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16/06/2009

Crisis is good news for infrastructure

Frank Hirschi, manager of the Lombard Odier Macquarie Infrastructure fund from Lombard Odier, says that the first companies to benefit from major investment in infrastructure are companies active in building and public works, such as Vinci and Bouygues in France, or Hochtief in Germany. “Infrastructure operators, such as Abertis or Eiffage, and private and institutional investors in infrastructure funds managed by specialists like Macquarie or Goldman Sachs will profit considerably from synergies and opportunities which will be created by economic stimulus packages,” the manager says in Le Temps.
16/06/2009

High net worth investors adopt wait-and-see attitude

Despite opportunities emerging in various places on the markets, high net worth families are remaining highly reticent to seize them. According to a study by the Economist Intelligence Unit and Barclays covering high net worth Barclays clients, nearly 90% of respondents estimate that there are opportunities on the markets currently, but 68% of them add that the risk of further falls is too high to take on. The result is that a majority of respondents say thay will not be making any alterations to their asset allocations in the next twelve months.
16/06/2009

Vanguard merges two money market funds

Vanguard has announced plans to merge its Vanguard Treasury Money Market Fund (USD6.7bn) with the Vanguard Admiral Treasury Money Market Fund (USD21.8bn), whose fees are lower (0.15%, compared with 0.28%). The merger will take place in early August. The management firm has also frozen subscriptions to the Vanguard Treasury Money Market Fund, which may slow the fund’s declining performance.
16/06/2009

Henkel awards a major mandate to BlackRock

BlackRock has announced that Henkel International has outsourced to it the management of all of its five defined-benefit pension funds, representing assets of EUR2bn. The funds are registered in the UK, Ireland, the US, Germany, and the Netherlands. BlackRock will manage the funds directly or will select third-party managers. For each fund, the mandate will be divided into a liability-driven portfolio (money markets, government bonds and swaps) and a performance portfolio (credit, equities, private equity, hedge funds, infrastructure, and commodities), Professional Pensions reports.
16/06/2009

CalPERS modifies asset allocation

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) yesterday modified its asset allocation, raising its exposure to private equity from 10% to 14% and its cash allocation from 0% to 2%. This is not a long-term strategy but the adjustment “reflects our preference for higher liquidity and moderate risk, and flexibility to respond to challenges and opportunities on the markets,” CalPERS says in a statement. The equity allocation is lowered from 56% to 49%, while the bond allocation is raised from 19% to 20%, and exposure to real estate and inflation-linked assets remain at 10% and 5%, respectively.
16/06/2009

Tobam recruits a director of sales for France

The French asset management firm Tobam, formerly known as Lehman Brothers Asset Management France, has hired Christophe Roehri as head of sales for France. Roehri joins from Fortis Investments France, where from 2006 onwards he was head of the retirement planning and pension segment within the institutional sales team. Before that, he spent three years at Crédit Agricole Asset Management in Paris, also in charge of institutional investors. “This is a newly-created position,” says Yves Choueifaty, chairman of Tobam. Funds from his firm were previously distributed by Lehman Brothers, he says. The new arrival is also a sign of a desire on the part of Tobam to “get closer to French institutionals.” The firm’s client base is currently largely made up of European pension funds, particularly in the Netherlands and Scandinavia. As of the end of May, Tobam managed EUR700m in its “anti-benchmark” product range, based on a quantitative management style designed to maximise the efficiency of an equities portfolio, to use the advantages of diversification. It aims to offer investors access to a more diversified exposure than market indexes weighted solely on the basis of capitalisation, and to improve the risk/return ratio. Choueifaty hopes to be able to double the assets under management by the end of the year or early next year, particularly after the release of a forthcoming new fund.
16/06/2009

Eric Bourguignon leaves CCR for Swiss Life AM

As previously reported by Newsmanagers, Eric Bourguignon has left the CCR group, where he served in a variety of positions from 1996 to 2009. He was CIO in 1996, and became deputy CEO of the firm in 2001. Bourguignon joins Swiss Life Asset Management, where he has been appointed head of fixed income and credit, in charge of the French and Swiss markets, with effect from 2 June.
16/06/2009

Aberdeen Asset Management France founded

On 1 July, part of the traditional asset management activities of Credit Suisse will be sold to Aberdeen Asset Management (AAM). In France, Credit Suisse will sell the asset management firms Credit Suisse Asset Management (France) S.A. and its affiliate Credit Suisse Asset Management Gestion to Aberdeen Asset Management, pending the approval of the French financial market regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF). Credit Suisse Asset Management (France) S.A. will be renamed as Aberdeen Asset Management France S.A. At that time, all French-registered Credit Suisse funds will be transferred to AAM. Some of the asset management firm’s Luxembourg-registered funds will move to AAM, while others will remain at Credit Suisse. Those which are to change management firms will adopt the Aberdeen brand name instead of their current denomination.
16/06/2009

