The Austrian asset management firm Raiffeisen Capital Management has launched the Raiffeisen-GlobalAllocation-StrategiesPlus fund, a balanced fund investing in equities, bonds, commodities and currencies, in France. The product is based on a risk allocation process based on asymmetrical management. Four sources of major risks are equallky weighted: equity risk, spread risk, interest rate risk and inflation risk. ISIN: AT0000A0SE25 – retail share class
From 24 January, six equity ETFs from Lyxor Asset Management (Société Générale group), including three funds based on Russell indices and two based on MSCI indices, have been admitted to trading on the XTF segment of the Xetra electronic trading platform (Deutsche Börse). The sixth product, focused on Thailand, replicates the SET50 Net TR index.Total expense ratios for the French-registered products range from 0.40% to 0.55%.The new funds bring the total number of ETFs listed in Frankfurt to 918.
Deutsche Börse on 23 January admitted 16 new ETC products from Commerzbank (Coba ETCs) to trading on its Xetra electronic platform. With the exception of one fund, based on copper, the products are all leveraged or inverse leveraged funds, ranging up to 4x. The ETCs invest in Brent, natural gas and copper, and are all German-registered products.Management commissions vary from 0.40% to 0.75%.The ETC segment of the Xetra platform now lists 234 instruments. Average trading volume on Xetra for ETCs is about EUR900m per month.
BNP Paribas Securities Services (BNP Paribas) has announced the roll-out of a major investment programme to expand its hedge fund and fund of hedge fund servicing capabilities for both UCITs and offshore funds. Placing transparency, market exposure, liquidity and control at the heart of its hedge fund servicing platform, the custodian bank’s programme tailors its service to more closely match the key requirements of both start-up and established funds.
Axa Real Estate Investment Managers, with over EUR40 billion of assets under management as at September 2011, has appointed Deborah Shire as global head of business development, a new position which carries overall responsibility for corporate finance, investor relations, marketing & communication and business development. She will report directly to CEO, Pierre Vaquier.Deborah Shire joins Axa Real Estate from her position as deputy head of structured finance at Axa Investment Managers, where she was in charge of strategy, finance, marketing, operations and product development.
The French affiliate of Pioneer Investments (12 people) has finished the year in 2011 with assets of about EUR1.5bn, and net subscriptions of about EUR100m, despite relatively heavy outflows in August and September, largely due to reorientations of asset allocations by some clients.Fabien Madar, CEO for France, says this overall evolution is highly satisfactory, and is largely due to European equity products, US equity funds (Pioneer concentrates on the best of these), and in bonds, to aggregate euro (government and corporate bonds), available in versions with or without sensitivity. The manager also underlines that Pioneer does not offer money market funds in France.
Following the recruitment of Alain Zeitouni (ex Barclays Wealth) as director of multi-strategy investment (see Newsmanagers of 20 October), Russell Investments Paris has announced it has hired Cédric Denais as manager of client services. He will be in charge of overseeing relationships with Russell Clients and the analysis of their investments.Denais had previously spent six years in the reporting and performance measurement team at Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management (Edram), where he had been in charge of international development, and established the GIPS standard at the structure.
Morgan Stanley Private Equity has formed a strategic partnership with Jesús Reyes-Heroles, the former director general of Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), to pursue energy investments in Mexico and across Latin America. The goal of the partnership is to build a leading regional energy company involved in a broad base of investments and related activities across the energy sector. The partnership will focus on investments in energy companies to help enhance business growth, improve profitability and provide valuable strategic and financial guidance.
France’s Orelis group, which calls itself a wholesaler aimed at independent financial advisers, and more recently, life insurance brokers, is hitting the ground running in 2012. This follows a year in 2011 in which the firm exceeded its objectives, with a total of EUR118m in newly-insured capital, of which 80% are unit-linked savings, in contrast with the market, which took on 85% euro contracts, and 15% unit-linked. In order to meet demand from partners and also, potentially, to compete with rivals, the group is offering a range of secure solutions in 2012 for life insurance and retirement planning product ranges, and is launching a range of funds in euros and a real estate platform to provide access to a wide range of programmes, promoters and tax incentives.
