Klaus Kaldemorgen, an icon in German asset management, has admitted with irritation that he has been too defensive over the past two years, and that his cash allocation was in euros when it should have been in US dollars or in Swiss francs, Die Welt reports. His wealth management fund Vermögensbildungsfonds I from DWS (which still has EUR5.1bn in assets) lost 11% in 2011, 9 points more than the MSCI World index, and it made only 11% in 2010, again 9 points below the index.But the first weeks of 2012 are behind us and the fund has gained two points over its benchmark. The bet of increasing exposure to the financial sector paid off. And Kaldemorgen is also betting more on oil, gas, and commodities. It remains to be seen if this will be enough to hold onto a three-star rating from Morningstar.
Universal-Investment, a specialist in white-label products, is planning to launch the Responsible Selection Fund UI, a “sustainable development” ETF fund which will invest primarily in ETFs which replicate equity indices such as the Dow Jones Sustainability World Enlarged and the S&P Global Water Index, as well as micro-finance funds, real estate products and forestry funds, for the wealth management firm Dr. Upgang Vermögensberatung.The fund is aimed primarily at IFAs who work on a commission basis, for which reason Universal is not planning to charge any front-end fee or performance commission. In addition, the composition of the portfolio will be viewable at any time, with weighting, on the website www.responsibleselection-fund.de.CharacteristicsName: Responsible Selection Fund UIISIN code: DE000A1JLRD2Management commission: 0.92%
Results like this haven’t been seen for twelve years. Hedge funds have posted their best start to the year since 2000. The HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index has posted gains of 2.14% for February, bringing performance in the first two months of the year to nearly 5%, Hedge Week reports. The largest contribution to the performance of the index came from the HFRI Equity Hedge Index, which gained nearly 7% in the two-month period. However, most strategies did well. The event-driven strategy gained 1.9% in February, and 4.6% since the beginning of the year, while relative value arbitrage gained 1.7% on one month, and 3.6% over two months. The HFRI Macro index shows gains of 1.2% in February, and 2.4% since the beginning of the year, despite losses for most hedge funds concentrated on commodities. There were significant gains for hedge funds investing in emerging markets, of 4.3% in February and 9.3% in the first two months of the year, with special mention for funds investing in Russia and Eastern Europe, which have gained 12.7% in two months.
In the first week of March, appetite for risk has not decreased, and investors have preferred emerging market bond funds and emerging market equity funds, which have posted over USD1bn in net subscriptions, according to statistics from EPFR Global. As Europe awaited the results of the Greek debt swap, Europeaan funds continued to see limited redemptions. Equity funds overall finished the week ending on 7 March with outfllows of USD4.3bn, while bond funds, for their part, have posted net inflows of USD6.9bn. Money market funds have posted net subscriptions of USD5.9bn. Since the beginning of the year, US money market funds have posted outflows of USD53.8bn, while European money market funds show inflows of USD3.49bn. In North America, US equity funds have seen outflows of over USD5bn, while net subscriptions since the beginning of the year fell under USD1bn. Most redemptions were from small and large cap ETFs. Japanese equity funds saw redemptions of nearly USD450m, as investors were concerned by rising energy costs and a sluggish reconstruction programme. Since the beginning of the year, outflows have totalled USD1.6bn, while Japanese equity funds have posted returns of 12%. Since the beginning of the year, high yield bond funds, still highly popular, posted net inflows of over USD23bn.
The Hennessee hedge fund index in February posted gains of 1.72%, following performance of 2.30% in January, bringing total gains of 4.07% since the beginning of the year.The only strategy to show losses is short bias funds, with losses of 5.06% in February, compared with 5.08% in January, and losses of 9.89% for first quarter 2012.Excluding financial and regional strategies, the best performer was event-driven, with gains of 1.66% in February, compared with 3.78% in January and gains of 5.50% for the first two months of the year.
Funds People reports that Antonio Palma, partner and CEO at Mirabaud, has announced that the group is in a redeployment phase in Spain, following its acquisition of Venture Finanzas. The changes will result in a single range of Spanish funds, which will be on sale throughout the group, and modernised to comply with the UCITS IV directive. This will involve discontinuations of products, a reshuffle, and changes to the management philosophy for some funds. The range will be made up of Spanish equity funds and one local money market product. European equity funds from Venture will be merged with the equivalent Mirabaud products. Meanwhile, Mirabaud will gradually register its funds with the CNMV.
