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13/03/2013

Morgan Stanley launches a fund dedicated to mortgage market

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Morgan Stanley Investment Management (MSIM) on 11 March announced the launch of the Morgan Stanley Investment Funds (“MS INVF”) Global Morgage Securities Fund. “The fund will offer attractive returns by investing in a portfolio of mortgages and securities mortgage instruments issued by government agencies and private institutions,” a statement from Morgan Stanley IM says. The new fund adopts a constand and thematic “bottom-up” type investment logic, which combines global macroecnomic analysis, research and sectoral trend analysts to create a diversified portfolio of securitised products. Research teams at MSIM Global Mortgage seek to identify opportunities to create potential value in all segments of the securitisation market. The construction of portfolios is undertaken in three stages: identification of the security, deployment and evaluation. “We concentrate on our clients – in difficult market conditions, our objective is to develop products which offer our clients access to various asset classes. The Global Mortgage Securities Fund leverages the expertise of Long-Only investment professionals and helps our clients to achieve their investment objectives.” says Arthur Lev, head of MSIM Long-Only Business.
13/03/2013

Global X offers ETF combining dividends and low vol

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 4 March, the New York-based Global X notified the SEC that it had launched Global X SuperDividend U.S. ETF (NYSE Arca acronym: DIV), which will replicate the INDXX SuperDividend U.S. Low Volatility index, and will charge 0.45%. The product is expected to be admitted to trading on 12 March.The index is equally weighted. It includes 50 ordinary shares in companies, MLPs, and US REITs, which offer both high dividends and low volatility when the beta for each share is compared with the market benchmark index.
13/03/2013

Assets under management at MEAG up

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Assets under management at MEAG (Munich Ergo Asset Management), the asset management firm of the reinsurance group Munich Re, as of the end of 2012 totalled EUR11.5bn, compared with EUR10.4bn as of the end of December 2011, the German group announced on 12 March at the publication of its annual results. The group has also announced that it is 59% invested in bonds, compared with 58% one year earlier, and 3% in equities, compared with 2% previously. The largest shareholder in the group remains Warren Buffett, who as of the end of 2012 controlled an 11.2% stake in the group, Munich Re states. The stake represents a financial investment for Buffett and not a strategic engagement with a desire to influence policies at Munich Re, the German group says in its annual report.
13/03/2013

DWS head to chair supervisory board at Sal. Oppenheim

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The chairman of the board at DWS Investment, head of the Asset & Wealth Management (AWM) unit for Germany and of active management for the Deutsche Bank group, Wolfgang Matis, has been appointed as chairman of the supervisory board at Sal. Oppenheim. He replaces Carsten Schildknecht, who will be leaving the Deutsche Bank group on 31 March.Joachim Häger has also been appointed as a member of the supervisory board at Sal. Oppenheim. Like Matis, he is a member of the AWM executive board at Deutsche Bank. He is also chairman of the supervisory board at Wilhelm von Fink Deutsche Family Office AG.
13/03/2013

KKR plans to sell 50% of Tarkett

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The private equity group KKR is planning to sell its 50% stake in the French firm Tarkett as part of a transaction which would value the flooring specialist at USD2.5bn to USD3.8bn, the news agency Bloomberg reports. The firm, based in Nanterre, has been 50/50 controlled by KKR and the Deconinck family since 2007. The Deconinck family does not wish to sell its stake, Bloomberg reports. Pre-tax profits at Tarkett last year totalled EUR260m, up 36% year on year, on earnings up 11% to EUR2.3bn.
13/03/2013

