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10/12/2012

SAC under investigation over Weight Watcher trades

The US authorities are investigating transactions undertaken by SAC Capital, the hedge fund led by Steven Cohen, on shares in Weight Watchers last year, according to a source familiar with the matter cited by the Financial Times. The news comes two weeks after a former manager of an SAC affiliate, Matthew Martoma, was arrested on suspicion of insider trading.
10/12/2012

Bond funds set records for inflows

Sales of bond funds in Europe hit their highest one month total on record since Lipper’s regular sales monitoring began in 2002 reaching EUR30bn. While high yield bonds and emerging market debt were again much in demand (EUR5bn and EUR4.8bn respectively, across different sub-sectors), the inflows to bond funds as a whole were the result of interest expanding across a wider range of sectors, according to Lipper.Bond fund assets now stand at EUR1.7trn, making up 28.5% of the European industry. Five years ago this proportion was 20.2% (October 2007). For equity funds, the proportion has shrunk from 41.1% to 34.0% over the same period, with assets now at EUR2.0trn.After the encouragement for asset managers last month of a revival in equity fund flows, this dropped back this month to EUR1.3bn, from EUR4.7bn.Inflows to long-term funds (i.e. excluding money market activity) nudged up again this month to EUR31.6bn, meaning sales have reached a 24-month high. Including money market funds, the figures look even better at EUR38.3bn, the largest monthly total since August 2010.Four groups attracted net sales of more than EUR1bn this month. Pimco led the way with EUR4.2bn, ahead of BlackRock (EUR3.3bn; EUR2.2bn of which relates to ETFs), AXA (EUR2.9bn) and JPMorgan (EUR1.3bn).
10/12/2012

Hedge funds avoid equities

Assets in fixed income hedge funds are expected to overtake assets in equity strategies for the first time in the history of the industry, the Financial Times reports. At the end of third quarter, equity and relative value arbitrage hedge funds (which include various bond strategies) represented USD586bn each. “It is highly likely that by the end of the year equities will no longer be the main strategy, and that has never happened before,” predicts Ken Heinz, chairman of HFR.
10/12/2012

Lyxor hedge fund barometer up 0.4% in November

The Lyxor Hedge Fund index has posted returns of 0.4% in the month of November, meaning that since the beginning of the year, it has gained 2%, Lyxor reports on 7 December. 13 of the 14 strategies in the index finished the month with gains, including gains of 1.2% fot the Fixed Income Arbitrage fund and 1% for the Long/Short Credit Arbitrage.
10/12/2012

Head of wealth management at JSBC departs

Krishna Patel has resigned from his position as head of the private bank at the british HSBC group. Le Temps reports that he will be leaving his Geneva office by the end of January, following a period of transition. The director, based in Geneva and Zurich, is 63 years old, and the reasons for his departure and his future plans have not been disclosed. Peter Boyles, current head of continental Europe and European activities at the commercial bank will take over his duties.
10/12/2012

The beginning of the end of the euro zone crisis?

There are some signs that investors on both sides of the Atlantic believe the Eurozone crisis may have passed its high point. Europe Money Market Funds have seen net redemptions of over USD17 billion during the past two weeks -- versus inflows of more than USD35 billion for their US counterparts, according to estimates released by EPFR Global. During the week ending December 5, USD22.06 billion flowed out of money market funds, while equity funds absorbed USD2.3 billion. US equity funds recorded net outflows of over USD2 billion, while Europe equity funds attracted USD1.2 billion. Early December saw EPFR Global-tracked emerging markets equity funds take in over USD3 billion on consecutive weeks for the first time since the first quarter EPFR Global-tracked bond funds took in a net USD4.46 billion for the week, taking the YTD total past the USD450 billion mark.
10/12/2012

Former iShares head recruited by Warburg Pincus

Lee Kranefuss, CEO of iShares from 2000 to 2010, has been recruited by Warburg Pincus to head the USD30bn private equity group’s expansion into the ETF market, Financial Times Fund Management reports. Cary David, managing director of Warburg Pincus, has announced that Kranefuss has been recruited to evaluate opportunities in ETFs, index-based investments and asset management in Europe, Asia and Latin America. “The time is ripe to create a large, global and independent provider of genuinely attractive and innovative products that investors demand, Kranefuss says.
10/12/2012

