ETF Advisor k, which offers open architecture retirement savings plans, has launched a new product which uses iShares ETF products exclusively, Global Pensions reports. The plan targets fee-based IFAs and trust departments who wish to offer an open architecture retirement platform. The 170 iShares ETFs are available from the plan.

Private equity investor Lone Star has strengthened its investment in Japan with a JPY115.5bn bailout of the first Reit fund to ever to enter legal bankruptcy protection, the Financial Times reports. The move is a show of confidence in the Japanese real estate market. The US fund specialised in distressed assets has been retained as a ?rehabilitation sponsor? for the New City Residence Investment Corporation (NCRI), whose debts in October totalled JPY112.3bn. The other candidates for the bailout were Daiwa House, Development Bank of Japan, and the US real estate fund Oaktree.

This Wednesday, more than 1,400 banks and asset management firms will sign up to a new ?big bang? protocol, which will make it possible for investors to more easily know what would happen in the case of default on derivative contracts, the Financial Times reports. The US market will introduce a standardised pricing system for CDS contracts.

A study entitled ?Compensation Accomplices: Mutual Funds and the Overpaid American CEO,? undertaken by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the Corporate Library and the Shareowner Education Network (SEN), which surveyed voting policies of the 26 largest mutual fund management firms, has found that some of them contributed to excessive pay scales for the managements of businesses. Most of them voted in favour of proposals by the management on the subject of pay at AGMs. Fund managers named as the primary ?accomplices? are AllianceBernstein, Ameriprise Financial, Barclays Global Investors and Columbia Management, while Franklin Templeton, T. Rowe Price and Charles Schwab are regularly at the top of the list of fund management firms voting to limit executive pay scales.

According to an estimate by the Swiss federal social insurance office (OFAS), covering about 1,900 retirement planning institutions, 56.7% of second pillar retirement support pension funds showed a decrease in their coverage rates at the end of March, while 17.8% had coverage of less than 100%. These totals compare with 50.1% and 13.5% as of 31 December 2008. In other words, despite the falling securities markets in 2008 and early 2009, 43.3% of pension funds had a coverage rate of at least 100%, compared with 49.9% three months earlier, while 16%, compared with 18%, had 110% coverage or higher.

Hugo Bänziger, a member of the managing board (risk management) at Deutsche Bank, has taken control over DWS. The position was previously held by Kevin Parker, head of asset management and wealth management at the group, who is not a member of the managing board, and who is now under internal pressure within the company, Handelsblatt reports. The appointment improves Bänziger’s odds of succeeding Josef Ackermann as chairman of the managing board.

According to a survey by International Financial Services London (IFSL), assets in hedge funds fell by 9% in January-February, largely due to USD115bn in net redemptions. In 2008, these assets already fell by nearly 30%, to USD1.5trn, in the wake of negative performance of 15.7%, with nearly three quarters of single hedge funds and 85% of funds of hedge funds in the red, while net redemptions totalled 13.2% of assets under management, with record redemptions in third and fourth quarters. The FISL predicts that assets in the sector will contract again by more than 20% in 2009.At the end of 2008, New York was the world’s largest hedge fund centre, with a market share of 42%, ahead of London, at 18%.The largest managers as of January 2009 were Bridgewater Associates (USD38.6bn), followed by JPMorgan (USD32.9bn) and Paulson & Co (USD29bn). D.E. Shaw Group, Brevan Howard, Och-Ziff Capital Management and Man AHL are next in the rankings, with USD28.6bn, USD26.8bn, USD22.1bn and USD22bn in assets.

Hanseatische Investment GmbH (Hansainvest), an affiliate of the insurance firm Signal Iduna, announced on Tuesday in its annual report that its assets as of the end of December were down to EUR8.5bn, compared with EUR9.5bn one year previously, but that it posted net subscriptions of EUR383m last year. The number of white label funds has doubled, to 62.The manager says that it also doubled the size of its distribution team last year, with the recruitment of a director of IFAs and another for institutional investors. Since then, a third representative has also been recruited.Hansainvest, which at the beginning of the year launched a physical gold fund, the HansaGold (see Newsmanagers of 28 January), is planning to release a sustainable development environmental fund by the end of the year.

iShares (Barclays Global Investors group) on Tuesday announced the launch of the ETF iShares MSCI GCC Countries ex-Saudi Arabia, its first fund to replicate an index of shares from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, excluding Saudi Arabia.The product is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) in US dollars, and has share classes denominated in US dollars and pounds Sterling. The portfolio will include 70 positions. The financial and telecoms sectors represent 68.01% and 12.71% of the index, respectively. The top three countries in the fund are Kuweit (53.59%), the United Arab Emirates (19.68%), and Qatar (16.48%). The composition of the portfolio can be viewed on the iShares website in the United Kingdom.

