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02/03/2009

Europe - Inflows of EUR1bn to SRI funds in December

According to statistics from Responsible Investor, on the basis of data from Lipper Feri, net subscriptions to SRI funds in December totalled EUR999.4m, and assets at the end of the year totalled EUR35.4bn. The best results in December were for the Moné Etheis money-market fund from BNP Paribas, with EUR321.2m.Environmental funds, which had EUR12.8bn in total assets under management as of 31 December, attracted a net total of EUR181.7m in the last month of the year, after net outflows of EUR68.6m in November.
02/03/2009

France - Natixis AM is not for sale

Natixis is not planning to sell its asset management activities, Ignites Europe reports in its 27 February edition, relaying reports from Reuters France. The announcement was made by Dominique Ferrero, CEO of the group, at a presentation of the firm’s annual results.
02/03/2009

Germany - Threadneedle has a new head in Germany

Werner Kolitsch, previously country director for Austria and the countries of central and eastern Europe for Threadneedle, based in Vienna, has been appointed head of Germany and Austria. He will be based in Frankfurt and will report directly to Christian Pellis, head of European distribution. In Germany, he replaces Volker Plate, about whose future Threadneedle cannot yet offer any details.
02/03/2009

United Kingdom - Tables turn as Brian Myerson faces shareholder revolt

Brian Myerson, known for his shareholder activism, is facing a revolt on the part of shareholders in his own Principle Capital Investment Trust, who are seeking to unseat him and three other directors, sell off the shares, and redistribute the money to shareholders, the Sunday Times reports. The revolt is being led by the United States hedge fund QVT, which is dissatisfied with the poor performance of Principle, and also has the allegiance of the investment fund EIM, managed by Arki Busson, and of Invesco. At a general assembly on 26 March, they will propose that Crystel Amber Management be designated to sell off the fund’s investments over a two-year period.
02/03/2009

United States - Warren Buffett: ?I was dumb in 2008??

Berkshire Hathaway earned net profits in 2008 of USD4.99bn, compared with USD13.21bn the previous year, and Warren Buffett, the fund’s owner, has admitted that the firm lost USD11.5bn on its investments, the Sunday Times reports. The ?Sage of Omaha? admits that he made ?dumb things? in 2008, one of which was investing in ConocoPhillips at a time when oil was close to its peak: the investment cost Berkshire Hathaway several billion dollars. The firm’s book value per share lost 9.6% last year, its heaviest fall since 1965, when Buffett took over the company.
02/03/2009

Spain - Fewer than 6 million accounts

In February, net redemptions from Spanish securities funds fell to EUR1.13bn, their lowest level since August 2007. There have been continual outflows since May 2007. Cinco Días notes that the rate of decline in the number of accounts has slowed to 57,254 in February, compared with 10,000 in January. This is also the first time since 1997 that the total has fallen below 6 million (5,999,698).
02/03/2009

Germany - Thomas Mann becomes head of AmpegaGerling Investment

The chairman of the managing board at Gothaer Asset Management, Thomas Mann, was appointed on Friday by the supervisory board at the AmpegaGerling group as CEO of AmpegaGerling Investment GmbH, and as a member of executive committee at AmpegaGerling Asset Management GmbH. He will begin in these positions, as well as the position of CIO for both companies, on 1 August 2008, replacing Walter Schmidt, who will be retiring.Jürgen Wrobbel, COO of AmpegaGerling Investment and Ampega AM, will be leaving the firm on 1 April, by a mutual agreement with the management board. His duties will be redistributed to the directors of the two firms. AmpegaGerling Investment had assets as of the end of December of EUR12.76bn in securities funds, and of EUR264m in open-ended real estate funds.
02/03/2009

Spain - 100 ?global? funds posted positive returns in 2008

Cinco Días reports that approximately 100 of the 480 ?global funds? on the registers were in positive territory in 2008. ?Global funds? are a catch-all category (in Spanish, a cajón de sastre) which largely includes hedge funds. The best performer was Bankinter Kilimanjaro, with returns of 18% in the 12 months to 31 January. The fund played the falling markets from June on, with a portfolio that had a continual ?short? position ranging from 20% to 60%. The Renta 4 Pegasus fund gained 7.1%, with a strong allocation to bonds, and a net exposure to equities of +/- 10%. The Caja Burgos Fondo de Fondos Conservator VaR 3, for its part, has no exposure to equities funds, and gained 6.28%.
02/03/2009

Italy - Fideuram adds to staff

Fideuram Investimenti is adding to its personnel, Bluerating reports. Mario Bortoli, former CEO of Eurizon Alternative, has joined the firm as head of multi-management. There will also be recruitments for the asset allocation team.
02/03/2009