Four Capital Partners launches a long/short fund

The asset management boutique Four Capital Partners is launching a long/short fund for Michael Pinggera, manager of Insight and Credit Suisse, who joined the firm in October this year, Investment Week reports. The strategy is expected to be launched next month. The fund may hold up to 60% of its assets in equities.
10/12/2012

Transport for London pension fund increases exposure to hedge funds

The pension fund for Transport for London has announced plans to increase its exposure to hedge funds, the news agency Reuters reports.The pension fund is reportedly preparing to invest in the US firm Och-Ziff Capital Management, as well as Arrowgrass Capital Partners. The pension fund is also planning to increase its investment in Bridgewater Associates. Investment in alternative asset may total 25%, compared with 12% for the year to the end of March, and 10.1% one year previously.
10/12/2012

Valiant also in talks with Credit Suisse and UBS

The regional bank Valiant is reportedly not the only party in talks with the Cantonal Bank of Bern over a potential merger, but Credit Suisse and UBS also are, according to an article which appeared in the Berner Zeitung on 7 December, citing a reliable source. The article also cites other institutions, such as the Cantonal Bank of Zurich and Raiffeisen.
10/12/2012

Three more iShares ETFs listed in Switzerland

The Swiss SIX Swiss Exchange has announced that it admitted three iShares ETFs to trading on 3 December. As usual, these are Irish-registered funds for which the market maker is Susquehanna.The iShares MSCI Japan Monthly CHF Hedged replicates the MSCI Japan 100% Hedged to CHF Net TR Index and charges fees of 0.64%; the second fund is the iShares MSCI World Monthly CHF Hedged, which tracks the MSCI World 100% Hedged to CHF Net TR Index, with a TER of 0.55%, and lastly, the Shares S&P 500 Monthly CHF Hedged replicates the S&P 500 CHF Hedged Index, with a TER of 0.45%.
10/12/2012

Leen Meijaard promoted at iShares

Leen Meijaard, director of institutional sales for continental Europe, has become director of sales at iShares for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), replacing David Gardner, who is leaving the business after 12 years, Cinco Días reports, relaying reports in Investment Week. Meijaard will also remain as direct head for the Benelux region.The position of director of institutional activities in continental Europe left vacant by Meijaard will be occupied by Peter Nielsen, who since 2009 has contributed to the establishment of the iShares organisation in Scandinavia. Nielsen also remains as direct head for Scandinavia.
10/12/2012

Simon Klein leaves Lyxor to return to db x-trackers

The head of ETF Europe and global head of business development ETF & indexing at Lyxor Asset Management (Société Générale), Simon Klein, in January joined the new asset & wealth management (AWM) division of Deutsche Bank, in the newly-created position of head of ETF & ETC sales for Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia, the Börsen-Zeitung reports.Klein, who served as head of ETF distribution at Deutsche Bank before joining Lyxor two years ago, will report to Thorsten Michalik, head of db x-trackers, who has been promoted to global head of the AWM global client group.The Financial Times also reports that Nizam Hamid, who joined Lyxor from iShares in late November 2010, has also left the firm, where he had been head of ETF strategy and deputy head of Europe.
10/12/2012

Karina Litvack leaves F&C

Karina Litvack is leaving F&C Asset Management, where she has been working for ten years, and had been head of governance & sustainable investment. The news, which first appeared in the UK press, has been confirmed to Newsmanagers by a spokesperson for the asset management firm. Litvack, widely known in the sustainable investment industry, joined F&C in 1998. Her departure is reported by the British website Fund Web to be related to a restructuring of the governance and sustainable investment team.
10/12/2012

Alcentra finances British SMEs

Alcentra, a boutique from BNY Mellon, a specialist in speculative debt in Europe and the United States, will be participating in an initiative by the Bank of England to provide up to GBP200m in financing to British high-quality middle market businesses. Alcentra is expected to develop the strategy over the next twelve months, with average investments of GBP10m to GBP25m each.
10/12/2012