Notenstein acquires 20.25% of EFG International

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Notenstein private bank on 12 March announced that it has increased its stake in the structured services specialist EFG Financial Products (EFG FP), to 22.75% from 2.5% previously. The acquisition price is CHF70.2m, paid to EFG International. The purchse is expected to be finalised “during” first half, pending approval from the authorities, the Raffeisen Switzerland affiliate says in a statement. Notenstein has also signed an agreement with the founding shareholders of EFG Financial Products Holding. The agreement specifies that shareholders in EFG Financial Products Holding will be allowed to elect two members of Notenstein to the board of directors at an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting. The participants will mutually allocate the rights corresponding to their shares. Notenstein will then issue its own structured investment products, guaranteed by Raiffeisen Switzerland. EFG Financial Products will take responsibility for providing some services, related to the issue and sale of these products, while Notenstein will offer the products in its name. With the operation, Notenstein “emphasizes its will to accentuate its supremacy in the area of financial products, and further strengthen its position on the Swiss market.”
13/03/2013

UBS in talks to acquire Banca Intermobiliare

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } UBS is reported to be interested in acquiring the Italian Banca Intermobiliare di Investimenti e Gestioni. The largest Swiss bank may also strengthen its wealth management activities, an informer familiar with the matter has told the news agency Bloomberg, which reported the information on 12 March. The agency thus confirms a report in the Italian newspaper Il Sole – 24 Ore. Banca Intermobiliare is majority owned by Veneto Banca. Talks with US are underway, the informer says. UBS and Veneto Banca had no comments on the rumour. Assets under management at Banca Intermobiliare total about EUR14bn.
13/03/2013

Swisscanto replaces head for Swiss market

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Sven Wiedeker, head of sales, will now become head of Swiss market at Swisscanto (GBP51.9bn in assets as of the end of 2012), replacing Reto Tarreghetta, a board member. Tarregheta, who joined the firm in 2006, “has decided to give a new orientation to his career,” and will be leaving the central asset management firm for the cantonal banks on 28 March.
13/03/2013

Swiss Life offers to change its statutes to increase conditional capital

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The insurer Swiss Life is planning to offer to introduce an amendment at its next general shareholders’ meeting on 23 April to increase its conditional capital. The capital would be increased form 3.6 million to 6 million nominal shares, equivalent to 18.7% of equity capital. The operation will increase the conditional capital to a level which is “usual in the sector,” and increase the financial flexibility of the group, the life insurance specialist says in a statement released on 12 March. At the next general shareholders’ meeting, Volker Brenkamp will be leaving his position as a member of the board of directors, due to an age limit. Peter Quadri has been proposed for re-election. Frank Keuper of the insurer Axa, Ueli Dietiker of Swisscom, and Klaus Tschütscher, prime ministeer of Liechtenstein, will be proposed for election. As announced in annual results, the group will propose to pay an unchanged dividend of CHF4.50 per share, from capital reserves.
13/03/2013

Barings nabs big name from NGAM

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Cora Gibbons, head of the international product group at Natixis Global Asset Managment (NGAM), will be joining Baring Asset Management with immediate effect as head of product & fund development. She will be based in London, and will report to David Stevenson, head of product & business development.Before joining NGAM to become head of all product activities of the firm worldwide outside the United States, Gibbons became head of product sales support at Allianz Global Investors in Frankfurt, after serving as lead account manager. She had previously been manager, global products at Invesco, also in Frankfurt.
13/03/2013

Tyndall AM launches a corporate bank loan fund

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Sydney-based asset management firm Tyndall AM has launched a fund of bank loans issued to Australian businesses rated investment grade, Asian Investor reports. The fund will be dedicated largely to Japanese clients, due to the weak yen. Tyndall AM was acquired two years ago by Nikko Asset Management, for a total of USD80m, As of the end of 2012, its assets under management totalled AUD23bn, or slightly over EUR18bn.
13/03/2013

State Street launches two ETFs for Australian clients

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } With the SPDR S&P® World ex-Australia (aconym on ASX: WXOZ) and the SPDR S&P World ex-Australia (Hedged) Fund (WXHG), State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) is offering Australian investors exposure to international equities. The first fund will be listed on the ASX in a few weeks, while the second will follow shortly.SSgA currently (as of 28 February) has over AUD3bn in the form of ETFs on the Australian market.
13/03/2013