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has decided to fine David Einhorn, owner of the US hedge fund Greenlight Capital Inc, and his fund GBP7.2 million for engaging in market abuse in relation to an anticipated significant equity fundraising by Punch Taverns Plc in June 2009."The FSA accepted that Einhorn’s trading was not deliberate because he did not believe that it was inside information. However, this was not a reasonable belief. Investment professionals are expected to handle inside information carefully regardless of whether they have been formally wall-crossed. This was a serious case of market abuse by Einhorn and fell below the standards the FSA expects, particularly due to Einhorn’s prominent position as President of Greenlight and given his experience in the market», comments the UK regulator.
For the first time, an ETF has topped USD100bn in assets: the SPDR S&P 500, launched in 1993, which at last count had USD101.03bn in assets, according to figures released by the issuer, State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), on Monday. Handelsblatt points out that the world’s second-largest ETF, SPDR Gold Shares, is far behind, with USD66.80bn.
Following the departure of Frédéric Jolly, who resigned last July to found his own business, Johan Cras has been appointed as CEO of Russell Investments for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. Cras joined Russell in 1996 to found the Amsterdam office, and since 2007 has been head of institutional EMEA activities at the US asset management firm.Pascal Duval, who has been at Russell for 14 years, has been appointed as executive managing director EMEA, a position in which he will report to Cras.Cras will be replaced for the interim as head institutional services EMEA by John Stannard, currently managing director, institutional investment services.
From one year to the next, the rankings of asset management firms in Europe by assets under management have shown little movement; this is particularly true for the large “cruise liners” among them. The five firms with the largest assets under management as of 31 December 2010 all retain their places twelve months later, in the same order. The evolution of net subscriptions, excluding market effects, at each asset management firm in 2011 was considerably different, a Morningstar study finds, however. The universe of the Morningstar study includes open-ended funds (excluding mandates, dedicated funds, etc.) domiciled in Europe. Morningstar also excludes funds of funds, FCPI-FIP, Master-Feeder and ETF products.) With EUR196bn in assets under management, JP Morgan tops the rankings, ahead of BNP Paribas (EUR162bn), UBS (EUR139bn), Amundi (EUR123bn), and BlackRock (EUR118bn). But JP Morgan has consolidated its leading position, with inflows of EUR11bn in 2011, while BNP Paribas and Amundi held onto their places despite outflows of EUR21bn and EUR17bn, respectively. By comparison, UBS has posted “relatively” limited net outflows (EUR3bn) and BlackRock inflows (EUR 5bn) .The Morningstar study finds that Franklin Templeton has posted the largest net inflows (EUR14bn). Among the heaviest outflows, meanwhile, BNP Paribas and Amundi top the list. But several other French asset management firms were not spared. Carmignac Gestion (-EUR7bn), Crédit Mutuel (-EUR6bn), Natixis (-EUR5bn), and Société Générale (-EUR4bn) are also among the biggest losers.
CortalConsors and the Augsburger Aktienbank will be offering the UCITS IV-compliant Valeurs, Europe and Patrimoine funds from Rouvier Associés in Germany, effective immediately, Fonds Professionell reports. The French asset management firm has opened an office in Frankfurt, led by Patrick Linden.Since 1 January, the firm has also become a Premium Partner of the Fondsnet brokerage network.
The Berlin-based firm Scope has added a third strategic business line, credit ratings, to its range of services aimed at institutional investors, with its acquisition of the European ratings agency PSR Rating GmbH, based in Stuttgart, for an undisclosed amount. The new division comes in addition to investment ratings and management ratings.PSR Rating will become known as Scope Credit Rating, and will remain a legally independent entity within the group. It will continue to be led by Thomas Morgensten, who has been CEO of the firm for the past five years.The new affiliate, which is focused on businesses, corporate bonds and covered bonds, will extend its universe to include all SMBs in the manufacturing sector. It will use the investment rating methodology already used by Scope.
