Les pays développés ont réduit leurs réserves en devises émergentes avant juin
Les réserves en devises émergentes détenues par les banques centrales des pays développés ont fondu de 29% au cours du deuxième trimestre
La valeur intrinsèque de l'or
Pour l’or et l’argent, les stocks représentent des décennies de demande et les prix évoluent assez indépendamment de ce ratio
Unéo étudie différents projets d'investissements immobiliers
Dans l’immobilier, Unéo a historiquement investi dans du « papier » (foncières) et a commencé à se diversifier il y a deux ans. En 2011, l’institution a investi dans une SCPI ciblant des bureaux, puis en avril 2012, dans un OPCI Santé (EHPAD et hôpitaux). En fin d’année dernière, nous avons monté une SCI et réalisé fin janvier 2013 un premier investissement en direct, dans des murs d’hôtels révèle Pascal Pigot, le directeur général adjoint de la mutuelle. Son choix pour un hôtel Mercure situé à Toulouse s’est imposé en raison d’un emplacement avantageux (clientèle récurrente composée de salariés d’EADS) assurant des revenus équilibrés et sécurisés. Unéo étudie d’autres projets d’investissements immobiliers, notamment dans un fonds investissant dans des murs d’hôtels et dans leurs fonds de commerce. Il s’agit d’hôtels situés à Paris, classés 3 étoiles, qui sont rénovés pour évoluer en 4 étoiles.
L'UMR étudie une opération en direct de placement privé
Philippe Rey, directeur des investissements de l’Union Mutualiste Retraite (UMR) dans un article publié par option Finance : Aujourd’hui nous détenons moins de 5% en emprunts d’Etats. Les corporates représentent donc 95% dont la moitié provient d’institutions financières assurances et banques). Nos placements sont effectués uniquement en euros sur des émetteurs issus de la zone OCDE. Pour obtenir du rendement, nous avons participé à des placements privés et notamment dans les EI françaises. Ces dernières offrent en effet des primes d’illiquidité et parfois de primo accédant très intéressant, ce qui nous permet d’aller capturer des taux supérieurs à 5% et des maturités supérieures à 12 ans. Ces émissions nous offrent également la possibilité de diversifier le nombre de nos émetteurs en portefeuille. Egamo est en train d'étudier une opération en direct pour notre compte dans le cadre du mandat que nous lui avons confié. Nous sommes coutumier du fait puisque l’an passé, nous avions participé au premier fonds de place Micado qui regroupait une vingtaine de placements privés d’ETI dans un portefeuille offrant un rendement moyen de 5.75%. Par contre nous n’avons pas investi dans le deuxième fonds Micado, lancé cette année, car les rendements proposés s'élevaient seulement autour de 4.6%.
Le gouvernement Letta sort renforcé du vote de confiance
Le gouvernement d’Enrico Letta a obtenu mercredi la confiance du Sénat par 235 voix contre 70, un scrutin marquant l'échec de la stratégie de rupture préconisée par Silvio Berlusconi. Face à la fronde d’une partie des parlementaires de son parti, le Peuple de la liberté (PDL, centre droit), «Il Cavaliere» a finalement décidéde faire volte-face et de voter la confiance au «governissimo» en place depuis fin avril, qu’il jurait pourtant d’abattre depuis samedi. L’indice de la Bourse de Milan poursuivait mercredi le rebond entamé hier, avec les valeurs bancaires en vedette. Les taux italiens, qui s'étaient déjà détendus, ont peu réagi au résultat du vote.
Le FMI publie deux chapitres de son rapport de stabilité financière
Le Fonds monétaire international a dévoilé deux chapitres de son rapport mondial sur la stabilité financière. Le premier s’intéresse aux politiques de relance du crédit, avec les risques que cela comporte. Le deuxième chapitre étudie l'évolution des structures de financement des banques depuis le début de la crise financière.
L'administrateur de fonds Alter Domus s'implante en France
La société luxembourgeoise Alter Domus, spécialisée dans les services d’administration de fonds pour les sociétés de gestion en capital investissement et en actifs immobiliers a annoncé mercredi l’extension de ses activités via la mise en place d’une nouvelle entité en France.
L'euro monte après les déclarations de Mario Draghi
L’euro a franchi brièvement la barre des 1,36 face au dollar lors de la conférence de MArio Draghi qui a suivi la réunion de la politique monétaire. Interrogé sur le regain de vigueur de l’euro, Mario Draghi a rappelé que la BCE n’avait aucun objectif de taux de change mais que l'évolution de l’euro était «importante pour la croissance et la stabilité des prix, et nous sommes certainement attentifs à ces évolutions».