According to rankings by Expansión relayed in Funds People, 23% of the roughly 350 Euro-denominated money market funds on sale in Spain posted losses in first quarter. It is likely that the number of products in the red will rise in the next few months, if the ECB continues to lower its prime rates. One possible solution would be for managers to lower their commissions, particularly firms which charge more than 1% in fees; the average is 0.72%. Funds People points out that another possibility would be to blend corporate bond issues into the funds, in order to improve returns for products, as some investment grade issues offer twice the return of government bonds.Expansión has identified four money market funds which have posted performance of more than 1% in first quarter, including three products from Ibercaja and one from Bankpime.

Caja Navarra (CAN) has announced the launch of a guaranteed fund, the CAN Siempre Positivo, whose subscribers may receive variable maximal returns of up to 7% per year in nominal terms, depending on the evolution of share prices in Telefónica, Santander and Repsol. If, at maturity in three years, one of these three shares is valued at less than its listed value on 1 June 2009, returns on the fund will be 2%. The fund is limited to a volume of EUR30m, and minimal subscription is set at EUR500.

The deep freeze in recruitments in the financial sector is now affecting business schools. The University of Paris-Dauphine is suspending admissions for one year to its Master 203 program, ?Financial markets, commodities markets, and risk management,? which trains professionals for the trading desks.?The years 2009 and 2010 will be marked by severe declines in recruitments, which may prove lasting even in the context of an economic recovery. For this reason, the University has decided that its responsibility is to suspend admissions of students to the Master 203 program for the 2009/2010 school year,? explains a statement. ?The University of Paris-Dauphine is reacting to the far-reaching transformations in the financial industry engendered by the financial crisis since August 2007,? the statement continues.The directors of the Masters 203 program will be taking the occasion of the suspension of the program to retrain themselves. In 2010, they are planning to open an ?ambitious program adapted to the new situation in the financial markets.?

Bolsas y Mercados Españoles (BME) on Tuesday announced that it has issued a license to Lyxor International Asset Management, which permits it to issue an ETF backed by the new inverse index Ibex 35 Inverso, which in turn replicates the Ibex 35 con dividendos (with dividends). The real-time calculation of the index will begin in the first week of May.BME states that its ETF segment, which opened on 20 July 2006, now has 30 funds listed on it. Transaction volumes in first quarter came to EUR604m.

The HFRX global hedge fund index in March posted a loss of 0.03%, following a decline of 0.38% in February. YTD, it is still in positive territory, at 0.68%.

Denis Beaudouin, CEO of Finaltis, a small French management firm dedicated to alternative management, sees a bright side to the crisis in that it has brought about a spring cleaning of the hedge fund sector. Managers will now need to choose between liquidity and illiquidity.How will the alternative management sector survive the crisis?Beaudouin: The crisis we are going through now goes much further than alternative management or asset management.With that said, alternative management is now in the process of evolving at an accelerated pace. Companies are dying, funds are closing, teams are disappearing. But at the same time, other funds are being born. This crisis has had the positive consequence of taking out those who had no reason to be in the sector, since they brought no added value. In addition to this cleaning out, the crisis has put absolute returns back at the core of the profession, and revealed a rift between managers who suppose this can be achieved only with opacity and illiquidity, and those who feel they can do it while remaining liquid and transparent.At any rate, those who have illiquid strategies and who have maintained higher levels of opacity are disappearing, and that’s a good thing.What is the situation in alternative management in France?Beaudouin: 2008 revealed the limitations of the French alternative management model. The only advantage of the French system, which was based on the depository’s obligation to reimburse funds, is now facultative, since a new ordnance of October 2008. In addition to this, the Lehman affair introduced a good deal of uncertainty.Now, we think direct alternative management in France will be done through UCITS III funds, and not through Aria EL funds anymore. We have also recently launched a French multi-strategy fund that complies with European UCITS III standards, entitled Finaltis MultiStrategies.What is the future of funds of hedge funds in France?Beaudouin: 2008 was marked by the bankruptcy of Aria III funds [many of which were required to introduce emergency measures set out by the AMF -ed]. They will need to reinvent themselves, in the sake of the illiquidity problems which they have had to confront. They will have to choose sides, between liquidity and illiquidity. They will also have to respond to a certain reticence on the part of some hedge funds which saw them leave very rapidly and brutally when the crisis hit. It is possible that some hedge funds will impose minimal thresholds for investments by funds of funds.

