed stimulus measures to support sectors involved in sustainable development, such as clean and renewable energies and public transport. The Sarasin Sustainable Equity – USA fund was launched to capture the economic potential resulting from these incitements. With the density of US regulations increasing and tax regulations expected to toughen in the US, the fund, domiciled in Luxembourg, offers an attractive alternative for investors who prefer to avoid direct investment in US equities.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Agefi Switzerland reports that Stefan Liniger will succeed David McLellan as CEO for global trust business at Rothschild Private Banking & Trust, and becomes a member of the group’s board. Over the past three years, Liniger had been head of the Wealth Planning department at Goldman Sachs in Zurich. He was head of development and project execution for for national and international clients, as well as of development for the business and intermediary client sectors. He will take up his new responsibilities at Rothschild on 3 January 2011, while McLellan will be appointed a non-executive director on the board of directors at Rothschild Private Trust Holding.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Zweiplus bank announced on 18 October in a statement that it has updated its multi-manager strategy. Clients now have a choice between six portfolio providers, the affiliate of Sarasin bank announced. In addition to the three current managers, Lombard Odier Asset Management, Rieter Fisher Partners and Solitaire Wealth Management, come Schroder Investment Management (Switzerland), Bank Sarasin & Cie, and Falcon Private Bank Ltd. “Multi-manager strategies offer highly flexible management, which allows the client to modify the strategy or portfolio initially selected at any time, without needing to change banking relationships.”
The UK’s Financial Reporting Council will on Tuesday publish a list of 68 investment institutions who have submitted to the Stewardship Code, a set of seven principles designed to promote greater scrutiny of companies by their shareholders, according to the Financial Times. 48 asset managers are backing the new code, including BlackRock, Axa and Capital International. Calpers is also among the supporters.