The German asset management firm Metzler Asset Management (EUR48.5bn in assets as of the end of 2011) has announced that it has received a license as a Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), which allows it to invest directly in the A equities markets in Shanghai and Shenzhen, and in local bonds from Chinese issuers. The quota level will be defined subsequently, in line with general practice.
Union Bancaire Privée has announced consolidated profits for 2011 of CHF198m (EUR163.1m), down 8% compared with 2010. One year earlier, the Swiss bank announced consolidated net profits of CHF216m for its 2010 fiscal year, the same level as in 2009, a year in which results were halved compared with the previous year. Taking into account integration costs related to the acquisition of ABN AMRO Bank (Switzerland) AG in the second half of 2011, profits total CHF176m (EUR145m). This acquisition has allowed the bank to post an increase in its assets for 2011. The total volume under management now totals CHF72bn (EUR59.3bn) as of 31 December 2011, compared with CHF65bn (EUR52.2bn) as of 31 December 2010, an increase of 10.8%. In mid-August, when the operation was announced, assets at ABN Amro Bank (Switzerland) AG totalled EUR11bn. Inflow levels were never disclosed, but net subscriptions totalled EUR1.7bn, according to Dominique Leprévots, chairman of the board at UBI, the French arm of UBP.
The Swiss asset management firm Swisscanto (Swiss cantonal banks, CHF51.7bn in assets) has announced that it has been retained as a social partner of the business DieSozialfirma AG, which aims to create jobs for persons with reduced employment capacity, in order to integrate them into the ordinary labour market.The new partnership “represents a major new stage in Swisscanto’s commitment to sustainable development,” Swisscanto says.
The Hungarian firm Brokernet Investment Holding Zrt has sold a 30% stake in Quantis Investment Management Zrt to LGT Group (CHF88.1bn in assets as of 30 June 2011) for an undisclosed amount, as part of a strategic partnership on eastern European markets.Quantis (USD480m in 10 funds and 21 mandates) will handle distribution of funds from LGT Capital Management. The cooperation will allow Quantis to extend its range, while LGT Capital Management will open to new markets, as its products had not previously been available in Hungary. Quantis already has affiliates in Slovakia and Romania, and would like to enter other neighbouring markets. The two partners are also planning to jointly develop products.
Vigeo has announced that for the first time it is issuing ratings of the 40 largest businesses listed on the Casablanca stock exchange for social responsibility risks. The ratings will be distributed to over 100 investors and international asset manager clients of Vigeo. The businesses have been rated according to the Vigeo methodology on 38 criteria and more than 250 indicators, on the basis of their public information and statements provided in response to questions from the agency; this information is then cross-checked with information received from participants (unions, NGOs, press, etc.).
The Liechtenstein bank VP Bank reckons that its 2011 consolidated net income for 2011 is down 60%, to CHF6.4m (unaudited figure), compared with CHF17.2m the previous year. Net inflows totalled CHF1bn in the period under review, but assets under management as of the end of December totalled CHF27.5bn, compared with CHF28.2bn one year previously.
Among institutional investors, who is most engaged on the African continent? According to a study commissioned by the asset management firm Invest AD and undertaken by the research cell Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), covering 158 management professionals worldwide, 25% have an allocation of under 1% to Africa, and 20% have no allocation to the continent at all. But by 2016, all institutionals surveyed are planning to have exposure to Africa, with nearly one third of them planning to have an exposure of more than 5% to the region.51% of professionals surveyed say Africa will be the most attractive region for investment in the next decade. Two thirds of respondents put Africa at the top of their list of frontier markets, before Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and central and eastern Europe.Why invest in the region? Three major themes are cited: the emergence of a significant middle class (for 39% of respondents), strong economic growth (35%), and rising commodity prices (34%).Among the most highly-regarded destinations in the next three years, Nigeria tops the list (51%), followed by Kenya (48%), Zimbabwe (35%), Egypt (34%), Ghana (34%) and Libya (22%). This nascent enthusiasm for Africa does not blind investors to the difficulties they will need to confront there, however, including bribery and corruption (cited by 41% of respondents), weak institutions (40%), and limited liquidity of local capital markets (36%).