Skandia opts for GDP weighting for Best Ideas fund

Old Mutual Global Investors (OBGI) has announced that its Skandia Global Best Ideas fund (GBP275m) will be diversifying its portfolio to adopt an approach to strategic allocation moderated by GDP instead of the more traditional model which had previously exposed the half of the portfolio to British equities and half to global equities.The change will mean that the firm will be more highly diversified in terms of countries and currencies. In addition to geographical diversification, the changes will result in a reduction of about 6 basis points to TER.The new regional weightings will be as follows:Region/Former allocation/New allocationEurope including R-U 61.89%//26/66%United States 13/66%/26/29%Japan 4.91%/9.46%Asia-Pacific ex Japan 8.33%/23/93%Emerging markets ex Asia 11.21%/13.66%
10/12/2012

Head leaves Henderson for JPMorgan AM

Tony Lanning, head of multi-asset at Henderson, is leaving the firm at the end of January to join JPMorgan Asset Management and manage portfolios built by the investment team at J.P. Morgan Adviser Solutions, Money Marketing reports. Bill McQuaker will take over management of the multi-manager absolute return fund as lead manager at Henderson.
10/12/2012

South African businesses are more sustainable

This year’s Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) SRI Index review finds that 76 out of 108 South African companies assessed by EIRIS for the JSE meet the sustainability criteria for inclusion in the JSE SRI Index. Now in its ninth year, the JSE SRI Index is based on sustainability criteria developed by the JSE and global responsible investment research firm EIRIS. Research for the index is undertaken by EIRIS’ global platform partner the University of Stellenbosch Business School’s Centre for Corporate Governance in Africa. The JSE is supported by the Government Employees Pension Fund - Africa’s largest pension fund - which has been actively involved in the JSE SRI index. The SRI Index comprises of listed companies which meet criteria related to their environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies, management practices and reporting. The intention of the index is two-fold: to encourage companies to operate responsibly and transparently and to prompt institutions to consider ESG factors when evaluating investments. The SRI Index is a key benchmark for broad-based environmental, social and governance practice amongst listed companies.
10/12/2012

AGI closes an Islamic equity fund

Allianz Global Investors Luxembourg has announced that on 7 December it liquidated the Allianz Islamic Global Equity Opportunities fund (LU0356363159), managed by Paul Schofield. Assets in the Sharia-compliant equity fund were insufficient, at EUR8.98m.
10/12/2012

SLI improves transparency of voting rights

The British firm Standard Life Investments (SLI) has announced that, in line with the Stewardship Code, the time to publication of voting rights at general shareholders’ meetings of British and European companies will be shortened to two weeks following the month under review, instead of three months previously.Each year, SLI participates in votes at more than 1,000 general shareholders’ meetings in the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe.
10/12/2012

La Banque de France attend une contraction en France au 4ème trimestre

La Banque de France a confirmé prévoir une contraction de 0,1% de l'économie française au quatrième trimestre, dans sa deuxième estimation fondée sur son enquête mensuelle de conjoncture. L’activité industrielle aurait très légèrement progressé, selon les chefs d’entreprises interrogés, avec des livraisons stabilisées après le repli d’octobre. Le taux d’utilisation des capacités de production est quasi stable et reste inférieur à la moyenne de longue période. Les carnets de commandes sont toujours à un niveau jugé insuffisant, les stocks de produits finis, proches du niveau désiré, n’ont pas évolué et les prix des produits finis ont légèrement augmenté.
10/12/2012

La situation politique en Italie ravive la tension sur les taux

Les tensions sur la dette italienne se sont ravivées lundi matin, après que Mario Monti a annoncé ce week-end sa démission prochaine de la présidence du Conseil, entraînant l’organisation d'élections anticipées, probablement en février, soit deux mois plus tôt que prévu. Cette instabilité politique fait craindre un abandon de la politique d’austérité mise en place depuis un an. Vers 13 heures, les taux à 10 ans progressaient de 34 points de base, à 4,85%, entraînant avec eux les taux espagnols et portugais. L'écart de rendement avec les taux allemands augmentait de 36 pb, à 358 pb. Une source italienne a indiqué à Reuters que ces tensions ne remettent pas en question les deux émissions prévues cette semaine par le pays mercredi et jeudi.
Mario Monti a annoncé sa démission prochaine. Photo: Alessia Pierdomenico/Bloomberg
10/12/2012