United States - Pimco to redeem ARS

Pacific Investment Management Co (Pimco, Allianz group) has announced that it will redeem USD342bn in auction-rate preferred securities (ARS) issued by come of its closed funds, and analysts are predicting that other redemptions will follow in the next few weeks, the Wall Street Journal reports. US federal law prohibits closed funds from paying dividends if their ARS leverage is over 50% of their assets, which is reportedly currently the case for the five Pimco funds (Pimco Corporate Income Fund, Pimco Corporate Opportunity Fund, Pimco High Income Fund, Pimco Floating Rate Income Fund and Pimco Floating Rate Strategy) for which the redemptions have been announced, and also for two funds from Nicholas-Applegate, another Allianz affiliate, specifically, the Nicholas-Applegate Convertible & Income Fund and Nicholas-Applegate Convertible & Income Fund.
02/03/2009

Europe - Pension funds lending to businesses

Major pension funds are beginning to lend directly to businesses in search of credit, the Financial Times reports. ?The withdrawal of banks has raised the price of borrowing, increasing returns so far that pension funds can generate results by lending directly to very highly-rated companies, at a time when returns on traditional assets are low,? the newspaper reports.
02/03/2009

France - Société Générale upgrades IT infrastructure

L’Agefi reports that Société Générale will this week send out an internal announcement of an initiative known as SG TEC, which will unite management of IT infrasctructures for its major professions and affiliates in a single unit. All of the bank’s professional areas, including asset management, will be involved. The IT restructuring will bring the bank savings of EUR100m beginning in 2010, the news agency reports.
02/03/2009

Germany - Irregularities at DekaBank

On Friday, DekaBank, the asset management arm of the German savings banks and Landesbanken, caused consternation with a downward revision of about EUR100m to its 2008 results. According to sources in the finance sector, market traders blatantly disobeyed orders from the management, Handelsblatt reports. A spokesperson for the fim merely confirmed on Sunday that an investigation is being undertaken by the Bundesbank, and that the board has launched an internal enquiry.
02/03/2009

Switzerland - Gottex to reimburse clients

Gottex Fund Management has send a letter to investors in its USD1.9bn Gottex Market Neutral Plus fund, to confirm that some redemptions will be paid out this Monday, and that fees will be reduced for those remaining in the fund, the Financial Times reports.
02/03/2009

Austria - Government investigates Medici president

The Austrian public prosecutor’s office has launched a criminal investigation of Sonja Kohn, president and majority shareholder in Bank Medici, on suspicion of fraud and betrayal of confidence in connection with the Madoff scandal, the Financial Times reports. The investigation comes in the wake of a complaint filed by Gabriel Lansky, a famous Vienna lawyer, on behalf of anonymous clients who lost their investments in funds managed by Bank Medici and placed with Madoff.
02/03/2009

United States - DE Shaw to appoint an independent administrator

DE Shaw, one of the largest US hedge funds, is planning to appoint independent administrators to reassure investors rendered more cautious by the Madoff scandal, the Financial Times reports. The practice, common in Europe, is still rare in the United States.
02/03/2009

United Kingdom - Hedge fund fundraising halved

According to statistics from the Financial Services Authority cited by the Financial Times, fundraising by hedge funds was reduced to 1.15 times net assets in October, half of what it was one year previously. The survey also shows that hedge funds have never had so little borrowing capacity since 2005, when statistics began to be kept.
02/03/2009

Germany - Deka revises 2008 profits down by 57.4%

DekaBank announced on Friday that, due to losses on portfolios of financial instruments now apparent in light of recent information, it is revising its ?economic profits? (pre-tax results by IFRS accounting standards, before valuation of financial instruments) for 2008 to EUR71.5m, rather than the EUR157.9m previously announced (see Newsmanagers of 12 February).
02/03/2009

United Kingdom - RBC concludes acquisition of Mourant Private Wealth

The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) on Friday announced that it has concluded its acquisition of Mourant Private Wealth, the private fiduciary services division of Mourant Limited. Mourant Private Wealth (GBP3.5bn in assets) has offices in Jersey, Dubai, and the Cayman Islands. The details of the transaction have not been divulged. Counting Mourant Pwm RBC Wealth Management has more than 1,000 employees in Jersey. It also has more than 300 employees in Guernsey, and 200 other employees in London, Cheltenham, and Edinburgh.
02/03/2009

Etats-Unis - 30 USD milliards d'aide supplémentaire pour AIG

Selon le site Boursorama, qui cite l’agence AP, l’assureur américain AIG pourrait recevoir 30 milliards de dollars supplémentaires de la part de la réserve fédérale. La compagnie d’assurance s’apprêterait à faire état d’une nouvelle perte trimestrielle de 60 milliards de dollars, précise Boursorama. Depuis septembre, les autorités ont investi 150 milliards de dollars dans le groupe AIG pour le sauver de la faillite.
02/03/2009