ING IM change de nom
A l’occasion du changement de nom programmé de sa branche assurance, qui coiffe aussi la gestion d’actifs, ING a annoncé mercredi que sa filiale ING IM serait rebaptisée NN Investment Partners. ING Insurance prendra le nom «NN». Le bancassureur néerlandais secouru par les Pays-Bas en 2008 s’est engagé à vendre ING Insurance, par le biais d’une introduction en Bourse prévue en 2014.
Mario Draghi exhorte Paris à davantage de discipline budgétaire
Le patron de la BCE, qui a laissé ses taux inchangés, souligne que les déficits publics français sont supérieurs à la procédure de déficit excessif
02/10/2013
Santander captures 44.2% of Spanish net subscriptions
In September, Spanish asset management firms posted net inflows of EUR1.41985bn, according to statistics from their association, Inverco. Of this total, EUR627.27m were captured by Santadner AM alone, 44.2% of the total, Funds People says.With the addition of EUR198.14m in inflows to InverCaixa Gestión and EUR152.5m to BBVA AM, the top three posted net subscriptions equivalent to 68.9% of total net inflows to all Spanish asset managers.
02/10/2013
Deutsche AWM plans to add to wealth management in Spain
Currently, the high net worth network at Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management in Spain includes 27 advisers. By the end of 2014, it will have 18 more, Funds People was told by Pilar Cordón, director of financial intermediaries in the wealth management division for Spain. The idea is to capitalise on the image of the “serious and solid German bank” to attract talent.As of the end of 2012, the local network of wealth managers had EUR650m in assets under management (this total has doubled in the past 2-3 years), equivalent to 16% of DeAWM assets in Spain.
02/10/2013
HSBC launches 16 ETFs in Frankfurt
Since 27 September, 16 new German-registered ETFs from HSBC have been admitted to trading on the XTF segment of the Xetra platform (Deutsche Börse). The funds, which charge from 0.35% to 0.60% (see attached list) replicate cap-size-weighted geographical indices (countries and regions) of the MSCI, as well as the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT index.
02/10/2013
ESMA clarifies reporting obligations for alternative management
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) on October 1 published final guidelines on the reporting obligations for alternative investment fund managers (AIFMs).ESMA has also published an Opinion that proposes introducing additional periodic reporting including such information as Value-at-Risk of AIFs or the number of transactions carried out using high frequency algorithmic trading techniques.
02/10/2013
RWC registers with SEC
UK-based RWC Partners has announced that it has registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as an investment adviser in the United States, following an increase in its assets to USD6.8bn from USD5.2bn earlier this year, and strong demand from US clients, particularly institutional clients, for income strategies, convertible bonds and Euorpean long/short, as well as for “constructive activist” funds.Registration with the SEC also provides access to assets in ERISA retirement savings plans.
02/10/2013
Settlement with JPMorgan stumbles over Washington Mutual
A settlement for about USD11bn, or EUR8.1bn, which JPMorgan Chase & Co had been seeking with the US authorities over lawsuits concerning it has been suspended over a disagreement concerning its affiliate Washington Mutual, it was learned on Monday evening from sources close to the talks, the news agency Reuters reports. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) sold Washington Mutual to JPMorgan at the peak of the crisis for USD1.9bn, and the two parties have since been disputing responsibility for losses at the businesses related to sales of mortgage assets. According to some analysts, the FDIC may find itself in trouble with this case, to the advantage of JPMorgan, whose fine will be reduced by several billion dollars.
02/10/2013
Wells Fargo pays USD869m to settle a lawsuit with Freddie Mac
The US bank Wells Fargo has announced that it will pay USD869m to settle most of its legal disputes with the para-public mortgage refinancing body Freddie Mac. The agreement allows Wells Fargo to “substantially resolve” lawsuits dealing with mortgages that were transferred to Freddie mac before 1 January 2009, according to a statement released by the California bank. The largest US bank by market capitalisation, Wells Fargo is also the top real estate lender in the country, since its acquisition of Wachovia, at the peak of the sub-prime crisis.
02/10/2013
Nordea severs ties with Tokio AM
Nordea has replaced Tokio Marine Asset Management International (TMAI), a firm based in Singapore, with an internal team to manage an Asian equity fund, Citywire Global can exclusively reveal. The Scandinavian asset management firm explains that the collaboration did not live up to its promises. The Nordea 1- Far Eastern Equity fund had been managed by Chow Wei Lee, CIO of Tokio Marine AM, since 2011. From 30 October this year, it will be managed by the International Focus Equities team at Nordea. In the past three years, the fund has earned returns of 5.03%, while its Citywire benchmark index, the FTSE World Asia Pacific ex Japan TR USD, gained 28.14%.