It has been a very good start to the year for Asian hedge funds, after a calamitous year in 2011. According to statistics from Eurekahedge, Asia ex Japan hedge funds earned gains of 4.40% in February, after growth of 4.26% in January. In the first two months of this year, thw growth comes to 8.66%. The Mizuho-Eurekahedge Asia ex Japan index has also posted gains of 9.55% since the beginning of the year, suggesting that larger funds outperformed in the first two months of the year. Event-driven strategies have done particularly well, with estimated gains over two months of 19%. The HFRI Emerging Markets: Asia Ex-Japan Index, calculated by Hedge Fund Research, gained 5.21% last month, bringing performance in the first two months of the year to 10.54%.
Skandia Investment Group has selected the quantitative wealth management firm Analytic Investors to manage its Skandia Swiss Equity Fund (CHF65m), The objective is to outperform the Swiss market overall with reduced volatility.
The Irish-registered OEIC fund Thames River World Government Bond fund (GBP82.4m), which was launched on 12 November 2008, will be liquidated on 31 March by F&C, as the client for whom the fund was launched has decided to revise its allocation and no longer to invest in government bonds, Fund Web reports.
The British asset management firm Ignis Asset Management has recruited a manager from LV= Asset Management, Graham Ashby, Money Marketing reports. Ashby will manage the income equity fund, Ignis UK Equity income fund, whose assets under management total GBP90.6m. Ashby had been in charge of the UK equity fund at LV=.
The British asset management firm F&C has recruited Steve Ilott as head of multi-strategy investments in its new investment and institutional business (IIB) unit. Ilott previously worked at Alignment Investors, a division of BlueCrest Capital, where he was a partner. He was previously global head of fixed income at Aberdeen Asset Management, until 2007.
BlackRock has closed the acquistion of Canadian-based Claymore Investments (USD7.4bn in assets as of the end of January) from Guggenheim Partners (see Newsmanagers of 13 January) for an undisclosed amount. Claymore will now operate under the iShares name.The Independent Review committee for Canadian ETFs from iShares (USD29bn) will be extended by funds from Claymore, while the Claymore Advisory Board will cease to exist.
Two of the largest pension funds in Denmark, AP Pension and FSP, have decided to join forces to form a new entity with assets under management totalling DKK77bn, or about EUR10.4bn. The new structure will be known as AP Pension. FSP, the pensoin fund for the financial sector, with DKK22bn in assets under management, has announced that it has decided to merge with AP Pension due to increased competition in the sector and regulations which require increased owners’ equity levels. FSP has been in the spotlight before due to its high cost levels. FSP charges a commission of DKK2,822 per year, compared with only DKK1,355 for AP Pension. The new fund will charge a total annual commission of between DKK1,350 and DKK1,500, with a reduction of up to 10% in the next few years. The merger is expected to be approved at the next combined general shareholders’ meeting of FSP, scheduled for 19 April.
In February, Swedish fund overall posted net inflows of SEK5.4bn, with net subscriptions of SEK12.4bn for equity funds more than offsetting net redemptions of SEK7.4bn from money market funds, the Swedish investment fund association (Fondbolagens förening) reports. Diversified funds, for their part, posted net inflows of SEK1.2bn.For the first two months of the year, net subscriptions totalled SEK6.9bn, thanks to SEK25.7bn which went to equity funds, while money market funds lost SEK14.9bn and bond funds had net outflows of SEK3.6bn, and hedge funds for their part had redemptions of SEK2bn.As of 29 February, total assets in Swedish funds totalled SEK1.958trn, SEK62bn more than at the end of January. That marks the highest amount since a peak of SEK1.970trn in May 2011.Of this total, equity funds represent 55%, at SEK1.077trn, while Swedish equity products total SEK298.6bn, and international equities account for SEK247.52bn.
Selon une note diffusée par JPMorgan, les fonds monétaires américains ont accru de 30 milliards de dollars en février leur portefeuille de dette dans les banques de la zone euro, portant le total à 211 milliards de dollars. Cette progression s’était déjà établie à 27 milliards de dollars le mois précédent, signe d’un apaisement des tensions en zone euro.
