DWS Investment has officially confirmed that from February 2013, André Köttner, who recently left Union Investment, where he had been manager of the UniGlobal fund, will take over management of the flagship funds from the Deutsche Bank affiliate, DWS Vermögensbildungsfonds I and DWS Akkumula, which had been managed by the star manager Klaus Kaldemorgen.Kaldemorgen, a statement says, will now be able to concentrate on his role as chief strategist equities for the multi-asset class product range. He will also continue to manage the DWS Concept Kaldemorgen fund.
The fund selectors Jens Kummer and Damian Krzizok have confirmed that they have left SEB Asset Management in Frankfurt, Citywire Global reports, having viewed their departing email message. The two men had belonged to a three-member multi-management team also composed of Andreas Bichler. The two fund selectors did not say where they were going.
The European Commission has acted to solidly underpin the new rules for Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFM) by adopting a Delegated Regulation supplementing the Directive on Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFMD)(see MEMO/10/572).The AIFMD is part of the Union’s response to the financial crisis, and aims to create a comprehensive and effective regulatory and supervisory environment for alternative investment fund managers in Europe. The Delegated Regulation is a precondition for the application of the AIFMD in EU countries and was adopted to supplement certain elements of the AIFMD. These rules concern the:•conditions and procedure for the determination and authorisation of AIFMs, including the capital requirements applicable to AIFMs;•operating conditions for AIFMs, including rules on remuneration, conflicts of interest, risk management, liquidity management, investment in securitisation positions, organisational requirements, rules on valuation;•conditions for delegation;•rules on depositaries, including the depositary’s tasks and liability;•reporting requirements and leverage calculation;•rules for cooperation arrangements.The Delegated Regulation adopted on Wednesday is subject to a three-month scrutiny period by the European Parliament and the Council and will enter into force, provided that neither co-legislator objects, at the end of this period and the day following publication in the Official Journal.
The Swiss firm Mirabaud has announced that it has opened an office in Valencia specialised in private management, as an addition to its locations in Madrid and Barcelona. Spain is the only country outside Switzerland in which Mirabaud has multiple locations.The new office, which is aimed particularly at clients in the eastern part of Spain, will be staffed by Javier Lucas Pérez, director of sales, Luis Fernando Capilla Dejoz, director of Valencia, José González Cabrera, assistant director, and Sonia Yllera Calatayud, sales assistant.
With the absorption of Banif Gestión and Banesto Banca Privada Gestión, Santander Asset Management has an opportunity to become a leader in the market for sicavs, the preferred investment vehicles of Spanish high net worth families, Funds People reports. The three firms manage a total of 542 Sicavs with assets of EUR3.832bn, which would mean that a merged ensemble would overtake the historic leader in the sector, BBVA Patrimonios, which has 279 sicavs with total assets of EUR2.629bn.
JP Morgan is in the process of revising its definition of emerging markets, which will affect the calculation of emerging market bond indices, Asian Investor reports. The changes will be announced in early 2013. The bank’s motivation is said to be preventing the composition of indices from changing by keeping countries in the emerging markets category which would otherwise be promoted to the status of developed markets.
The Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global will through a joint venture with Prologis buy 50 percent of a portfolio of logistic properties for 1.2 billion euros, or about 8.9 billion kroner.The seller is Prologis, which will retain the remaining 50 percent of the portfolio and manage the properties on behalf of the partnership. The purchase price includes existing bank debt of 0.1 billion euros.The portfolio consists of 195 properties in 11 European countries including France, the UK, Spain, Poland and Italy. The properties comprise 4.5 million square metres of lettable space and are used mainly as distribution facilities by about 300 tenants from a range of industries. The transaction, agreed on by the parties on Thursday, is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2013.The joint venture has an initial term of 15 years that may be extended. The venture intends to repay the existing bank debt by the first quarter of 2014. As part of the transaction, the fund will receive warrants to buy 6 million Prologis common shares for 35.64 dollars apiece.“The agreement marks the fund’s first investment in industrial real estate and is in line with our strategy to build a high-quality portfolio that’s spread over different countries and sectors,” says Karsten Kallevig, chief investment officer for real estate at Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), manager of the fund.