The small alternative management firm Finaltis, in which BNP Paribas is the largest shareholder, is launching a French-registered FCP fund, which complies with the European UCITS III directive. The multi-strategy product, entitled Finaltis Multistratégies, replicates the management of a mandated fund created in December 2006, which earned returns of 10.1% in 2008.The fund will invest in several more liquid asset classes, such as equities, currencies, bonds, and commodities. It will combine directional quantitative strategies, (trend monitoring, contrarian investment, global macro) and relative value strategies (volatility and deviation from the average), all of which are managed by teams at Finaltis. The fund will use a dynamic allocation to markets and strategies.

On Tuesday, Credit Suisse announced the appointment of Lim Eng Guan, location head for China market in Singapore since March 2008, as managing director and market leader for Singapore in its private banking division. He will report to François Monnet, managing director, head of private banking Southeast Asia and Australasia. Before joining Credit Suisse, Lim spent 15 years at Citibank.

On Wednesday, a Paris appeals court will announce a verdict on the responsibilities of depository banks in France, in a decision in a case that pits Dexia RBC and Société Générale against the French government market regulator, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) and three asset management firms, Lafitte Capital Management, Delta Alternative Management, and Day Trade Asset Management.The judgment comes after hearings held on 18 February (see article of 19 February 2009), which heard testimony from lawyers for all parties in the suit.Dexia RBC and Société Générale were the depositories for three Aria EL funds managed by the three asset management firms represented, which had Lehman Brothers International Europe as their prime broker. The management firms had also outsourced custodial functions to Lehman Brothers. When the broker went bust, the management firms had to turn to their depositories to request a redemption of their assets. When they were refused, the AMF filed several injunctions against the depositories, requiring that they reimburse the funds, and RBC and Société Générale appealed against these injunctions.

A prudent optimist, but an optimist all the same: ?The worst of the crisis is behind us,? estimates Hideki Takayama, chief investment officer at State Street Global Advisors (Japan). ?Japanese investors are certainly very cautious. Currently, aversion to risk is even higher than in the 1990s, but there are some reasons to be prudently optimistic,? says the Japanese manager. The trauma of the crisis Japan went through in the 1990s is still there, and Takayama finds reasons for hope in the shock treatment the US government is going for, particularly its policy of buying up toxic assets, even ?with very short response times.? Although it is undeniable that the fundamentals of the Japanese economy are not good, large companies like Toyota will need to replenish their stocks. At the end of 2008, SSgA (Japan) was at the head of USD60bn in assets, compared with about USD100bn one year earlier. But the trend has turned upward now, says Takayama, adding that, rather than concentrating on alpha, ?we have recently made some efforts to minimise beta risk, which has been well appreciated by investors.?

InverCaixa Gestión on Monday evening notified the CNMV that as of 31 March, assets in its hedge fund Foncaixa Privada Ideas had fallen to less than EUR2.46m, a contraction of 36.3%. This decline is due to redemption demands on the part of institutionals who invest in other funds from the management firm. Foncaixa Privada Ideas is the only single hedge fund from the affiliate of La Caixa, which also manages two funds of hedge funds, the Foncaixa Gestión Alternativa V6 and Foncaixa Privada Estrategia Hedge.