Raphael Kassin leaves Credit Suisse AM

Citywire reveals that Credit Suisse Asset Management’s (CSAM) star emerging market debt manager Raphael Kassin has left the firm he joined in 2007. The reasons for Kassin’s departure and the identity of his replacement remain as yet unknown.
16/06/2009

Sunny AM created

Olivier Ménard, a former wealth management advisor, and Chantal Lienard, a portfolio manager at the Banque Leonardo, have joined forces to found the asset management firm Sunny Asset Management, L’Agefi Actifs reports on 12 June 2009. The creation of the new firm is undertaken with the partnership of OTC AM, an asset manager specialised in private equity. “The director of development at Sunny AM is none other than Christophe Tapia, who was director of development at Tocqueville Finance until recently,” L’Agefi Actifs reports.
16/06/2009

Henry McVey returns to MSIM

Two years nearly to the day after he joined Fortress Investment Group as managing director and deep value portfolio manager, Henry McVey is returning to Morgan Stanley Investment Management (MSIM), Hedge Week reports. He will be responsible for portfolio management and will be director of the macroeconomic analysis team and asset allocation. From 2004 to 2007 he was chief US investment strategist at Morgan Stanley.
16/06/2009

Crisis of confidence in relations between clients and managers

L’Agefi Switzerland reports that a study by the Dow Jones Wealth Bulletin of 150 wealth management specialists, 100 high net worth clients and 65 intermediaries active in the industry finds that, although 80% of managers say their performance was good or very good during the crisis, only 30% of clients agree with this statement. 30% of clients also call their performance weak or very weak. Only one client out of four would be willing to recommend his or her manager to a friend or family member. A consequence of this difference in points of view is that more than 40% of high net worth individuals interviewed by Dow Jones say they are prepared to change managers or reexamine their relationship with their manager.
16/06/2009

Saxo Bank acquires two management firms

The Danish bank Saxo Bank has acquired 100% of capital in Capital Four Management Fondsmæglerselskab A/S, and a 51% stake in Global Evolution Fondsmæglerselskab A/S. The moves are a part of the firm’s commercial strategy, to develop the bank’s activities in asset management, with the goal of becoming a heavyweight actor in the Nordic asset management industry, according to a press statement. Saxo Bank also builds its expertise in corporate bonds with the acquisition of Capital Four, and in emerging markets fixed income and currencies with Global Evolution. The operation brings assets under management at Saxo Asset Management to DKK14bn.
16/06/2009

113 Madoff victims tell their stories

Federal prosecutors in New York on Monday filed with U.S. District Judge Denny Chin statements from 113 alleged victims of Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi fraud, according to the Wall Street Journal, which has also published the testimonials on its website.
16/06/2009

Institutionals express concerns over hedge fund regulatory plans

If regulations being considered by the European Union are passed, hedge funds and managers of other alternative funds sold to professional investors will need to bear a heavier burden for compliance than their counterparts in the retail fund sector. This could outweigh the benefits of such regulations, say UK and Dutch institutional investors in a letter to Charlie McCreevy, European Commissioner for the interior market, read by the Financial Times.
16/06/2009

Assets in sustainable development funds total EUR21bn

According to the Sustainable Business Institute (SBI) at the European Business School of Oestrich-Winkel, there were a total of 294 sustainable development funds in the three German-speaking countries (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) as of 31 Mach 2009, with total assets of about EUR21bn.Five new funds (three equities funds and two funds of funds) with total volumes of EUR60bn were launched in first quarter. In addition, the SBI has recorded the launch of 19 other funds with about EUR865m in assets under management, which either already have sales licenses in other countries, or which have adopted sustainable development criteria. Four equities funds have been closed or merged with other funds since the beginning of the year.
16/06/2009

Analysts doubtful of market efficiency theory

The Chartered Financial Analyst Institute in the United Kingdom has recently asked its members for the first time if they believe in the theory of market efficiency, the Financial Times reports. The result is that two thirds of respondents no longer feel that prices integrate all the available information. More surprisingly, 77% of respondents disagree with the assertion that investors taken as a whole behave rationally.
16/06/2009

Wall Street is hiring again

Mid- to large sized financial services institutions are hiring again, although only at modest levels, the Wall Street Journal reports. Recruitment professionals estimate that the trend is being supported by rising financial markets and a return of investor confidence. They estimate that some companies laid off too many people at the beginning of the recession, and are now seeking to profit from a glut of talent on the job market. The most sought-after professionals are in credit, refinancing, wealth management and restructuring.
15/06/2009

