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02/02/2010

Commodity funds popular in Europe

In November 2009, assets held in commodity and raw material/energy equity funds stood 800% higher than in 2004 at over EUR60bn, according to Lipper. This growth has been fuelled by a tripling in the number of funds available to over 430. Many of the new additions since 2006 have been exchange traded funds (ETFs). As a nation, the Swiss proved the keenest commodity investors in 2009.. The Germans were enthusiastic investors too. In fact all the main European markets, except Russia, reported positive sales of commodity and raw materials funds last year.
02/02/2010

Sustainable investment shows strong rebound

According to statistics from the Sustainable Business Institute (SBI) at Oestrich-Winkel, the number of sustainable development funds in the German-speaking countries in 2009 increased 14%, to a total of 313 products, the Börsen-Zeitung reports. Assets increased 43% to about EUR30bn, following a contraction of 38% in 2008.
02/02/2010

Good prospects for growth in Islamic finance

According to a Standard & Poor’s survey published on 1 February (“Islamic Finance Is Likely To Advance In 2010 On Firm Growth And Widening Geographic Reach,”) the growth of Islamic finance remained strong last year despite turbulence on the financial markets, and may be expected to remain strong this year also. In 2009, assets at the 500 largest Islamic banks increased by 28.6%, to USD822bn, compared with USD639bn in 2008. “We predict that Islamic finance has made a place for itself as a specialised segment of finance, and that its prospects remain very good,” says Mohamed Damak, a credit analyst at Standard & Poor’s, in a statement. A number of important questions remain about the future development of these activities, particularly in non-Muslim countries, which include the scale of demand for Sharia-compliant products, the regulatory and fiscal environment, the support of the financial and political communities, the issuance of government sukuks, and the potential for the establishment of a joint strategy for the development of Islamic finance in Europe.
02/02/2010

Amati Global Partners acquires Noble Fund Managers

Following the acquisition of Noble Fund Managers by Amati Global Partners, the management firm is changing its name, and will now be known as Amati Global Investors. Amati will manage the Noble AIM VCT and CF Noble Smaller Companies funds. In the future, the asset management firm is planning to add to its range of fund products, Money Marketing reports.
02/02/2010

Innovest founder launches a sustainable management fund

Matthew Kiernan, the founder of Innovest, has launched Inflection Point Capital Management, a multi-strategy asset management firm based on sustainable development principles, Financial Times Fund Management reports. The firm has the support of Global Currents Investment Management, an affiliate of Legg Mason, and of Phoenix Global Advisors.
02/02/2010

SGSS wins an Irish mandate

Société Générale Securities Services (SGSS) announced on 1 February that it has been selected by the National Asset Management Association (NAMA), based in Dublin, to provide valuation of several types of derivatives (options, interest swaps, swaptions, caps, and floors). The association was founded in mid-2009 by the Irish government to acquire real estate debt and derivatives from several financial institutions in the country, in order to help them to improve the health of their balance sheets.
02/02/2010

Christian Collin takes over as chairman at Groupama AM

Groupama Asset Management announced on 1 February that Christian Collin, CEO for Finance and Risk at Groupama, has since 1 January 2010 been serving as chairman of the board of directors at Groupama Asset Management. In this position, he replaces Helman le Pas de Sécheval, who on 1 January became CEO of the Groupama regional bank serving the Central Atlantic region. Collin was also appointed as CEO for Finance and Risk at Groupama last month. In this position, he oversees the directors of finance and investments, accounting for the group, reinsurance and guidance, risk functions, internal controls, and group shareholding, as well as the financial affiliates of the group, including Groupama Asset Management, Groupama Private Equity, Groupama Bank and Groupama Real Estate.
02/02/2010

