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06/09/2012

Several funds woo Redcats US activities

Agefi reports, citing information in the New York Post, that the private equity funds TPG, Leonard Green, Berksire Partners and CCMP are reportedly in the running for the last request for proposals in the next few weeks to acquire the US activities of Redcats, an affiliate of the PPR group. Eight brands are included, primarily including the plus size clothing website and catalogue company OneStopPlus.
06/09/2012

Thomas d'Hauteville joins M&G Investments

As announced late in May by Newsmanagers (see Newsmanagers of 31 May 2012), Thomas d’Hauteville has joined M&G Investments as head of distribution in its Paris team. D’Hauteville was previously in charge of investor relations for North and South-West France at DNCA Finance. D”Hauteville will cover distribution activities in the North and South-West France regions for M&G.
06/09/2012

Un nouvelle société de gestion rejoint amLeague

La société de gestion Vivienne Investissement rejoint à compter du 1er octobre prochain le championnat amLeague. Adepte de la gestion quantitative, assurant la gestion d’un fonds «global macro» dénommé Ouessant, Vivienne Investissement interviendra de fait dans le cadre du mandat «multi asset class».Vivienne Investissement est une société de gestion quantitative indépendante issue d’un laboratoire de recherche et développement en finance quantitative fondé en 2005, et dont l’objectif a été, au moyen des mathématiques, d’innover et élaborer un processus de gestion robuste. Avec un track record obtenu en gestion pour compte propre, la société a élargi son activité à la gestion pour compte de tiers le 22 mai dernier.En rejoignant amLeague, Laurent Jaffrès, le président fondateur de la société compte ainsi accélerer le développement de son fonds en le faisant connaître auprès des investisseurs institutionnels, la gestion privée ou les family offices, etc. Le fonds, qui affiche un encours de 1,5 million d’euros, devrait cependant, dès l’année prochaine, être proposé aux particuliers via les conseillers en gestion de patrimoine.
06/09/2012

US hedge fund recruits a former Goldman director

The US hedge fund Strategic Value Partners has recruited Steve McGuinness, a former Goldman Sachs Asset Management executive, the Financial Times reports. He will be senior managing director at SVP, in charge of development, and will report to Victor Khosla, founder of the hedge fund. SVP has USD4bn in assets under management, of which USD2.2bn have been invested in distressed debt in the past 20 months.
06/09/2012

Summer rally penalises defensive managers

The S&P 500 index has posted gains of 12% since the beginning of the year, of which 9.8 percentage points have been since 1 June. This movement has caught defensive fund and hedge fund managers off guard, and they have now to buy shares not to be left out, in a trend which may drive up the price of equities further, the Wall Street Journal notes. However, there is a lot of uncertainty in Europe and about the Fed’s monetary stance, and so some managers are preferring to “keep their power dry.”
06/09/2012

Overall deterioration in results at Artio Global Investors

The US affiliate of Julius Baer Holding, Artio Global Funds, has filed with the SEC a fall in its profits in first half, to USD6.87bn, compared with USD44.7bn in January-June 2011.Assets as of 30 June totalled USD21.16bn, compared with USD46.83bn twelve months previously. Net redemptions totalled USD10.46bn, compared with USD7.76bn, while market effects were positive by USD1.26bn in the first six months of the year (compared with USD1.19bn in first half 2011), despite a negative impact of USD1.02bn in first quarter.In the period under review, Artio laid off 25 employees, but this measure which aimed to save USD20m annually did not affect portfolio managers or analysts in the areas of international equities, high yield or high grade bonds. The asset management firm has announced that it will be liquidating its four US equity funds (Artio US Multicap Fund, Artio US Midcap Fund, Artio US Smallcap Fund and Artio US Microcap Fund).
06/09/2012

Further decline in ETF trading on Euronext in August

Last month, daily trading volumes for on-book trades of ETFs on European markets of NYSE Euronext fell 16.4% compared with the previous month, to EUR191.7m, compared with EUR239.7m in July, and EUR257.7m in June. There were no new launches in August, and at the end of the month, the number of publicly-traded ETFs totalled 676, of which 587 were primary listings, comapred with 687 and 593 at the end of July.Block trades in August totalled EUR521.2m, compared with EUR741.5m in July (-29.7%), and EUR733.4m in June. They also represented 11.8% of total trading volume, compared with 14.1% in July The median spread in August stood at 28.1 basis points, compared with 29.7 points the previous month, and 31.15 points in June.
06/09/2012