Retour à meilleure fortune pour les fonds français

Selon Les Echos, le retour au mieux s’est confirmé au mois de mai pour la gestion collective française dans un contexte de marchés plus porteurs. Ainsi, après des mois de disette, la collecte est redevenue significative pour les fonds investis en actions et les produits diversifiés, avec des souscriptions mensuelles respectives de 1,63 milliard et de 1,81 milliard d’euros, selon les statistiques établies par Europerformance-SIX Telekurs. Depuis le début de l’année, les produits investis en actions affichent des gains compris entre 4 % (fonds investis en actions nord-américaines) et 12 % (fonds Asie-Pacifique).
15/06/2009

Les dividendes en actions plébiscités

Selon Les Echos, Markit indique que nombre de sociétés du CAC 40, pas moins de 14, et de valeurs moyennes proposent cette année un choix entre dividende en numéraire ou en titres. Une façon de préserver la liquidité en cette période tourmentée. Pour 2010, Markit attend une baisse des dividendes de l’ordre de 20 % à 30 % en Europe, avec des replis marqués dans les secteurs automobile et financier. L’observation des contrats à terme sur les dividendes pour le DJ Stoxx 50 va dans ce sens, suggérant un recul de 29 % en 2010, après 28 % en 2009.
15/06/2009

Lehman : plainte contre Bankinter pour "miss-selling"

80 sinistrés de l’affaire Lehman ont porté plainte en dommages et intérêts pour réclamer 10 millions d’euros à Bankinter, rapporte Cinco Días. Les plaignants reprochent à la banque de leur avoir caché les risques que comportait leur investissement dans un produit Lehman et de ne pas les avoir tenus au courant de l'évolution de ces produits, pour l’essentiel des obligations structurées.
15/06/2009
Fonds

Unigest fait le coup de la "verroterie"

Pour tout apport d’au moins 20.000 euros entre le 16 juin et le 15 septembre transféré d’une autre société de gestion et investi dans son Unifond VIII, Unigest offre au souscripteur soit un GPS Tom Tom (valeur : 98 euros) soit une caméra numérique Sony (102 euros), rapporte Funds People. L’Unifond VIII est un fonds garanti qui renouvellera sa garantie au 15 juin et prendra le nom d’Unifond 2012-V, précise une notification à la CNMV.
Fonds
15/06/2009

BlackRock-BGI sera un acteur important sur le marché allemand

L’acquisition de Barclays Global Investors (BGI) par BlackRock va créer un gestionnaire de taille respectable sur le marché allemand, constate la Börsen-Zeitung. En effet, les deux maisons gèrent actuellement environ 50 milliards de dollars pour le compte de clients allemands, dont 10 milliards dans des portefeuilles institutionnels, 10 milliards dans des fonds offerts au public et environ 30 milliards en ETF de iShares.
15/06/2009

La cession d'actifs a gonflé le bénéfice de la BHF-Bank

Pour 2008, la BHF-Bank (groupe Sal. Oppenheim) affiche un bénéfice avant impôt de 308 millions d’euros contre 91 millions et un bénéfice net de 198 millions d’euros contre 70 millions, ce qui est attribuable à la cession de l’activité de conservation à une société de portefeuille contrôlée par les familles qui possèdent Sal. Oppenheim. Le coefficient d’exploitation s’est situé à 52,3 % contre 78,7 % pour 2007. L’activité de gestion d’actifs a accusé une perte de 12 millions d’euros contre un bénéfice de 13 millions l’année précédente tandis que la banque privée affichait un bénéfice de 20 millions contre 43 millions.L’encours des filiales de gestion d’actifs Frankfurt Trust et Frankfurt Trust Invest Luxembourg ressortait fin décembre à 15,9 milliards d’euros, ce qui représente une contraction de seulement 10 %, dont 6,3 milliards dans des fonds offerts au public et 9,6 milliards dans des fonds institutionnels et des mandats. Néanmoins, Frankfurt Trust a enregistré des souscriptions nettes de 1,5 milliard d’euros. La banque privée a pour sa part bénéficié de rentrées nettes de 4 milliards d’euros.La BHF-Bank indique avoir l’intention de réduire ses charges cette année, et elle n’exclut pas de recourir à des licenciements.
15/06/2009

Des super-riches ont profité des super-loyers de Karstadt

Selon Der Spiegel, l’une des raisons de la faillite d’Arcandor tient aux loyers très élevés que devrait payer sa filiale Karstadt à un fonds monté par le développeur Josef Esch avec la banque Sal. Oppenheim. Plusieurs personnes très fortunées avaient souscrit, comme Thomas Middelhoff (devenu plus tard président du directoire d’Arcandor) et son épouse Cornelie, ou les banquiers privés Wilhelm von Finck junior et senior, Claudia Oetker, Josef Boquoi (le fondateur de Bofrost) ou encore Holger Lampatz, le fondateur de Maxdata. Le fonds encaissait des loyers garantis de 23,2 % du chiffre d’affaires à Munich, de 19,6 % à Leipzig, de 16,4 % à Potsdam et de 14,5 % à Karlsruhe, alors que la «zone mortelle» commence dès 10 %.

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