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05/03/2012

Avenir Finance IM: Two managers take over from Guillaume Nicoulaud

Following the departure of Guillaume Nicoulaud, manager of the quantitative fund Opéra US, the asset management firm Avenir Finance Investment Managers (AIFM) has placed the management of the fund in the hands of Guillaume Garchery and Emmanuel Faik, managers at AFIM since September 2009 and July 2011, respectively.Gerchery, a former quantitative trader in the statistical arbitrage team at Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking from 2006 to 2009, where he was in charge of development and application of low-frequency strategies on European equities, joined Avenir Finance Investment Managers in order to implement quantitative equity and global macro strategies in particular. He worked on the development of equity strategies based on risk premiums, which were implemented with US Opéra.Faik, previously in the Investment division at the European Central Bank, which manages the currency reserves for the European system and the implementation of the Securities Markets Programme for bond markets, contributed to publications from that institution on the subject of unconventional monetary policy.
05/03/2012

Carmignac practices exclusion for its funds

Edouard Carmignac, founder of the eponymous asset management firm, has been excluding weapons manufacturers and tobacco producers from his funds for 20 years, Financial Times Fund Management reveals. Eric le Coz, deputy CEO, says in the FT weekly supplement that the exclusion is not an explicit policy of the fund, but that a study is underway to “formalise the process.” The move comes at a time when regulations will require French asset management firms to disclose how they take environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues into account.
05/03/2012

Henderson and Tantallon close Asian hedge funds

The British asset management firm Henderson Global Investors on 23 February closed its Asia-Pacific Multi-Strategy fund, launched in 2006, Asian Investor reports. Its assets under management total about USD30m. According to a spokesperson from Henderson, the fund has a good track record, but has not managed to attract new investors. The Singapore-based firm Tantallon, for its part, has closed its long-only fund, the Bass Rock Fund, whose assets under management totalled about USD145m as of the end of 2011. Macquarie Funds Group and Pinpoint Asset Management have recently taken similar measures to confront a difficult environment for hedge funds.
05/03/2012

Pension fund deficits still declining

In February, the average coverage rate for the liabilities of US corporate pension funds increased by 2.1 percentage points, to 76.2%, following a major increase of 1.6 points in January, according to estimates by BNY Mellon Asset Management. The improvement is due to the fact that equities in February had their fifth consecutive month of gains.On average, assets in corporate pension funds increased by 2.7 points in February, while their liabilities fell by 0.2% due to a 3 basis point rise in the discount rate for businesses rated AA, to 4.33%.
05/03/2012

Good start to the year for Dutch hedge funds

In January, the Finles/IEX Hollandse Hedge Fund Index (HHFI) of Netherlands-based hedge funds outperformed the Deutsche Bank (+1.76%) and Lyxor (+1.30%) indices, with gains of 3.42%. The index includes 29 products; at the end of January, it stood at 105.46.The three best-performing funds in the HHFI were the gold long/short fund Gold & Discovery Fonds, with gains of 17.71%, the Bloemendaal (long/short equity) fund with +11.47%, and the statistical arbitrage fund HiQ Market Neutral (+10.15%).
05/03/2012

DWS launches guaranteed bond fund

The CNMV on 2 March issued a registration for the passively-managed fund DWS Bonos 2016, which at maturity (on 20 September 2016) offers returns of 4% per year for A-class shares (retail) and 4.45 for B-class shares (institutional) subscribed to before 28 March 2012. The management of the fund, launched on 20 February by DWS Investments (Spain), SGIIC, SA is outsourced to the German firm DWS Investment GmbH.Until 28 March 2012, the portfolio will be invested in cash, repos of Spanish public debt, savings accounts, private bonds, and liquid public and private money market instruments of the OECD region (rated at least A-), with an average maturity of less than 3 months. The fund will then be 95% invested in corporate bonds (of which up to 33% is to be invested in securities rated below BBB-), and the remainder in public debt rated at least A-. There will be no currency risk, and the fund will not invest either in other funds, or in securitisations.CharacteristicsName: DWS Bonos 2016, FIISIN codes:ES0127098004 (A class shares)ES0127098012 (B class shares)Minimal subscriptionA class shares: EUR10B class shares: EUR600,000Management commissionsA class shares: 0.2% until 28 March 2012, then 1.2%B class shares: 0.2% until 28 March 2012, then 0.8%Early withdrawal penalty2% from 29 March 2012 to 19 September 2016
05/03/2012

Liberbank releases a telecoms guaranteed fund

The firm born of the merger of Cajastur, Caja de Extremadura and Caja Cantabria, Liberbank, has launched the guaranteed fund Liberbank Telecommunicaciones 3X7, which offers returns of 0.93% per year (3% until maturity in July 2015), plus a participation in the evolution of the share prices of Telefónica, France Télécom and Deutsche Telekom, Expansión reports. Returns on these shares will be 7% per year if the average share price for the three firms remains higher than the initial value.Management commission is set at 0.75% until the end of the sale period on 24 April.
05/03/2012