02/10/2013
Transparency at the heart of fund selectors' strategy
Across Europe, investment philosophy, transparency, and due diligence process are the three most important criteria to getting a foothold on a selector’s buy list. While fund selectors almost unanimously agree that a portfolio manager’s ability to articulate its investment philosophy is the most important criteria for selection, this cannot be achieved without transparency, according to Cerulli’s inaugural European Fund Selector report.Large strides to improve access to data and improve transparency have been made, yet in Cerulli’s proprietary survey fund selectors marked it as a key decision point. «Although the larger asset managers and selectors have tight-knit relationships, smaller managers may lack the resources to be reactive to a selector’s requests. Conversely, a less well-equipped fund selector will discount funds from a buy list if immediate data and portfolio manager access is not granted as they struggle to cover a requisite number of managers for their clients,» says Philip Holton, analyst, and one of the authors of the report.In particular, Swiss selectors are most sensitive to transparency as a criterion. A total of 73% of Swiss selectors reported it as their most important selection criterion. As pressure mounts on Swiss distributors to provide information to regulators, asset managers will need to be aligned to this move.
02/10/2013
TCW acquires Craton Equity Partners
TCW (USD130bn in assets), recently acquired by Carlyle from Société Générale, on 1 October announced that it is acquiring Craton Equity Partners, a Los Angeles-based private equity investor specialised in socially responsible investment.Craton (USD241.5m in assets) was founded in 2006, and invests in small and weak businesses which need capital, which are generally businesses that are active in areas where they receive neither tax credits, nor public subsidies.The sale price has not been disclosed. All employees of TCW/Craton will be transferred to the TCW premises in Los Angeles.Bob McDonald and Tom Soto, managing partners at Craton, will become managing directors at TCW/Craton, while Kevin Wall, also a managing partner, becomes senior advisor, and Davis Asamow, a partner at Craton, will become vice president and chief investment officer at TCW/Craton.
02/10/2013
Gilles Guérin leaves Theam
In the new organisation at BNP Paribas IP revealed last week by Newsmanagers, Gilles Guérin, who had been head of the Theam unit dedicated to structured product activities, quantitative, index-based and alternative management since its inception in 2011, will give way to Denis Panel, currently head of investment activities, Agefi reports. Guérin is leaving Theam to join the incubation activities at BNP Paribas IP, which the group has been carrying out primarily in the United States since 2009 in partnership with Northern Lights Venture.
02/10/2013
Financière de l’Echiquier: 45% of assets attracted from institutionals
Financière de l’Echiquier, whose assets under management have recently topped EUR7bn, now has EUR3.2bn in assets under management for institutional investors, equivalent to 45% of its total assets. In five years, a statement says, the firm has boosted its assets under management for institutional investors from less than one quarter of assets under management to nearly half. The team has won management mandates from the Norwegian pension fund (NBIM) and the French Fonds de Réserve pour les Retraites (FRR). It has a team of four professionals entirely dedicated to institutional clients, led by Nathalie Sabathier, who comes as an addition to the team dedicated to private managers and funds of funds, led by Stéphane Vonthron.
02/10/2013
Edmond de Rothschild merges funds
The Edmond de Rothschild group would like to merge some of its funds in order to simplify its fund product range as part of its restructuring programme, Citywire reports. The funds concerned are currently domiciled in France. Nicolas Dubourg, head of investment solutions for the group, has said that he does not know at this stage whether funds will change their domicile to Luxembourg. Planned mergers On 4 November: Edmond de Rothschild Euro Convictions merged into Edmond de Rothschild Euro SRI On 1 October: Edmond de Rothschild Monde Flexible merged into Edmond de Rothschild Croissance Edmond de Rothschild Ecosphere merged into Edmond de Rothschild Euro SRI Edmond de Rothschild Bond Allocation merged into Edmond de Rothschild International Bonds Edmond de Rothschild Monécourt merged into Edmond de Rothschild Monétrésor Edmond de Rothschild USD Corporate Short Term merged into Euro Evolution
02/10/2013
Neuberger Berman launches fourth EMD fund
After recruiting 22 emerging market debt specialists five months ago, including 19 from ING IM, where they had managed USD16bn (see Newsmanagers of 3 May), Neuberger Berman is launching the Neuberger Berman Emerging Markets Income Fund, the fourth product since the new recruitments, on the US market (three were launched at the end of June).The principal managers are Rob Drijkoningen and Gorky Urquieta, two former ING IM employees, who lead the emerging market debt team. They are assisted by four former ING IM employees, Jennifer Gorgoll, Raoul Luttik, Nish Popat and Bart van der Made.In addition to the new fund, the team manages institutional portfolios for US and international clients, as well as three Irish-registered emerging market UCITS funds aimed at non-US clients.The tickers for the Neuberger Berman Emerging Markets Income Fund are NERAX, NERCX and NERIX.