Douglas J. Ketterer, head of U.S. Field Management, has announced that Morgan Stanley Wealth Management has launched an “LGBT initiative” to provide financial advisers with wealth planning, business development and marketing resources aimed specifically at prospective clients in the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender comunities.Due to tranformations in the financial and legal environments, it is important for LGBT couples to be able to speak with a wealth management specialist who has the necessary resources to meet their specific needs, Morgan Stanley WM states.Gay marriage is already legal in Iowa, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, Washington and Washington DC, while universal marriage measures has been passed in Maine and Maryland. Other states have other marriage laws for same-sex couples, while some states have no civil union laws. This variety causes much complication in the area of wealth management for the LGBT community, the statement says.
In a statement released by email, Vanguard has announced that in the first eleven months of this year, it has posted net subscriptions of USD130.4bn, beating the all-time record set by JP Morgan in 2008, with USD129.6bn, Mutual Fund Wire reports.Of total net inflows, ETFs drew USD46.6bn. By asset class, Vanguard attracted USD72.3bn for equity funds, USD6.3bn for balanced funds and USD54.4bn for bond funds. However, money market funds underwent net outflows of USD2.5bn.
AXA Real Estate Investment Managers, with over EUR43 billion of assets under management as of September 2012, has announced that on behalf of clients, it has reached an agreement to sell the prime office and retail property 8 Place Vendôme to a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (‘SOFAZ’) for EUR135 million.8 Place Vendôme, is located in one of the most prestigious squares in Paris and offers office, retail and residential space within an iconic 18th century mansion as well as an office building from the 1950’s. The mansion element of the asset, which comprises 3,160 sqm of office, retail and residential space, is let to several high profile tenants with first rate covenants with luxury jewellers occupying the majority of its retail space. The separate 1950’s building comprises 2,240 sqm of office space which is fully let to various renowned financial services and legal firms.
BNY Mellon Investment Management (USD1.4trn in assets) has announced that its bond specialist affiliate Standish Mellon Asset Management Company (USD104bn) has signed the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI). This is a sign of its commitment to incorporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations into its credit and investment processes.Currently, Standish has USD9.6bn in assets under management in SRI and ESG mandates.Other BNY Mellon Investment affiliates are already signatories to the Principles: these include Newton Investment Management, Insight Investmennt, and the new Meriten Investment Management (ex WestLB Mellon AM).
Funds People reports that as of 5 December, the CNMV has awarded a sales license for Spain to the Dexia Diversified Futures fund, which is a UCITS-compliant version of the Dexia Systemat, a hedge fund which deploys a CTA strategy.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) on Thursday announced that it is investigating suspicions that UBS may have behaved inappropriately in the process of determining the Hong Kong Interbank Offered Rate (Hibor) and other benchmark interest rates in the region, Handelsblatt reports. Information of this nature was provided to foreign regulators, the Hong Kong monetary authority says.At any rate, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is also investigating banks, including UBS, which participate in determining local benchmark rates.
Paul Boyne and Doug McGrow, global equity managers from Invesco Perpetual, have left the firm, Fund Web reports. The two had managed the Invesco Global Equity Income fund, with GBP300m in assets. Nick Mustoe will take over the management of the fund, until a manager can be recruited in 2013.
The brother of Bernard Madoff, Peter, will serve a sentence of 10 years in prison for his role in his brother’s fraud, a US judge ruled on Thursday, the Financial Times reports. Peter Madoff, 67, pleaded guilty in June to charges of conspiracy, fraud and falsification. Mr. Madoff, a lawyer, was director of compliance and senior managing director at the Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities company.