Les perspectives d'amélioration de la croissance restent faibles en zone euro

Les perspectives d'évolution de la croissance en zone euro, en Allemagne et en France restent faibles. L’indicateur avancé de l’OCDE pour la zone euro baisse de 0,1 point à 99,3. Celui de l’Allemagne recule de 0,1 point à 98,7, tandis que de la France baisse de 0,1 point à 99,4. Parallèlement, l’indicateur pour les Etats-Unis progresse de 0,1 point à 100,9 et celui pour le Royaume-Uni gagne 0,2 point à 100,5.
10/12/2012

L'excédent commercial allemand est au plus bas depuis 6 mois

L’excédent commercial allemand s’est encore contracté en octobre, revenu à son plus bas niveau en plus de six mois, en raison d’une faible croissance des exportations, selon les chiffres de l’Office fédéral de la statistique. Les importations ont augmenté de 2,5% alors que les exportations n’ont progressé que de 0,3%.
10/12/2012

La Grèce prolonge jusqu'à mardi son offre sur ses obligations

L’agence de gestion de la dette publique grecque a prolongé jusqu'à mardi midi, heure de Londres, l’offre de rachat d’obligations du pays destinée aux créanciers privés. Selon la presse grecque, Athènes aurait reçu déjà pour près de 30 milliards d’euros de titres, le montant nécessaire au succès de l’offre.
10/12/2012

Rééquilibrage de la croissance chinoise

Les exportations chinoises ont ralenti à un rythme annuel de croissance de 2,9% en novembre, après 11,6% en octobre. Un rythme nettement inférieur au consensus qui anticipait une accélération à 11,6%. La production industrielle a néanmoins accéléré à 10,1%, et les ventes de détail à un rythme sans précédent de 14,9%, traduisant un rééquilibrage de la croissance vers la demande intérieure avec une inflation à 2%.
10/12/2012

Mur budgétaire : Christine Lagarde veut un accord complet

La directrice générale du FMI a estimé sur CNN qu’un accord politique sur le budget américain pour éviter le mur budgétaire devrait être complet car une solution a minima ne parviendrait pas à apporter de la certitude aux investisseurs. Le président américain Barack Obama a rencontré hier à la Maison blanche le président de la Chambre des représentants, le républicain John Boehner, sur le sujet.
10/12/2012

Le Japon en récession

L’économie japonaise est tombée en récession avec une chute du PIB de 3,5% en rythme annualisé au trimestre achevé fin septembre, et un chiffre révisé en contraction de 0,1% au trimestre précédent. Barclays et Citigroup prévoient une nouvelle contraction sur le trimestre en cours. De quoi alimenter les anticipations d’un plan de relance monétaire et budgétaire sans précédent après la probable élection dimanche de Shinzo Abe à la tête du gouvernement.
10/12/2012

Les investisseurs chinois boudent les titres japonais

Les ventes nettes de titres japonais par les investisseurs chinois ont atteint 1.073 milliards de yens sur le mois d’octobre, soit le plus fort montant depuis plus de deux ans sur fond de tensions commerciales et diplomatiques entre les deux pays, selon les chiffres du ministère des Finances nippon. Les ventes nettes d’obligations à court terme ont atteint 1.130 milliards de yens.
10/12/2012

Nomination à la CDC

Jusqu’alors directeur général délégué du groupe Compagnie des Alpes, Franck Silvent est nommé directeur du pilotage stratégique, du développement durable et des études du groupe Caisse des Dépôts. Egalement membre des comités de direction du groupe, succédant ainsi à Edward Arkwright, il prendra ses fonctions début janvier 2013 et pilotera l'élaboration du nouveau plan stratégique.

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