VP Bank's AUM up by nearly 4%

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Assets under management at the Liechtenstein bank VP Bnak as of the end of December 2012 totalled CHF28.5bn, compared with CHF27.4bn at the end of 2011, an increase of 3.9% year on year, according to a statement released on 12 March. Assets under conservation fell to CHF8.8bn from CHF11.5bn at the end of 2011.The bank finished the year 2012 with outflows of CHF192m, of which CHF127m are related to the acquisition of a loan signed in June 2007. VP Bank has also reported a positive market effect of CHF1.3bn. In 2011, VP Bank registered a net inflow of nearly CHF1bn.Profits at the group, as previously announced, totalled CHF47.2m, compared with CHF5.3m in 2011.
13/03/2013

Tracker funds cost more than actively-managed funds

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } British tracker funds, which have assets of over GBP6bn, have very uncompetitive annual fees, according to a study undertaken by Bestinvest, MoneyMarketing reports. Bestinvest finds that the annual fees for the major British tracker funds fell in a total range of 0.15% to 1.5%. The two largest British retail tracker funds are the Virgin UK Index tracking fund (GBP2.4bn in assets), whose annual fees total 1%, and the Legal & General (N) Tracker Trust fund (GBp1.2bn), whose annual fees are 1.15%. Bestinvest cites several other tracker funds, whose total annual fees range from 0.8% to 1.5%. Bestinvest estimates that such fee levels are excessively high and unnecessary. According to Ben Seager-Scott, a senior analyst at Bestinvest, “there is no reason to pay more than 0.4% per year in fees for a tracker or an ETF. What our research clearly shows is that despite the fact that these strategies are passive, it remains highly important to be active in the selection of funds when choosing a tracker fund.”
13/03/2013

Assets under management up at Henderson Property

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Assets under management at Henderson Property last year rose by GBP100m to a total of GBP12.5bn, according to statistics released by the firm on 12 March. Transactions over the year as a whole represented a cumulative total of GBP1.7bn. As of 31 December 2012, client engagements totalled GBP0.9bn. Investment projects currently represent an overall total of about GBP1bn. In France, following the acquisition of Horizon Investment Management France SAS, assets under management increased from EUR570m to over EUR1bn.
13/03/2013

Lloyds Banking Group nets about GBP520m from of SJP sale

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The sale of a part of the stake in St James’s Place by Lloyds Banking group is expected to bring in gross proceeds of about GBP520m, according to a statement from the British banking group published on 12 March.Lloyds Banking states that it has placed 101,703.070 shares, at a price of GBP5.10 each, which corresponds to a total of about GBP520m.Following the conclusion of the operation, which is expected to occur on 15 March, Lloyds Banking Group will control about 37% of capital in St James’s Place.Lloyds Banking Group has agreed not to further reduce its stake in St James’s Place for a period of one year.
13/03/2013

Assets under management at Close Brothers up 6%

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Assets under management at the asset management unit of Close Brothers rose 6% in the six months to the end of February, to GBP8.9bn, according to a statement released on 12 March. The increase is largely due to positive market effects, while subscriptions were offset by redemptions. The asset management unit finished the half with operating profits of GBP1.1bn, where the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year brought a loss of GBP2.6m. The group has also reported an operating profit of GBP77.3m for the half, compared wih GBP66.8m previously.
13/03/2013

Skandia loses its head of investment marketing

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Michelle Andrews, marketing director, will take over the functions of the head of investment marketing, which will be left vacant at the end of this month following the departure of Graham Bentley, Fundweb reports. Relationships with fund management groups, which Bentley had also directed, will be transferred to the investment solutions team led by James Millard.
13/03/2013

JP Morgan Am owns more than 2% of Azimut

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } JP Morgan Asset Management controls 2.051% of the Italian asset management firm Azimut Holding, Bluerating reports, citing information from Consob, the Italian securities commission.
13/03/2013