Series of promotions at Newedge

Leslie Richman, based in Chicago, and Duncan Crawford, based in London, have been promoted to the position of co-global head, alternative investment solutions, in the prime clearing services unit at Newedge, a joint venture of Société Générale and Crédit Agricole CIB. They will report to Chris Topple, global head of prime clearing services. The former has for the past two decades been head of alternative investment solutions for the United States, while the latter was global head of the capital introuctions branch, in which position he will be replaced by Keith Johnson, based in Chicago, who had previously been head of capital introductions Americas.James Skeggs, in London, and Ryan Duncan, in Chicago, become global co-heads of the advisory group, which is responsible for analysis of hedge fund strategies. Skeggs had been head of research EMEA, wile Duncan has been head of research Americas (he is also chairman of the index committee at Newedge). In their new roles, they will report to Richman and Crawford.
06/09/2012

Icap makes a risky bet on forex market transparency

Icap, the major inter-bank broker worldwide, has made technical modifications to come into effect on 17 September, which will affect its EBS electronic trading platform, due to dissatisfaction on the part of its major clients, banks, due to competition which is viewed as aggressive and disruptive from high-frequency traders, Agefi reports.Icap will modify the granularity of its listings, removing the fifth decimal point from the relative price of strategic currency pairs. The broker will also reduce the percentage of allowed orders which are not processed as transactions, since these are only used to survey the market, in order to profit from any short-term inefficiencies.
06/09/2012

Risk management at the heart of hedge fund strategies

The 2008 financial crisis altered the behaviour of hedge funds in terms of risk management. A new study from the Managed Funds Association (MFA), BNY Mellon, and HedgeMark outlines new data showing that hedge funds are continuing to develop risk management practices that fit the needs of investors and fund managers alike.Managers of hedge funds have reinforced their internal controls with key recruitments, and considerably increased the amount of information released to investors on a regular basis. They have also made an effort to express their approach to risk management in comprehensible language, and are not hesitating to go into detail.The survey finds that 79% of firms now separate their risk manager and fund manager functions entirely to ensure independent oversight. More than 50% of participants estimate that independent verification of positions is an essential element in hedge fund surveillance.Institutional investors have welcomed the moves, and are not concealing their appetite for ongoing training in risk management. Efforts by hedge funds and professional associations are a step in the right direction, but need to be sustained in order not to be overtaken by developments in the sector.The survey finds that many hedge funds claim that practices put in place for risk management may generate alpha, and may allow them to stand out from the competition. In any case, reporting to investors will be produced on a daily or weekly basis for the next five years, compared with only 12% in 2007.
06/09/2012

Sarasin recruits in Geneva

Frédéric Luyet, most recently deputy head of private banking at Credit Suisse for the Geneva region, will be joining the Basel-based Banque Sarasin as director of the French-speaking Swiss private banking unit in Geneva.Luyet will report to Bas Rijke, head of the Geneva office, and will lead a team of more than 20 people, composed of experienced client advisers and credit specialists, investment advisers and financial planners.Sarasin business with private clients based in Switzerland will be increased considerably from Geneva.
06/09/2012

Qatar sovereign fund hostile to Glencore/Xstrata merger

A merger announced between the two Swiss commodity specialist groups Glencore and Xstrata appears to have suffered a major setback, the New York Times reports. Shareholders in Xstrata will on Friday vote on the proposed operation, which would create a giant valued at about USD86bn. However, Qatar Holding, which is owned by the Qatar sovereign fund, is opposed to the terms of the merger. Qatar Holding, which owns 12% of Xstrata, is said to favour a ratio of more than 3 Glencore shares to one Xstrata share, while Glencore, which controls 34% of Xstrata, is offering 2.8 shares for each one.
06/09/2012

Partners Group and Avista acquire US-based Strategic Partners

Partners Group and Avista Capital Partners have acquired the US medical shoe and clothing maker Strategic Partners, in partnership with management of the firm. Strategic Partners is a leader in its sector, as well as in school uniforms, a statement released on 6 September says. The acquisition price has not been disclosed.
06/09/2012

Composition of CAC 40 may be modified this week

The flagship index of the Paris stock exchange may be changed at the end of this week, Les Echos reports. Peugeot may be remoed from the index, to be replaced by the chemist Solvay, according to market specialists. Arkema and Sodexo are also among the candidates to join the CAC 40, where they would join Alcatel-Lucent and STMicroelectronics. The decision may be taken later this week, this evening or tomorrow, marking the first changes to the flagship index for nearly one year.
06/09/2012