JPMorgan AM France rises back to EUR4bn in assets

JP Morgan Asset Management France finished 2009 with assets of about EUR4bn, compared with EUR3.7bn one year previously. Net subscriptions were largely concentrated in fourth quarter, with commercial success in particular for global convertible bonds, emerging markets, and to a lesser extent, US equities, Karine Szenberg, CEO, tells Newsmanagers. In 2010, the Paris office of the US management firm is planning to foreground products specialised in “real” assets such as infrastructure and European real estate. It is also putting emphasis on emerging market debt, with a fund managed by Pierre-Yves Barreau (see Newsmanagers of 28 August), without neglecting emerging markets equities.
02/02/2010

Credit Suisse passes 3% threshold at Santander

Credit Suisse has notified the CNMV that it now controls 3.11% of Santander, via its investment funds and affiliates in Hong Kong, Monaco, Gibraltar, Singapore, and Germany. This corresponds to a total of about EUR2.56bn at current share prices.
02/02/2010

Gartmore launches a Japanese large cap fund

Gartmore is launching the Japan Absolute Return fund, which will be managed by John Stewart. The fund is an onshore UCITS III-compliant version of the AlphaGen Hokuto, a long/short Japanese equity fund managed by the same manager, who is based in the firm’s Tokyo offices, Investment Week reports. The portfolio of the Japan Absolute Return fund will be invested in Japanese large caps with more than JPY100bn in traded capital. It will have an average of 100 positions. Subscription fees total 5%, while annual management fees total 1.5%. Performance fees equivalent to 20% of performance will also be charged.
02/02/2010

British management firm Artemis taken over by US firm AMG

The US-based Affiliated Managers Group (AMG) and the management of the British management firm Artemis Investment Management on 1 February announced that they have signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of capital in Artemis from Fortis Bank, which has recently been taken over by BNP Paribas. By the terms of the agreement, AMG will control a majority stake in Artemis, while the management of the British firm will hold a “substantial” portion of the firm’s capital, and will continue to oversee its day-to-day activities. Artemis represents AMG’s second foray into the UK: in 2004, the firm acquired Genesis Investment Management, a management firm specialised in emerging markets, with GBP14bn in assets under management. Artemis, founded in 1997, is a management firm specialised in active management for retail and institutional investors in the UK, Europe, and the Middle East. With offices in London and Edinburgh, Artemis manages GBP10bn in assets. The transaction will be completed early in second quarter 2010. For the 2009 fiscal year, Artemis reports net profits of USD59.5m, compared with USD1.3m the previous year, on earnings of USD841.8m (compared with USD1.15bn). Aggregated assets under management for management firms owned by AMG as of 31 December totalled about USD231bn.
02/02/2010

Thomas Neiße (Deka) becomes chairman of BVI

As Wolfgang Mansfeld (Union Investment Asset Management Holding) has completed his three-year terms as president of the BVI association, his successor has been named by the managing board of the German association of asset management firms. The new president will be Thomas Neiße, CEO of Deka Investment (German savings banks). Neiße has been a member of the board at BVI since 2005. He will begin his term as president on 8 February. The board of BVI now includes Neiße, Oliver Clasen (Allianz Global Investors KAG and cominvest Asset Management), Götz J. Kirchoff (Avana Invest), Dirk Klee (BlackRock AM Deutschland), Barbara Knoflach (SEB AM), Wolfgang Mansfeld (Union), Thomas Richter (DWS Holding & Service), Karl Stäcker (Frankfurt-Trust Investment Gesellschaft), and Bernd Vorbeck (Universal Investment).
02/02/2010

Nomura creates an MTF dark pool

The Nomura group announced on 1 February that it has launched NX MTF, the first MTF to offer dark pool services from an investment bank. The platform, founded on 25 January, allows for trading of shares listed on 14 European stock markets. Nomura points out in a statement that NX MTF is the only MTF dark pool to be regulated by the British financial services authority (FSA). Each transaction will be visible on Markit BOAT immediately. These transactions will then be visible via Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters, as well as via monitoring tools such as those offered by Nomura, such as TradeSpex Liquidity Monitor and the Fidessa Fragulator.
02/02/2010