After only eight months on the job, Enrique Sánchez del Villar has left his position as head of Ahorro Corporación Gestión (EUR3.64bn in assets), to return to Analistas Financieros Internacionales (AFI), where he was a partner until 2008, Funds People reports.Financial sector sources point out that this is a voluntary departure, which is said not to be related to the fact that assets under management have fallen by 25% since the beginning of the year. Sánchez del Villar’s replacement has not yet been named.
Le président de la Chambre des représentants des Etats-Unis, le Républicain John Boehner, n’est pas parvenu hier à convaincre les propres membres de son parti de voter pour le plan B censé arracher des concessions à Barack Obama, à dix jours du «mur budgétaire». Selon un haut conseiller du parti cité par Reuters, la Chambre pourrait se réunir de nouveau le 27 décembre pour se prononcer sur un nouveau plan.
L’Etat portugais a décidé de reporter la privatisation de la compagnie aérienne car la seule offre d’achat, proposée par Synergy Aerospace - propriété de l’homme d’affaires German Efromovich - ne répond pas aux exigences. La cession de TAP, plombée par 1,2 milliard d’euros de dette, fait partie d’un dispositif de vente d’actifs publics dans le cadre du plan de sauvetage de 78 milliards.
Le frère de Bernard Madoff a été condamné hier à dix ans de prison par la justice américaine pour son implication dans la vaste escroquerie financière mise au point par ce dernier. Peter Madoff avait plaidé coupable en juin de complot visant à commettre des fraudes en falsifiant les rapports de conformité lorsqu’il était comptable au sein de Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities.
Le régulateur chinois a publié de nouvelles dispositions concernant les demandes d’introduction sur des marchés étrangers par les sociétés chinoises. Pékin espère ainsi réduire le volume de candidats à une IPO en Chine. Les sociétés devront désormais avant tout respecter les standards du marché étranger qu’elles visent pour obtenir l’approbation du régulateur.
L'Agence France Trésor prévoit d'émettre 169 milliards d'euros de dette. Pour diminuer les remboursements, elle a déjà racheté pour 23,5 milliards de titres
Le quotidien a eu accès aux comptes annuels à fin septembre du négociant en matières premières et en métaux basé à Genève et Singapour. Le résultat net en repli de 11% à 991,9 millions de dollars démontre selon le quotidien la capacité de résistance des grands groupes du secteur (comme Glencore) en dépit d’un ralentissement de la croissance en Chine.
La conclusion d’un rapport du Comité des investissements étrangers aux Etats-Unis (Cfius) qui se prononce sur les offres de rachat de sociétés américaines, s’inquiète de l’utilisation de «comportements suspects» provenant notamment des gouvernements étrangers qui usent d’incitations fiscales ou financières pour acquérir des cibles américaines.
Les tableaux ci-contre présentent les meilleures et plus mauvaises performances en euros des fonds sur le marché des fonds actions américaines et le marché des fonds actions françaises au cours du mois de novembre 2012. Ces performances sont mises en perspective par le calcul de la volatilité, du ratio de Sharpe sur trois ans d’historique, ainsi que du rendement depuis un an. Aux Etats-Unis, environ un gérant sur deux en novembre a sous/sur-performé l’indice de référence (MSCI US). La sur-performance moyenne (0,8%) apparaît légèrement inférieure à la sous-performance moyenne en valeur absolue (0,9%). Au total, les gérants ont sous-performé de 6 points de base (pb) l’indice MSCI US. La variété des performances se resserre par ailleurs avec 80% des fonds qui affichent une performance comprise à l’intérieur d’une plage de 2,6% (3,0% en octobre).
Le graphique ci-contre montre l'évolution de l’appétit pour le risque, mesuré par la corrélation de rang entre les rendements des facteurs de risque et la volatilité qui leur est associée. Si la corrélation est positive, l’aversion pour le risque a baissé ; si la corrélation est négative, elle a augmenté.