Les swaps en devises étrangères au profit de la Fed portent sur 285 milliards de dollars, contre 309,8 milliards pour les swaps en dollars annoncés en octobre

Leurs programmes de rachat de titres d'Etat ont eu pour l'heure un effet limité sur les taux

Leurs programmes de rachat de titres d'Etat ont eu pour l'heure un effet limité sur les taux

Le taux de défaut de 6,97 % dans le portefeuille d'une titrisation de Caja Madrid flirte avec le seuil déclenchant la suspension des intérêts

Selon un rapport du ministère des Finances relayé par IPE, le Government Pension Fund ? Global renonce pour l’instant à investir dans des obligations à haut rendement ou de pays émergents qui peuvent présenter des risques non désirés en période de recul de l’activité économique. D’autre part, le fonds mettra «plusieurs années» pour constituer un portefeuille immobilier correspondant à l’objectif des 5 % de l’encours total.

Prime Rate Capital Management, le premier gestionnaire indépendant de fonds monétaires au Royaume-Uni, estime avoir passé une bonne année 2008. Ses actifs sous gestion ont augmenté, atteignant le montant de 400 millions de livres. La société a également créé une gamme de fonds monétaires protégés de type «qualifying money market funds» (QMMFs), notée AAA, qui aurait «notablement surperformé le benchmark dans des conditions de marché extrêmement compétitives». Le groupe a également lancé un fonds nourricier sur l"île de Man, afin de permettre un accès offshore à ses fonds britanniques. Par ailleurs, Prime Rate CM est en train de préparer la commercialisation d"un fonds monétaire islamique, qui serait le premier à correspondre aux exigences de la Chariah tout en étant noté AAA sur le marché financier islamique.

Depuis le 6 avril, Cardif Asset Management est devenu CamGestion. Ce changement de nom s"inscrit dans une politique commerciale ambitieuse, désormais comme spécialiste en gestion patrimoniale de BNP Paribas Investment Partners. «CamGestion a pour ambition d"être le leader de la gestion patrimoniale et vient ainsi compléter les expertises de BNP Paribas Investment Partners», affirme Philippe Marchessaux, Directeur Général Délégué de BNP Paribas Investment Partners et Président de CamGestion.S"appuyant sur 12 ans d"expérience, 50 collaborateurs et 8 milliards d"euros d"actifs sous gestion, la société compte accroître sa base de clientèle : CGPI, banques privées et investisseurs institutionnels. Elle souhaite développer pour eux des «solutions d"investissement sur-mesure», tout en gardant le positionnement autonome «d"une boutique bénéficiant de la solidité d"un grand groupe». Couvrant les principales classes d"actifs, les gérants de CamGestion continueront de viser "à réaliser une performance récurrente, tout en protégeant au mieux le capital investi» par leurs clients. Créé en 1997 à l"initiative de Cardif Assurances, CamGestion est devenu un partenaire de BNP Paribas Investment Partners en 2006.

Selon L"Echo, ce jeune hedge fund basé au Luxembourg qui suit une stratégie long/short axée sur le secteur de l'énergie (traditionnelle et renouvelable), de l’environnement (déchets, eau et agriculture notamment) et des technologies propres, a débuté en 2008 dans la douleur, mais a redressé spectaculairement la barre cette année. Depuis janvier, le fonds est en hausse d’environ 5 % et l'écart avec le marché d’actions continue de se creuser alors qu"il a terminé l"année 2008 sur une performance négative de -19,5% contre -33% pour le MSCI Monde.

Selon La Tribune, Allianz lancerait une marque d’assurance sur Internet en France, dénommé Allsecur. Ce site Web s’intègrerait à « un projet international du groupe Allianz », explique Jean-Marc Paroissien, directeur assurances directes et partenariats Iard d’AGF. Lancé sans publicité, il viserait les internautes de 25-45 ans dans des catégories socioprofessionnelles moyennes et supérieures.

Selon la Tribune, Arié Assayag, responsable des hedge funds de Sgam Alternative Investments, filiale de gestion alternative de SGAM, part avec quinze collaborateurs, avant le transfert vers Lyxor et se met à son compte. Benoît Ruaudel, responsable adjoint, le remplacerait jusqu’au transfert vers Lyxor des activités de hedge funds (HDG) de Sgam AI.