02/10/2013
Union offers new euro-denominated bond fund
On 1 October, Union Investment introduced the bond fund UniEuroAnleihen, which invests primarily in securities denominated in euros from issuers worldwide, for sale in Germany. The invetment universe includes government bonds, corporate bonds, and Pfandbriefe (covered bonds). The manager, Rüdiger Kerth, may also invest in emerging market bonds and high yield rated securities.As a general rule, UniEuroAnleihen will take positions on bonds with a moderate duration. The product is aimed at investors with a mid-term horizon, whose propensity to risk-taking is moderate.CharacteristicsName: UniEuroAnleihenISIN code: LU0966118209Front-end fee: 35Management commission: 0.6% (maximum 0.9%)Depository banking commission: 0.05%Performance commission: maximum one quarter of performance exceeding the Merrill Lynch EMU Large Cap index
02/10/2013
Ramius launches open-ended event-driven fund
The US firm Ramius, an alternative management entity belonging to the Cowen group, has launched an event-driven equity mutual fund, according to a statement released on 30 September. The strategy is primarily aimed at publicly-traded firms which are the target of shareholder activism, and which may be subject to merger and acquisition, recapitalisation ad restructuring operations. Investments in the fund, which offers daily liquidity, will be managed by Andrew Cohen and Ethan Johnson. The fund will be advised by Ramius Advisors, an affiliate of Ramius. Assets under management at Ramius totalled USD9.2bn as of 31 August 2013.
02/10/2013
Dreyfus offers fund to prepare for interest rate increases
With the Dreyfus Floating Rate Income Fund (ticker: DFLAX), the Dreyfus Corporation (BNY Mellon group) has launched an actively-managed mutual fund on the US market which invests primarily (at least 80%) in floating rate loans and other variable rate securities. The remaining 20% (maximum) may be used to acquire fixed rate and/or high yield bonds.Management of the product, designed to arm investors against rising interest rates, is outsourced by Dreyfus (USD250bn) to a team of two managing directors from Alcentra (an affiliate of BNY Mellon) and portfolio managers. William Lemberg will be responsible for the loans and other variable rate portion, while Chris Barris will be responsible for the fixed rate/high yield portion.The fund charges 1.25%, the front-end fee ranges from 2.50% for a subscription of less than USD100,000 to 0% for over USD1m.
02/10/2013
M&G launches its first global corporate bond fund
M&G Investments has obtained a sales license in France, as well as other European countries including Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, and Germany, for its M&G Global Corporate Bond Fund, launched in the United Kingdom in early September. Ben Lord, manager of the fund, will invest primarily in investment grade issues on the major international credit markets, as well as in sovereign debt and high yield bonds. According to a statement, this is the first global corporate bond fund from M&G. The US dollar is the base currency for the fund. Exposure to other currencies will be hedged against the dollar, and investors in euros will be able to invest in hedged shares in euros. “We are seeing a marked slide towards global bonds to the detriment of European investments. In Europe, the sector has been established for some time, particularly in Italy and Switzerland. However, demand for this asset class has been steadily rising on other European markets, particularly in France, Spain and Sweden. Clients want to profit from the diversity of investment grade bonds that bond funds from international fims can offer,” says Jonathan Willcocks, director of global sales at M&G Investments.
02/10/2013
Invesco preparing eight liquid hedge funds
Invesco Ltd, which already has USD83bn invested in alternative assets, on 1 October announced that it has submitted an application to the SEC for a license for eight new open-ended mutual hedge funds, “to be able to provide financial advisers and investors with additional resources to manage risk in the construction of portfolios.”The new fund covers various strategies, the firm says, including market neutral, unconstrained equity, long/short equity, global amcro, multi-strategy and low volatility emerging markets.
02/10/2013
RDR regulations come in for criticism
The chairman of the treasury select committee, Andrew Tyrie, has severely criticised the British financial market supervisory authorities (FCA, Financial Conduct Authority et PRA, Prudential Regulation Authority), whom he accuses of indiscriminately amassing useless data and not taking enough interest in the real impact of RDR regulations. At the Conservative party conference in Manchester, Tyrie admitted to Money Marketing that it was too soon to evaluate the damage due to RDR regulations, which came into force earlier this year. In May, the committee called for a study of the impact of RDR regulations, at a time when the director of the FCA, Martin Wheatley, admitted to a lack of advising during the summer season. While indicating that reforms of the commissions are inevitable, Tyrie adds that the introduction of the regulation “had the unfortunate consequence of consolidating the sector around a limited number of large players.” This development could damage competition and should be closely monitored.