Lyxor lists three more ETFs in Madrid

On 2 March, the CNMV registered three more ETFs from Lyxor Asset Management (Société Générale group). They are the Lyxor ETF Russell 1000 Growth, Russell 1000 Value, and Russell 2000.
05/03/2012

Deka earns capital gains in Seoul

The German asset management firm Deka Immobilien has sold the office property Myeongdong Central Building (19,500 square metres) in Seoul, which had been in the portfolio of the open-ended real estate fund Deka-ImmobilienGlobal, for EUR58m. The property, which has been sold to the South Korean asset management firm JR AMC, was purchased for EUR46.6m in 2005, and its most recent expert valuation estimated its value at EUR55.6m.The sale reduced the exposure of the portfolio of the fund to the Asia-Pacific region from 36% to 34%, and the Deka-ImmobilienGlobal no longer has any assets on the Korean peninsula, as the other property had been sold in late 2010.
05/03/2012

New York pension funds invest in D.E. Shaw and Brevan Howard

A growing number of public pension funds are increasing their investments in alternative management, either in hedge funds or private equity, Bloomberg reports. The two major alternative management firms D.E. Shaw and Brevan Howard will receive USD350m each from the New York police and fire departments pension fund. The New York pension fund, whose assets under management total about USD70bn (as of 30 November 2011), will also invest USD200m in Brigade Capital Management. Investments by the pension fund in hedge funds will total USD1.35bn, barely half of its objective of USD3bn.
05/03/2012

Institutionals admire example of Canadian pension funds

Canadian public pension funds appear as precursors in the eyes of institutional investors, who are seeking to imitate them, The Economist reports. It’s not the size of the funds which interests investors – they manage over USD640bn in assets – so much as their investment strategy. Unlike many pension funds, Canadian institutions manage their portfolios internally and invest directly. They invest more than other funds in buyout operations, infrastructure and real estate. The Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) would like to have 90% of its assets managed internally by the end of 2012. Canadian pension funds often make small solo transactions, but they undertake larger operations as co-sponsors with major private equity firms. This strategy allows thm to make substantial savings, particularly in private equity, where the famous standard commission level is 2/20 (2% of assets and 20% of profits). This approach has manifestly paid off. In the past ten years, the Ontario teachers’ pension fund, a pioneer in this area, has earned the best returns of the 330 largest public and private pension funds in the world.
05/03/2012

Risk of hedge fund fire sales still looms, says FSA

The British Financial Services Authority (FSA) claims that there is still a systemic risk of fire sales of assets by distressed hedge funds during periods of market turbulence, according to its most recent study of the sector (“Assessing the possible sources of systemic risk from hedge funds.»)The most recent surveys by the FSA suggest that the footprint of hedge funds remains modest in most markets, with the possible exceptions of convertible bond, interest rate derivative and commodity derivative markets.For most hedge funds, leverage remains relatively low, and most funds estimate that they would be able to liquidate their assets more rapidly then the deadlines on their liabilities, which suggests that the transformation of maturities into liquidity is not highly developed. The FSA adds, however, that these estimates are not necessarily appropriate in times of market stress.Statistics also suggest that counterparties have increased their requirements in terms of margin calls, and toughened up the terms for hedge fund exposures since the financial crisis, which has increased resistance to hedge fund defaults.
05/03/2012

Change in managers for a Scottish Widows small caps fund

Scottish Widows has decided to entrust the management of the Scottish Widows HIFML UK Smaller Companies Alpha fund to an in-house team. As a result, the fund, which had previously been managed by Harry Nimmo, the small caps specialist at Standard Life Investments, will now be managed by two members of the SWIP equities team, Gregor Macdonald and Andrew Paisley. They are also responsible for the management of the SWIP UK Smaller Companies fund and the SW UK Smaller Companies fund. At Standard Life Investments, Nimmo manages the SLI UK Smaller Companies fund, whose assets under management total GBP1bn, the Standard Life UK Smaller Companies trust (GBP140m), and the SLI Global Smaller Companies fund, which has recently been created.
05/03/2012

Franklin launches a fund of global convertibles

Franklin Templeton on 24 February launched a fund of global convertible bonds, which will be managed by Alan Muschott, Money Marketing reports. The fund will be registered in Luxembourg, and will use the same strategy as a fund domiciled in the United States launched in 1987.
05/03/2012

Market effects account for most of increase in assets for Luxembourg funds

Global assets in Luxembourg based funds totalled EUR2.15708trn as of the end of January, an increase of 2.89% in one month, the CSSF reports. The Luxmebourg regulator says the positive variation in the month of January of EUR60.659bn was the result of market effects totalling EUR55.407bn (+2.64%), and inflows of EUR5.162bn (+0.25%). There were 3,837 collective investment organisms (OPC) and specialised investment funds (FIS), compared with 3,845 the previous month. 2,421 entities have adopted a multiple sub-fund structure, which represents 11,857 sub-funds. With the addition of the 1,416 entities with traditional structures, a total of 13,273 entities are active on the financial market, a statement says. As of 31 January 2012, over a sliding 12-month period, net asset volumes fell by 1.23%.
05/03/2012

