The alternative asset management firm Bridgewater has taken on the pension fund for Texas teachers as an investor in its capital, according to Pensions & Investments magazine. The Texan pension fund invested USD250m in Bridgewater. As of 30 June last year, the pension fund had invested USD4.3bn in 30 funds, including products from Bridgewater, Tudor, AQR and Blue Trend, out of total assets of USD106.7bn.
The second-largest Canadian pension fund, the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board, has recruited a former Goldman Sachs chief, Mark Machin, as regional head for Asia, a newly-created position, Asian Investor reports. Machin, who will be based in Hong Kong, will begin in his new position on 19 March. He will work to develop the pension fund’s activities in China. The Chinese portfolio of the fund now totals CAD3.5bn. As of 31 December, assets under management in the Asia-Pacific region totalled CAD13.1bn, about 8.5% of total assets under management.
Investec Asset Management has announced the appointment of Leslie Lipschitz, former director of the IMF Institute, as visiting strategist. Based in Cape Town, he will work closely with the fixed income and multi-asset teams in formulating their macroeconomic and thematic views.In a career spanning almost 40 years at the IMF, Lipschitz held increasingly senior positions in three area departments (Asian and Pacific, African and European) and in the Policy Development and Review Department.
The equity portfolio of the Swedish pension fund AP1 (Första AP-fonden) fell 9.8% in 2011, while total assets under management, SEK213.3bn (about EUR24bn), finished the year down 1.7% (or 1.9% after costs), according to the fund’s annual report, the website IPE reports. The fund says that it is working to reduce the volatility of its equity portfolio, by increasing geographical diversification. The current portfolio includes only Swedish and European shares. In the past twelve months, equity allocations fell from over 60% to less than 50% (most recently 49.2% at the end of 2011), in favour of bonds (40.9% as of the end of December 2011) and alternative management (9.3% as of the end of December).
The boards of directors at Oddo Asset Management and the Sicav Orsay Euribor Plus have decided to rationalise their money market product range, merging the Orsay Euribor Plus Sicav (FR0000288243) with the FCP Oddo Trésorerie 3-6 mois (FR0010583310), Fondsweb reports.
First Eagle Investment Management has added to its product range with the launch of the high yield bond fund First Eagle High Yield Fund. This is actually a relaunch by the US asset management firm of the Old Mutual High Yield Fund. The fund, which was initially managed by an affiliate of Old Mutual, Dwight Asset Management, had previously been managed by Edward Miegs and Sean Slein. In October, First Eagle became the investment adviser to the fund, and then recruited the two managers. The First Eagle High Yield Fund has total assets of USD48.2m.
The hedge fund manager First Trust Advisors has announced that it is launching nine new ETF funds in the AlphaDEX range. They include two trans-regional ETFs and seven country ETFs: First Trust Germany AlphaDEX Fund (NYSE: FGM) First Trust Canada AlphaDEX Fund (NYSE: FCAN) First Trust Australia AlphaDEX Fund (NYSE: FAUS) First Trust United Kingdom AlphaDEX Fund (NYSE: FKU) First Trust Taiwan AlphaDEX Fund (NYSE: FTW) First Trust Hong Kong AlphaDEX Fund (NYSE: FHK) First Trust Switzerland AlphaDEX Fund (NYSE: FSZ) First Trust Developed Markets ex-U.S. Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund (NYSE: FDTS) First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDEX Fund (NYSE: FEMS)
The British Investment Management Association (IMA) says it is concerned about diverging interpretations of the contents of key investor information documents (KIID), which are intended to replace the simplified prospectus, Hedge Week reports.Andy Maysey, senior advisor for retail distribution at the professional association, has told FTAdviser that the IMA’s priority is harmonisation, meaning that the information provided should be consistent in all member states.On the subject of fees, for example, the British association claims that TER is an appropriate measure, while BlackRock and HSBC Global Asset Management are gunning for more transparency.
The British Financial Services Authority (FSA) on 20 February announced that it has fined the Spanish banking group Santander GBP1.5m, for failure to provide information on structured products. Santander failed to inform clients about the coverage details of its structured products during a period of turbulence and financial uncertainty. The bank sold about GBP2.7bn worth of the structured products between the end of 2008 and the beginning of 2010, of which GBP1.2bn were after June 2009; only in January 2010 did the bank disclose the coverage limitations of the products.