Natixis AM wins mandate from Italian PF

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Natixis Asset Management has received a management mandate for EUR50m from the Previp pension fund, for its balanced bond allocation, Bluerating reports. The allocation is 75% invested in bonds denominated in euros, and 25% in global equities. The mandate will be managed by the Institutional & Network Solutions team.The Previp pension fund as of the end of 2012 had assets of EUR1.4bn under management in 4 allocations.
13/03/2013

Promotion for Tilman Hickl at UBS

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Tilman Hickl, CEO of UBS Real Estate KAG in Munich, has been promoted to head global real estate – Europe at UBS Global Asset Management, a newly-created position, effective 15 March, fondsprofessionell.de reports. Hickl, who takes command of the real estate unit for all of Europe except Switzerland, temporarily remains a member of the board at UBS Real Estate KAG.His successor as CEO will be Christian Paul. The new head of global real estate – Germany and CEO will be Christine Bernhofer, currently CFO.
13/03/2013

New manager for UK Equity High Alpha fund from Standard Life

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Equity analyst Henry Flockhart has replaced Ed Leggets as manager of the Standard Life Investments UK Equity High Alpha fund, Fund Web reports. Flockhart joined the asset management firm in 2010. Leggets will continue to manage the SLI UK Equity Unconstrained fund.
13/03/2013

Skandia IM funds rebrand as Old Mutual

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Since 11 March, British-registered funds managed by Skandia Investment Management Ltd will all adopt the Old Mutual prefix, Old Mutual Global Investors (OMGI) has announced, the change follows a name change for Skandia IM, which has become Old Mutual Investment Management Ltd.A list of affected funds is available as an attachment.
13/03/2013

Notenstein prend 20,25% dans EFG International

La banque privée suisse Notenstein a annoncé le 12 mars avoir augmenté sa participation dans le spécialiste des services structurés EFG Financial Products (EFG FP), qui est passée à 22,75%, contre 2,5% précédemment. Le montant de la transaction est de 70,2 millions de francs suisses, versés à EFG International.L’achat doit être finalisé «dans le courant» du premier semestre, sous réserve du feu vert des autorités, précise la filiale de Raiffeisen Suisse dans un communiqué.Notenstein a par ailleurs conclu un pacte avec les actionnaires fondateurs d’EFG Financial Products Holding. Cet accord prévoit de proposer aux actionnaires d’EFG Financial Products Holding d'élire deux représentants de Notenstein au conseil d’administration lors d’une assemblée générale extraordinaire. Les parties prenantes s’octroient mutuellement des droits afférents à leurs actions.Notenstein émettra par la suite ses propres produits de placement structurés, garantis par Raiffeisen Suisse. EFG Financial Products prendra en charge certaines prestations de service liées à l'émission et la distribution de ces produits que Notenstein propose sous son nom. Avec cette opération, Notenstein «souligne sa volonté d’accentuer sa suprématie dans le domaine des produits financiers et renforce encore sa position sur le marché suisse».
13/03/2013

Swiss Life propose de modifier ses statuts pour augmenter son capital autorisé

L’assureur Swiss Life veut proposer lors de sa prochaine assemblée générale du 23 avril d’introduire un amendement à ses statuts pour augmenter son capital autorisé. Ce dernier doit être relevé de 3,6 millions à 6 millions d’actions nominatives, soit 18,7% du capital actions.Cette opération doit permettre de relever le capital autorisé à un niveau «habituel dans le secteur» et de renforcer la flexibilité financière du groupe, souligne le spécialiste de l’assurance vie dans un communiqué publié le 12 mars.Par ailleurs, lors de la prochaine assemblée générale, Volker Bremkamp va quitter ses fonctions de membre du conseil d’administration, en raison de la limite d'âge. Peter Quadri a été proposé à la réélection. Frank Keuper de l’assureur Axa, Ueli Dietiker de Swisscom et Klaus Tschütscher, Premier ministre du Liechtenstein, seront proposés à l'élection.Comme annoncé lors des résultats annuels, le groupe va proposer le versement d’un dividende inchangé de 4,50 francs par action, issu des réserves de capital.
13/03/2013