Thomas Miller Investment creates an onshore activity

The asset management firm Thomas Miller Investment is launching an onshore activity based in the United Kingdom, as a complment to its existing activities on the Isle of Man, Investment Europe reports. The new activity will be based in Edinburgh, and will be led by Harry Morgan, former head of investment management at Adam & Company. He will lead a team of 15 people. Assets under management at Thomas Miller Investment total GBP2.7bn.
05/03/2012

Guernsey, a preferred place for fund administration

Hedge fund managers in the United Kingdom have a marked preference for Guernsey. According to a survey by Fund Domiciles, 24% of them have their funds domiciled in Guernsry, compared with 21% in the United Kingdom, 18% in Jersey, 12% in the Cayman Islands and 9% in Luxembourg. For 24% of managers, administration services for their funds are done in Guernsey, compared with 20% in the United Kingdom, 18% in Ireland, and 16% in Jersey. According to Fund Domiciles, these results reflect the rise of Guernsey to third place in the evaluation of the market in terms of stability. Guernsey is especially highly regarded by the private equity sector. The number of establishments with a license as of 2011 totalled 35, as Bank Sarasin has not renewed its license, down from a peak of 79 at the end of the 1990s.
05/03/2012

Newton parts with its CIO for private clients

Philip Collins, chief investment officer for private clients and charities, has left Newton Investment Management (BNY Mellon group). His position has been discontinued following the promotion of Simon Pryke to the position of CIO, FundWeb reports.Collins, who had been manager of the Newton Phoenix fund, will be replaced by his co-manager Paul Flood, who will be succeeded by Ben Ward.
05/03/2012

Henderson GI looks to develop in real estate debt

Henderson Global Investors has hired John Feeney as head of real estate debt in its secured credit team. He will work closely with Henderson’s property business as well as the fixed income team to drive business growth in real estate debt as traditional lenders retreat from the market. Feeney most recently headed Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Asia real estate Special Assets Group with responsibility for the region’s legacy debt book.
05/03/2012

Des fonds s’organisent pour la branche peinture auto de DuPont

Reuters croit savoir que des fonds de capital investissement tâchent d’unir leurs forces pour tenter de racheter les activités de peinture pour véhicules de DuPont, dont le prix pourrait dépasser 4 milliards de dollars. Blackstone se serait d’ores et déjà allié avec Bain Capital, tandis que le fonds Clayton, Dubilier & Rice ferait équipe avec CVC Capital Partners.
05/03/2012

Le fonds souverain CIC reçoit un financement additionnel

Jesse Wang, vice-président exécutif du fonds souverain China Investment Corp, a fait part de l’obtention l’an dernier d’un financement additionnel de 30 milliards de dollars. Le responsable a refusé de dire si ce montant pourrait servir à acheter des actifs en Europe. «Ce n’est pas parce que l’Europe a ses problèmes que nous changerons notre méthode d’examen», a déclaré le dirigeant.
05/03/2012

Un fonds s’invite au capital de Latécoère

Selon Le Figaro, le fonds de gestion alternative Alura Partners a franchi le seuil de 2% du capital de l’équipementier aéronautique. Le groupe a finalisé en décembre dernier sa restructuration financière avec ses créanciers bancaires et entend prendre part à la consolidation du secteur «dans un horizon de 2-3 ans».
05/03/2012

Naxicap Partners entre chez Lipp

Le fonds d’investissement a racheté 37% du capital de Groupe Bertrand aux fonds L Capital et Capzanine. Fondé par Olivier Bertrand, le groupe compte notamment parmi ses enseignes la brasserie Lipp et les boulangeries Moisan. Olivier Bertrand en reste le PDG et le premier actionnaire.
05/03/2012

LVMH entend grandir en Inde

L Capital, le fonds d’investissement du groupe LVMH, tiendrait la corde pour le rachat de l’indien Lilliput Kidswear. KKR, Mahindra & Mahindra et IVF (India Value Fund) auraient toutefois également signé des accords de confidentialité afin de négocier la transaction, selon le quotidien. Les discussions avec L Capital en seraient à un stade avancé et pourraient se conclure d’ici quelques semaines.
05/03/2012

Les technologiques chinoises émettent à haut rendement

Le 21st Century Business Herald indique de source anonyme que le régulateur chinois des marchés, la CSRC, a autorisé les petites et moyennes entreprises du pays au sein des secteurs technologique et agricole à émettre des obligations à haut rendement négociables sur les Bourses de Shanghai et de Shenzhen.

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