Assogestioni, the Italian association of asset managers, has renamed its money market fund category, and modified the investment limits for the products, in order to bring them into line with CESR guidelines. The “fondi di liquidità” category will now be known as “fondi di mercato monetario” (money market funds). In terms of new limits, for instruments issued by sovereign issuers, an investment grade rating will be sufficient. Asset management firms will be required to comply with the new criteria by 31 December 2012.
Financial Times Deutschland understands that Borsa Italiana is planning to introduce a new charge applicable to high-frequency dealers who place a large number of orders and cancel them before execution. The stock market company decision is in line with a recommendation by the Italian regulator, Consob, which is seeking to forestall large price fluctuations. Borsa Italiana declined to comment.
Rupert Dyson, former manager of the hedge fund firm Sloane Robinson, has founded Edale Capital, and is preparing to launch a European long/short equity fund in the next few months, Financial News reports.
Pimco has recruited three people for its LDI (liability-driven investment) team in the United Kingdom, Financial News reports. They are Hannah Simons, Janki Tanna and Tina Adatia.
The British bank Lloyds Banking Group will be taking back a portion of the bonuses paid to 13 of its managers or former managers, including five directors. The BBC reports that the amount to be reclaimed is equivalent to GBP2m. The unprecedented decision is motivated by the enormous bill that Lloyds had to pay last year for selling payment protection insurance products to retail borrowers. It is apparent that many of the private individuals to whom the borrowers’ insurance was sold were not eligible for it, and Lloyds has been forced to write down GBP3.2bn to reimburse them.
Le marché boursier transalpin, détenu par le London Stock Exchange, devrait introduite de nouveaux frais afin de décourager les traders d’envoyer des ordres excessifs, alors que les régulateurs européens tentent de répondre au trading à haute fréquence. Selon Bloomberg, la nouvelle grille tarifaire devrait être dévoilée d’ici la fin du mois.
La société spécialisée dans la gestion d’actifs immobiliers a constitué une SPPICAV RFA EL pour le compte du Groupement Système U. Elle est destinée aux entités du groupement et à ses associés afin, principalement, d’accompagner l’expansion du réseau pour l’acquisition de nouveaux emplacements et magasins.
Le courtier en pétrole genevois est entré en discussions exclusives avec la société américaine de private equity Addax & Oryx Group en vue de la cession de ses activités aval (approvisionnement, stockage et distribution) en Afrique.
La Belgique, les Pays-Bas et la République tchèque ont cessé d’importer du pétrole en provenance d’Iran tandis que la Grèce, l’Espagne et l’Italie ont réduit leurs achats, a annoncé la Commission européenne. L’embargo voté le mois dernier par les Vingt-Sept doit entrer en vigueur le 1er juillet, un délai permettant de trouver des solutions d’approvisionnement alternatives.
Le quotidien croit savoir que le Fonds stratégique d’investissement pourrait faire son entrée au capital du spécialiste finistérien de la volaille, numéro un européen en la matière. Détenu à 80% par la famille Doux et avec un chiffre d’affaires de 1,4 milliard d’euros en 2010, le groupe ne fait pas mystère de discussions avec un certain nombre d’investisseurs afin de renforcer ses fonds propres.
La Belgique, les Pays-Bas et la République tchèque ont cessé d’importer du pétrole en provenance d’Iran tandis que la Grèce, l’Espagne et l’Italie ont réduit leurs achats, a annoncé la Commission européenne. L’embargo voté le mois dernier par les Vingt-Sept doit entrer en vigueur le 1er juillet, un délai permettant de trouver des solutions d’approvisionnement alternatives.
Les ministres des Finances de la Grèce et de la Finlande ont signé aujourd’hui à Bruxelles un accord de collatéral, a rapporté la radiotélévision finlandaise YLE. Cet accord, dont la Finlande avait fait un préalable à sa participation à un deuxième plan d’aide à la Grèce, stipule que les banques grecques fourniront des garanties en numéraire et en actifs très bien notés. Les Pays-Bas ont indiqué de leur côté qu’ils refuseraient d’approuver ce deuxième plan tant qu’Athènes n’aurait pas respecté toutes ses obligations.