Aberdeen appoints head of European business development

Aberdeen has appointed Hans Benenga to the newly created role of head of business development, Europe ex UK. Rik Brouwer, senior business development manager, succeeds Hans Benenga as head of business development, Benelux. Hans Benenga will report to Patrick Walker, head of European business development. With EUR102 billion under management, the region (Europe including UK) accounts for over 63% of Aberdeen’s worldwide assets under management.
02/02/2010

Robeco strengthens commitment to responsible investment

The Dutch group Robeco announced on 1 February that it has decided to launch “a global, structured campaign in the area of responsible investment.” Robeco will intensify its activism at businesses to incite them to improve their practices, and will also apply exclusionary investment criteria, which will require it no longer to invest in some businesses. With this move, the firm hopes to “set an example and to show the type of responsible behaviour which it would like to see businesses it invests in to adopt.” In the future, firms which are unwilling to take into account the points raised in discussions with the investment firm may find themselves excluded. “We will now be excluding firms which do not respect international treaties that regulate the sale and production of controversial weapons, particularly cluster bombs and land mines.” The names of the businesses excluded may be found on the website http://www.robeco.com. Responsible investment also involves attention to transparency of investment costs, risks and returns for Robeco clients. In the future, Robeco websites will include a ranking of responsible investments (calculated in partnership with Sustainalytics, an independent agency) for each Robeco fund. On the basis of these rankings, clients will be able to decide whether or not to take certain factors into account in the formation of a portfolio. The listings will include Robeco funds as well as funds from third parties. Robeco will no longer advise third-party funds which invest in businesses that produce controversial weapons.
02/02/2010

Two new shareholders at Source

Source, a provider of ETPs to European investors, announced on 1 February that it has two new investors in its capital, JP Morgan and Nomura. The other major partners at Source are BofA Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley. Source has also broadened the group of dealers it works with to include ten firms: Nyenburgh, AllOptions, BancaIMI, Exane, FlowTraders, IMC, LaBranche, Newedge, SG Securities, and UniCredit. Source, which was founded less than a year ago, now offers 41 ETFs, 27 ETCs based on Treasury bonds (T-ETC), and one ETC backed by physical gold.
02/02/2010

Commerzbank liquidates Comas

A spokesperson for Commerzbank in London on Monday confirmed to Newsmanagers that the German bank is liquidating Comas, its fund of hedge fund operation. As of the end of December, Comas had redeemed about 85% of assets to subscribers; these assets were then slightly under USD1bn. The remaining 15% will be refunded in the next few months, as remaining positions are gradually unwound.
02/02/2010

BNY Mellon AM licensed as qualified foreign institutional investor in China

BNY Mellon Asset Management has announced that the application for a Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) licence by BNY Mellon Asset Management International Limited has been successfully approved by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC). The asset manager is currently seeking approval from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) for an initial investment quota. The approval will allow BNY Mellon Asset Management to invest in Renminbi-denominated treasuries and Shanghai- and Shenzhen-listed ‘A’ shares on behalf of overseas investors.
02/02/2010

FTSE and Borsa Italiana launch two indices

FTSE Group and Borsa Italiana (London Stock Exchange group) have announced that they are extending their range of Italian indices with the FTSE MIB Dividend Index and the FTSE Italia All-Share Capped Index. The first of these two funds represents the cumulative value of ordinary dividends from firms which belong to the FTSE MIB index. The product is primarily intended to serve as a basis for derivatives, tracker funds, ETFs and other structured products. The FTSE Italia All-Share Capped index replicated the performance of Italian companies traded on the MTA electronic platform from Borsa Italiana. For the moment, the shares in the index are are capped at the time of the quarterly reviews in order to reduce concentration on some shares which are currently overrepresented.
01/02/2010