The Danish asset management firm Sparinvest has announced that its full range of 32 Danish-registered and 15 internationally-registered funds now comply with the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment. Sparinvest managers claim that integration of ESG criteria already add value to their investment process. The asset management firm has integrated ESG risks into the investment process for its actively-managed funds, both for equities and bonds. The firm has now finalised the integration of ESG risks into its investment policy for its full range of quantitative management funds, passive management, and Danish-registered mortgage securities and real estate funds.
The UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) has launched a consultation on regulations for hedge funds and venture capital firms in a transposition of the AIFM directive into British law. The directive must be transposed into law in all EU member countries by 22 July 2013. The FSA says in a 100-page document that the directive will lead to substantial changes in the way that hedge funds are managed. Under several chapter headings such as operational requirements, transparency, depositories, marketing, funds are encouraged to anticipate future changes and mobilise the necessary resources to identify the impact of the directive on their business model as soon as possible. The consultation will remain open until 23 March 2012.
Since 24 January, five new RBS Market Access ETFs have been listed on the ETFPlus market from Borsa Italiana, Fondionline reports. The products replicate MSCI indices of markets considered difficult to access.The indices are the following:MSCI Frontier Markets Index MSCI GCC Countries ex Saudi Arabia Top 50 Capped IndexMSCI EFM Africa ex South Africa Index MSCI EM Latin America (Brazil ADR) EUR Hedged IndexMSCI Brazil (ADR) EUR Hedged Index
The German fund administrator and manager Universal Investment (EUR130bn in assets under management) has appointed Johannes Höring as a member of the managing board at its Luxembourg affiliate, alongside Alain Nati and Stefan Rockel. He will be particularly responsible for taxation issues, legal affairs and risk management. He will also advise institutional clients on the conception and launch of investment solutions.Höring, a taxation specialist, had previously been executive director at JP Morgan Bank in Luxembourg, as head of legal affairs and regulation.
David Einhorn et son fonds Greenlight Capital ont écopé d’une amende cumulée de 7,2 millions de livres de la part du régulateur des marchés britannique. La Financial Services Authority leur reproche un délit d’initié sur les actions de Punch Tavern. David Einhorn s’est illustré en 2008 en ferraillant contre la direction de Lehman Brothers et en vendant l’action de la banque américaine à découvert.
L’Union Bancaire Privée (UBP) a dégagé un bénéfice pour 2011 en baisse de 8% à 198 millions de francs suisses. La masse sous gestion s'élève à 72 milliards au 31 décembre, contre 65 milliards un an avant, en incluant ABN Amro Bank (Suisse). Le bénéfice consolidé de 198 millions de francs tombe à 176 millions après intégration des frais liés à cette acquisition, soit 22 millions.
Le fabricant de lasers ultrabrefs a réalisé une levée de près de 30 millions d’euros structurée par Cathay Capital Private Equity, autour de l’équipe fondatrice. Cette recomposition du capital donne lieu à la sortie des fonds gérés par CM-CIC et Aquitaine Création Investissement. Trois partenaires stratégiques sont associés : CDC Entreprises dans le cadre du programme FSI France Investissement, Mérieux Développement et Auriga Partners.
Borsa Italiana a annoncé hier la constitution le 1er mars d’une Bourse unique pour les PME, née du rapprochement de deux marchés, AIM Italia et MAC. Le nouveau système aura le statut de plate-forme multilatérale de trading (MTF). Un flottant minimum de 10% sera requis.