Another departure from Swedish team at Aviva Investors

Senait Asgede has become the next to leave the Swedish team at Aviva Investors, the Swedish website Fondbranschen reports. She has joined Credit Suisse Asset Management in Stockholm. She there joins Tove Bångstad, who has made the same move, and who is now in charge of Scandinavian markets at Credit Suisse AM.
06/09/2012

AMP Capital plans to grow in Asia

The Australian firm AMP Capital is planning to develop in Asia from its Hong Kong offices, which opened on 4 September, Asian Investor reports. The asset management firm has also given its international CEO, Anthony Fasso, responsibility for clients based in Australia. Assets under management at AMP Capital total about USD125bn, of which 85% come from Australian clients. Fasso says that although the Australian market remains an essential one for its activities, the most dynamic areas in terms of growth are now abroad, including Japan and parts of Europe. AMP Capital is planning to develop its fixed income activities in Asia. Organic growth remains a priority, but the firm has not ruled out acquisitions if occasions present themselves.
06/09/2012

Appointment at SWIP

Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) has appointed Calum Smith to the newly-created position of head of the “Global Aggregate” unit, in the fixed income team based in Edinburgh, Investment Europe reports.Smith previously worked at BlackRock. The fixed income team at SWIP manages about GBP70bn in assets.
06/09/2012

Equities will be investors' preferred asset class in 2013

At a time when investors continue to prefer bonds, a survey by Neptune Investment Management finds that equities will be the preferred asset class for independent financial advisers (IFA) in 2012-2013.Neptune finds that 60% of advisers say equities will be investors’ preferred asset class, followed by fixed income (23.5%), commodities (3.5%) and real estate (2.4%). The survey also finds that investors continue to prefer British products to the detriment of international products.
06/09/2012

HSBC GAM introduces RDR share classes in its tracker funds

The range of eight tracker funds from HSBC Global Asset Management will gain the addition of a share class that complies with RDR regulations, with a management commission of 0.10%, Fundweb has announced. The shares will be available from independent financial advisers (IFA) via a certain number of platforms, institutions and discretionary managers.Overall, with registration fees, the products will cost 0.15%, compared with 0.25% net of front-end fee currently.Total TER varies depending on the product (see attached table).
06/09/2012

Ignis hires an LDI specialist from BlackRock

Ignis Asset Management has hired Joanna Howley as product specialist LDI and fixed income. She will be responsible for helping to grow Ignis’ fixed income and liability driven investment (LDI) business and will work closely with Ignis’investment professionals as well as clients, and will interact with all distribution channels.Jo Howley joins Ignis from BlackRock where she had worked since 1997. There, she held fixed income and LDI product specialist positions. Her responsibilities included mandateoversight, consultant liaison and client relationship management. She played a key role in helping to establish BlackRock as one of the UK’s leading providers of LDI solutions.
06/09/2012

Union sets up its own system of country ratings

Frank Engels, CIO for fixed income, announced on 5 September that Union Investment (the central asset management firm for the German co-operative banks) has set up its own system of country ratings, because S&P, Moody’s and Fitch have demonstrated in the past few years that they continue to behave procyclically and to react too late.The system developed by Union allows for systematic, uniform and transparent judgement of the solvency of governments, on the basis of fundamental economic data and measurable social and political indicators. It is based on three basic elements: fundamental macroeconomic evaluation of the ability of governments to pay their debts, an estimate of the desire of these governments to pay, and thus to make the necessary reforms in the case of need, and lastly, an advanced warning system which detects signs of weakness in economies which had previously been solid.Compared with ratings by the established ratings agencies, the Union ratings are worse for many industrialised countries, due to weak growth, the scale of debt, and poor budgetary discipline. On the other hand, emerging countries with solid budgets and strong growth are better-rated than by the established ratings agencies.According to Engels, the country ratings system from Union has recently been able to anticipate about 80% of ratings adjustments by S&P, Moody’s and Fitch. The system will be integrated from 1 November into the basic allocation process for the UniInstitutional Global Government Bonds fund, which is focused on investment grade government bonds.
06/09/2012