Les souscriptions de HCI ont à nouveau plongé en 2009

Après avoir déjà diminué de 8,7 % l’année précédente à 598,65 millions d’euros (lire notre dépêche du 29 janvier 2009), les souscriptions nettes enregistrées en 2000 par le promoteur de fonds fermés HCI Capital sont tombées à 125,82 millions d’euros.Au 31 décembre, l’encours géré au travers de 508 fonds pour quelque 122.000 clients se situait à 5,9 milliards d’euros de fonds propres, le portefeuille total représentant un investissement de l’ordre de 14,8 milliards d’euros.
01/02/2010

Macquarie achèterait une autre division de Sal. Oppenheim

En décembre, Macquarie avait déjà acheté le pôle dérivés de Sal. Oppenheim. Il semble maintenant selon la Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung que l’australien pourrait annoncer dès cette semaine l’acquisition des activités de marché de la banque allemande. Il n’est pas intéressé en revanche par le département fusions-acquisitions.
01/02/2010

Dr. Höller commercialise un fonds éthique en Allemagne

Le fonds éthique Prime Values Green de la société de gestion suisse Dr. Höller est désormais commercialisé en Allemagne. Il s’agit d’un fonds 100 % actions, qui applique un filtre éthique lors de la sélection des valeurs, principalement issues des secteurs des énergies renouvelables, du traitement des eaux et de la fabrication d’eau potable. Ce filtre se compose d’un programme de sélection interne ainsi que d’un comité éthique composé de personnes externes à la société de gestion. Les frais de sousciption s'élèvent à 4 %, les frais annuels de gestion à 1,5 %.
01/02/2010
Fonds

Universal-Investment lance un fonds de fonds d'ETF

Universal-Investment lance un fonds de fonds diversifié d’ETF en partenariat avec Kana, une société de gestion spécialisé dans les fondations. KANA ETF-Stiftungsfonds UI investira en priorité dans les ETF obligataires (80 %), les 20 % restant en ETF actions. La part proposée actuellement est destinée aux investisseurs institutionnels. Elle facture des frais de gestion annuels de 0,95 %. A noter qu’une part pour les particuliers verra bientôt le jour.
Fonds
01/02/2010

Nouvelle fournée de fonds garantis en Espagne

Sur les sept fonds enregistrés par la CNMV depuis le début de l’année, six sont des produits garantis, dont trois d’obligations (un du BBVA et deux de Caixa Terrassa) et trois d’actions, lancés par Caja Segovia, Caja Canarias et Caja España, rapporte Cinco Días. Il faut s’attendre à une nouvelle vague de fonds garantis sachant que d’ici à décembre 2010, 270 fonds garantis vont arriver à échéance (avec un encours d’environ 16 milliards d’euros) : les banques n’ont pas envie de perdre des clients et, de plus, ce genre de produit est rentable pour elles.
01/02/2010

Apax vient à l'aide de Panrico

Sans un crédit participatif de 179 millions d’euros fourni par son actionnaire Apax Partners, le groupe agro-alimentaire espagnol Panrico aurait affiché fin 2008 des fonds propres négatifs de 100 millions d’euros, rapporte Cinco Días. Cette situation a perduré en 2009, précise César Bardaji, administrateur délégué. Les fonds propres nets à fin 2008 (dernier chiffre connu) sont ressortis à 86 millions d’euros, et Panrico a obtenu un engagement ferme de renouvellement de ce prêt. D’autre part, le groupe renégocie sa dette bancaire de 796 millions d’euros obtenus en 2006, plus une ligne de 60 millions utilisée pour l’acquisition d’Artiach.
01/02/2010

Vidacaixa détrône Santander Pensiones

Selon les statistiques publiées par l’association Inverco des sociétés de gestion, Vidacaixa, filiale de La Caixa, a délogé fin 2009 Santander Pensiones du premier rang des gestionnaires de fonds de pension en Espagne, avec un encours de plus de 8,09 milliards d’euros contre 7,76 milliards. Les actifs sous gestion se sont accrus pour Vidacaixa de 16,6 % en un an tandis que ceux de Santander Pensiones progressaient marginalement de 0,8 %.

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