Swisscanto change de responsable pour le marché helvétique

Sven Wiederkehr, responsable de la direction des ventes, assume dès à présent les fonctions de head of Swiss market chez Swisscanto (51,9 milliards de francs suisses d’encours fin 2012) en remplacement de Reto Tarreghetta, membre de la direction générale. Ce dernier, qui avait rejoint la société en 2006, «a décidé de donner une nouvelle orientation à sa carrière» et quittera la société de gestion centrale des banques cantonales le 28 mars.
13/03/2013

UBS négocierait le rachat de Banca Intermobiliare

UBS serait intéressée par le rachat de la banque italienne Banca Intermobiliare di Investimenti e Gestioni. La première banque suisse pourrait ainsi renforcer ses activités de gestion de fortune, a déclaré un informateur proche du dossier à l’agence Bloomberg, qui a rapporté l’information le 12 mars.L’agence confirme ainsi un article du quotidien italien «Il Sole 24 Ore». Banca Intermobiliare est détenue majoritairement par Veneto Banca. Les négociations avec UBS sont en cours, a indiqué l’informateur. UBS et Veneto Banca n’ont pas souhaité commenté cette rumeur. Les actifs sous gestion de Banca Intermobiliare s'élèvent à environ 14 milliards d’euros.
13/03/2013

Transamerica confie l'administration de ses fonds à State Street

State Street Corporation et Boston Financial Data Services (Boston Financial), filiale commune de State Street et de DST Systems, ont été retenus par Transamerica Asset Management (filiale d’Aegon NV) pour lui fournir une gamme complète de services d’investissement pour des actifs d’un montant total de 55,5 milliards de dollars.Le contrat porte sur l’administration de fonds (reporting financier, administration des dépenses, suivi de la conformité) par State Street, qui a déjà une relation assez ancienne avec Transamerica. State Street est déjà conservateur et prestataire de services comptables pour les mutual funds de Transamerica.Pour Boston Financial, qui est pour sa part un nouveau partenaire de Transamerica, il s’agit d’une tenue des registres des actionnaires, du service à la clientèle et aux intermédiaires et de services de conformité.
13/03/2013
Fonds

Global X propose un ETF combinant dividendes et faible volatilité

Le 4 mars, le new-yorkais Global X a notifié à la SEC le lancement du Global X SuperDividend U.S. ETF (acronyme sur NYSE Arca : DIV), qui répliquera l’indice INDXX SuperDividend U.S. Low Volatility et sera chargé à 0,45 %. Le produit devait être admis à la négociation le 12 mars.L’indice est équipondéré. Il comporte 50 actions ordinaires de sociétés, de PMLP et de Reit américains offrant à la fois des dividendes élevés et une faible volatilité relative mesurée par le beta de chaque valeur par rapport à l’indice de référence du marché.
Fonds
13/03/2013

KKR chercherait à céder 50% de Tarkett

Le groupe de capital investissement KKR envisage de céder sa participation de 50% dans la société française Tarkett dans le cadre d’une transaction qui valoriserait le spécialiste des revêtements de sol entre 2,5 milliards de dollars et 3,8 milliards de dollars, rapporte l’agence Bloomberg.La société basée à Nanterre est contrôlée conjointement à 50/50 par KKR et la famille Deconinck depuis 2007. La famille Deconinck ne souhaite pas vendre sa participation, selon Bloomberg.Le bénéfice avant impôts de Tarkett s’est élevé l’an dernier à 260 millions d’euros, en progression de 36% d’une année sur l’autre, pour un chiffre d’affaires en hausse de 11% à 2,3 milliards d’euros.

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