Santander to merge foreign asset management affiliates

Funds People reports that, according to Expansión, Santander is planning to merge its ten foreign asset management affiliates in a single holding company. The project is already well-advanced, as Spanish, UK, Argentinian and Luxembourg asset management firms have already been integrated, and the Mexican asset management firm of the group will soon be added as the bank in this country holds its IPO.The group will gradually transfer the Brazilian, Chilean, Polish, Puerto Rican and Swiss asset management firms to the holding company, while Santander Asset Management has recently founded a German affiliate, which will soon open in Frankfurt.
06/09/2012

BlackRock registers two newcits in Spain

The CNMV has issued sales licenses to two more UCITS-compliant hedge funds from BlackRock, Funds People reports. They are products with daily liqudity, the BSF Absolute Return Bond Fund, a bond fund managed by Ian Winship, and the BSF Americas Diversified Equity Absolute Return Fund, an equity fund to be managed by Raffaele Savi and Travis Cooke.
06/09/2012

Ping An Russell prepares a multi-management fund

The joint venture Ping An Russell Investments is preparing to launch a multi-managed fund aimed at high net worth individual (HNWI) clients early in fourth quarter, Hedge Week reports. The new product, known as MoM, will provide access to the same local hedge funds selected by Russell Investment for US dollar investors via the future QFII fund reserved for qualified foreign institutional investors.
06/09/2012

Co-founder of Hargreaves Lansdown resigns from board of directors

Hargreaves Lansdown announced on 5 September, at a release of annual results, that the co-founder of the firm, Stephen Lansdown, plans to resign from the board of directors at the next general shareholders’ meeting. Pre-tax profits at the group totalled GBP152.8m for the half-year to 30 June, compared with GBP126m the previous year, an increase of more than 20% year on year. Assets under administration as of 30 June totalled GBP26.3bn, up 7% compared with the previous year.
06/09/2012

ÖkoWorld launches "green" emerging market fund

The asset management firm ÖkoWorld Lux, an affiliate of the German firm versiko AG, all of whose funds are managed according to environmental, ethical and social criteria, will on 15 September officially launch the emerging market equity fund ÖkoWorld Growing Markets 2.0, for which initial subscriptions have been open since 15 July,a nd conclude on 15 September.The management team will invest primarily in equities in companies active in the areas of education, renewable energies, water, sustainable financial services, IT, sustainable consumer spending and leisure, urban development and infrastructure, as well as technical progress, mobility and housing. This is a paradigm shift from the 1.0 version of the emerging markets universe, in which equity markets were boosted by commodity prices.The fund has sales licenses for Luxembourg, Germany, Austria and Switzerland.CharacteristicsName: ÖkoWorld Growing Markets 2.0ISIN code: LU08 0034 6016Front-end fee: 5%Management commission: 1.76%
05/09/2012

Rebond de la productivité américaine

La hausse de la productivité non agricole aux Etats-Unis a été plus marquée au deuxième trimestre que précédemment estimé, alors que le coût unitaire du travail augmentait plus modérément, a indiqué le département du Travail. La productivité, qui mesure la production horaire par salarié, a crû de 2,2% en rythme annuel, alors que sa hausse avait auparavant été estimée à 1,6%. Elle avait reculé de 0,5% au premier trimestre.
05/09/2012

La Banque du Canada opte pour le statu quo

La banque centrale canadienne est restée campée sur ses positions, répétant qu’elle pourrait devoir relever ses taux d’intérêt en dépit du ralentissement économique mondial et prédisant une accélération de son économie nationale cette année et l’an prochain, accompagnée d’un retour de l’inflation à son objectif d’ici un an. Comme attendu, elle a laissé son taux d’intervention à 1%, le niveau qui est le sien depuis deux ans. Le Canada est le premier pays à avoir relevé ses taux en 2010.
05/09/2012

Wolfgang Schaüble adopte une ligne plus souple sur la Grèce

Le ministre des Finances allemand s’est dit convaincu que la zone euro compterait toujours 17 membres l’an prochain, renforçant ainsi le sentiment que Berlin n’entend pas en voir la Grèce écartée. Les inspecteurs de la «troïka» des créanciers de la Grèce sont attendus à Athènes cette semaine pour faire le point sur les réformes en cours, qui visent à réduire les dépenses budgétaires de 12 milliards d’euros en deux ans.
05/09/2012

Les Pays-Bas émettent à un coupon record

Le Trésor néerlandais a émis mercredi pour 3,5 milliards d’obligations à 3 ans en dollars, à un coupon de 0,25%. De sources de marché, il s’agit du coupon le plus bas jamais enregistré pour un émetteur non américain. Le rendement à l'émission a atteint quant à lui 0,507%.

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