«La situation ne peut pas rester inchangée», a déclaré le Premier ministre Johanna Sigurdardottir. L’Islande devra choisir entre rejoindre l’euro ou adopter unilatéralement la devise d’un autre pays. L’Islande a ouvert en 2010 des négociations en vue d’une éventuelle accession. Un vote pourrait intervenir en 2013 mais l’opinion publique se montre hostile.
Katsuyuki Ishida, le vice-ministre des affaires économiques japonais, a indiqué ce matin que la Banque du Japon ne devrait pas lancer de nouvelles mesures d’assouplissement monétaire lors de sa réunion qui débute demain. Un avis partagé par 12 des 14 économistes interrogés par Bloomberg.
La devise chinoise s’est affaiblie de 0,2% cette nuit à Shanghai, à 6,3253 contre dollar. Le yuan est en baisse de 0,4% depuis le début de l’année après une appréciation de 4,7% en 2011. La Banque Populaire de Chine (PBOC) a indiqué dans un communiqué qu’elle entendait utiliser de «nouvelles idées» pour sa politique de gestion de ses réserves de change. Le premier ministre Wen Jiabao avait indiqué le 5 mars son intention de maintenir un taux de change «globalement stableà un niveau approprié et équilibré» alors que le déficit extérieur chinois s’est creusé à 24 milliards d’euros en février.
La Reserve Bank of India a abaissé vendredi contre toute attente de 75 points de base le ratio des réserves obligatoires des banques, à 4,75%. Cette décision accroît les anticipations de baisse des taux lors de la prochaine réunion de politique monétaire, le 15 mars. Jusqu'à présent, les économistes attendaient jeudi prochain un maintien des taux directeurs et une diminution de 50 pb seulement du ratio des réserves.
Le PIB du Portugal s’est contracté de 1,3% au quatrième trimestre par rapport au trimestre précédent, a annoncé l’Institut national de la statistique INE. Par rapport au quatrième trimestre 2010, le PIB s’est contracté de 2,8%, suivant les chiffres révisés de l’INE. Sur l’ensemble de 2011, l'économie portugaise s’est contractée de 1,6%, après une contraction de 1,4% en 2010, ce qui est conforme à la prévision du gouvernement.
Aldar Properties et Sorough Real Estate, deux promoteurs immobiliers d’Abou Dhabi, envisagent de donner naissance à un groupe fusionné pesant 15 milliards de dollars d’actifs. Les deux parties se donnent trois mois pour étudier la faisabilité du projet qui a reçu la bénédiction du gouvernement local, actionnaire des deux groupes.
Lors d’un meeting à Villepinte, le président-candidat a proposé hier que l’Europe se dote d’un «Buy European Act» sur le modèle du «Buy American Act». «La France exigera que désormais les PME européennes aient une part des marchés publics qui leur soit réservée», a-t-il déclaré. Nicolas Sarkozy dit également souhaiter que les responsables politiques reprennent à la Commission européenne la charge des décisions en matière de politique commerciale.
Les élections législatives anticipées en Grèce auront lieu au plus tôt le 29 avril ou courant mai, selon le porte-parole du gouvernement, Pantelis Kapsis. Ce délai devrait permettre au gouvernement d’union de boucler l’accord sur la dette souveraine du pays et d'éviter que la Grèce ne soit en défaut de paiement. Moody’s a estimé que le pays fera face à des «défis majeurs» dans les prochaines années pour atteindre les objectifs budgétaires nécessaires pour satisfaire ses bailleurs de fonds.
La Pologne, qui dépend à plus de 90% du charbon pour produire son électricité, s’est de nouveau opposée vendredi à Bruxelles à la «feuille de route» 2050 de l’Union européenne visant à réduire les émissions de CO2. «Il aurait été préférable que 27 pays s’engagent, mais 26 c’est tout de même encourageant», a déclaré le ministre danois du Climat et de l’Energie, Martin Lidegaard.
L’opérateur boursier lance une offre sur 50 à 60 % du capital de la chambre de compensation LCH.Clearnet. Nyse Euronext ne dit pas s’il apportera ses titres.
Le rapport trimestriel de la Banque des règlements internationaux, publié dimanche soir, montre, chiffres à l’appui, à quel point les prêteurs européens ont réduit leur production fin 2011 dans des métiers de dimension mondiale comme le financement export ou aéronautique.