Belgique - BNP Paribas/Fortis : dernier round vendredi 6 mars

Selon La Tribune, reprenant un article de Bloomberg, il faudra finalement attendre le vendredi 6 mars pour savoir si «la banque française a, in fine, su convaincre le gouvernement et les actionnaires de la banque belge de la laisser reprendre 75 % de la banque et tout ou partie de l’assurance».Selon le quotidien, le fait que la date couperet ait été repoussée d’une semaine, est un facteur positif pour BNP Paribas qui plaidera ainsi sa cause plus longtemps.
02/03/2009

Autriche - Vienne enquête sur la présidente de Medici

Le procureur de Vienne a lancé une enquête pénale contre Sonja Kohn, la présidente de Bank Medici et actionnaire majoritaire, pour des soupçons de fraude et de rupture de confiance liés à l’affaire Madoff, rapporte le Financial Times. Cela fait suite à la plainte de Gabriel Lansky, un célèbre avocat viennois, pour le compte de clients anonymes qui ont perdu leurs investissements dans des fonds gérés par Bank Medici et confiés à Madoff.
02/03/2009

Europe - Madoff : le droit luxembourgeois plus précis que le suisse

Dans un point de vue proposé par Le Temps, l"avocat Thomas Goossens estime que les textes légaux du Grand-Duché détaillent avec plus de précision les devoirs de bonne exécution et de transparence des banques dépositaires. «La loi suisse sur les placements collectifs de capitaux (LPCC), entrée en vigueur le 1er janvier 2007, prévoit que, à côté de certaines tâches administratives de contrôle des activités du fonds, la tâche principale d"une banque dépositaire de fonds est d"assurer la «garde de la fortune collective». Cette obligation de conservation couvre l"ensemble des actifs du fonds. L"étendue de l"obligation des banques dépositaires de vérifier la réalité des ordres de bourse demeure peu claire en Suisse et dépend surtout de l"examen de l"ensemble des circonstances. En revanche, le Tribunal fédéral s"est à maintes reprises penché sur le devoir de surveillance des dépositaires dans les contrats bancaires dits «execution only», retenant que «le banquier n"est pas le tuteur de son client». Il ne saurait donc être exclu que le Tribunal fédéral fasse preuve de la même retenue dans l"examen de la responsabilité de banques dépositaires concernées par des scandales de type Madoff», écrit Thomas Goossens.
02/03/2009

Etats-Unis - Warren Buffett : "J'ai fait des idioties en 2008"

Berkshire Hathaway a réalisé pour 2008 un bénéfice net de 4,99 milliards contre 13,21 milliards et Warren Buffett, son propriétaire, a reconnu que l’entreprise a perdu 11,5 milliards de dollars sur ses investissements, indique The Sunday Times. Le #sage d’Omaha# reconnaît avoir #fait des idioties# en 2008, notamment un investissement dans ConocoPhillips au moment où le pétrole était proche de son plus haut : cet investissement a coûté plusieurs milliards de dollars à Berkshire Hathaway dont la valeur comptable par action a diminué de 9,6 % l’an dernier, ce qui est la plus forte baisse depuis 1965, année où Warren Buffett a pris le contrôle de la société.
02/03/2009

Etats-Unis - Pimco va rembourser des ARS

Pacific Investment Management Co (Pimco, groupe Allianz) a indiqué qu’il va rembourser 342 millions de dollars de ses auction rate preferred securities (ARS) émis par certains de ses fonds fermés, et les analystes s’attendent à d’autres remboursements dans les prochaines semaines, indique The Wall Street Journal. La loi fédérale interdit en effet aux fonds fermés de verser des dividendes si leur effet de levier en ARS est supérieur à 50 % de leurs encours, ce qui est le cas actuellement pour les cinq fonds Pimco (Pimco Corporate Income Fund, Pimco Corporate Opportunity Fund, Pimco High Income Fund, Pimco Floating Rate Income Fund et Pimco Floating Rate Strategy) pour lesquels les remboursements ont été annoncés, mais aussi pour deux fonds Nicholas-Applegate, une autre filiale d’Allianz. Il s’agit des fonds Nicholas-Applegate Convertible & Income Fund et Nicholas-Applegate Convertible & Income Fund.
02/03/2009

Etats-Unis - Dividende inchangé pour BlackRock

BlackRock Inc a annoncé vendredi qu’il servira un dividende trimestriel de 78 cents par action ordinaire, inchangé par rapport à celui distribué l’an dernier, aux actionnaires enregistrés à la clôture du 9 mars.D’autre part, le gestionnaire d’actifs, dont l’encours à fin décembre se montait à 1.307 milliards de dollars contre 1.357 milliards un an auparavant, a fait état de deux changements au sein de son board of directors, suite aux démissions de John A. Thain et de Gregory J. Fleming, les anciens dirigeants de Merrill Lynch. Les personnalités retenues sont d’une part Abdlatif Y. Al-Hamad, Director General and Chairman du Board of Directors de l’Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, et de l’autre de Brian T. Moynihan, President of Global Banking and Wealth Management de Bank of America Corporation (?BAC?).

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