30/09/2011
La zone euro tient son calendrier de réforme
L'extension de l'EFSF doit être votée d'ici mi-octobre. La Grèce ne touchera rien avant le 13
30/09/2011
La zone euro tient son calendrier de réforme
L'extension de l'EFSF doit être votée d'ici mi-octobre. La Grèce ne touchera rien avant le 13
30/09/2011
Le Conseil européen du risque systémique réclame un tour de vis sur les ETF
L’organisme rattaché à la BCE souhaite que l’Esma aille plus loin dans la transparence sur les produits indiciels cotés
30/09/2011
Blackstone sort les griffes en Inde
Le quotidien indien cite le responsable de la société de capital-investissement dans le pays, Akhil Gupta, qui estime entre 500 et 800 millions de dollars (jusqu’à 590 millions d’euros) la capacité d’investissement local de Blackstone. Ce dernier est particulièrement «agressif» en Inde dans des projets liés aux infrastructures ou à l’énergie.
30/09/2011
Arle Capital renonce à céder Capital Safety Group
Le quotidien britannique croit savoir, sans identifier sa source, qu’Arle Capital Partners a renoncé à vendre Capital Safety Group pour un milliard de livres, l’équivalent de 1,15 milliard d’euros. Le vendeur n’aurait tout simplement pas trouver preneur au prix espéré. Un porte-parole a refusé de commenter l’information au quotidien.
30/09/2011
Londres demande plus de temps sur les dérivés
Le Chancelier de l’Echiquier, George Osborne, devrait se rendre au Luxembourg la semaine prochaine afin de négocier un délai avec l’Union européenne concernant la loi sur les dérivés de gré à gré qui contraindra les britanniques à céder le contrôle de certains marchés clés à l’Europe, selon le quotidien qui ne cite pas de source. Londres paraît isolé dans son hostilité à cette nouvelle législation européenne.
30/09/2011
Le club des pays notés « AAA » déplore la perte d’un nouveau membre
Fitch puis S&P ont abaissé la note de la Nouvelle Zélande, faisant chuter la devise à 0,7659 contre dollar et progresser le taux 10 ans à 4,43%
29/09/2011
Forte baisse du sentiment économique dans la zone euro
Le sentiment économique des 17 pays partageant l’euro a fortement baissé en septembre, selon les chiffres publiés par la Commission européenne. L’indice du sentiment a perdu 3,4 points, à 95 points, revenant à ses niveaux de fin 2009. Le marché attendait 96. Dans l’industrie, l’indice est à -5,9 contre -2,7 en août. Dans les services, il est à zéro, contre 3,7 le mois précédent. Celui du consommateur plonge à -19,1 contre -16,5. Dans le commerce de détail, il plonge à -26, contre -23,4.
29/09/2011
Le déficit public italien atteint les 3,2% du PIB
Le déficit public de l’Italie s’est creusé pour atteindre 3,2% du PIB au deuxième trimestre contre 2,5% au trimestre comparable de 2010, annonce l’agence de la statistique Istat. Sur le premier semestre, le déficit s’est légèrement contracté à 5,3% du PIB contre 5,4% au premier semestre 2010.
29/09/2011
Une femme de 28 ans nommée ministre des Entreprises en Suède
Le gouvernement suédois a nommé ministre des Entreprises une femme de 28 ans, chef d’un parti de la coalition de centre-droit au pouvoir. Annie Loof a remplacé à la tête du parti centriste Maud Olofsson, 52 ans, qui dirigeait également ce ministère chargé de la politique industrielle.
29/09/2011
L'AFT adjugera 7,5 milliards d'euros de BTF le 3 octobre
L’Agence France Trésor annonce l’adjudication, le lundi 3 octobre, d’un montant global de 7,5 milliards d’euros de bons du Trésor (BTF). Cette opération portera sur 4,5 milliards d’euros de bons à 13 semaines qui arriveront à échéance le 05/01/12, sur 2 milliards d’euros de bons à 28 semaines à échéance du 19/04/12, et sur 1 milliard d’euros de bons à 50 semaines à échéance du 20/09/12.
29/09/2011
L'Italie se finance au prix fort
Le Trésor italien a placé jeudi pour 7,86 milliards d’euros d’obligations, à comparer à un objectif qui variait de 5,5 à 9 milliards d’euros. Dans le détail, l’Italie a émis 3,136 milliards d’euros de titres à échéance 2014, 2,472 milliards de titres à échéance 2022, 1,32 milliard de titres à échéance 2021 et 925 millions de titres à échéance 2015. Les rendements ont notamment bondi à 4,68% contre 3,87% lors de la dernière opération similaire pour les titres à échéance 2014, à 5,86% contre 5,22% pour les titres à échéance 2022 et à 5,63% contre 4,58% pour les titres à échéance 2015.
29/09/2011
Les députés allemands approuvent le renforcement du FESF
Les députés allemands ont approuvé l'élargissement des prérogatives du Fonds européen de stabilité financière (FESF) à une large majorité, 523 voix pour, 85 voix contre et 3 abstentions. La Commission européenne s’est félicitée jeudi du vote et s’est dit confiante dans le fait que le processus de ratification serait achevé d’ici la mi-octobre. Vers 12h20, l’indice CAC 40 , qui a fait du yo-yo en début de séance, se hisse au-dessus des 3.000 points. L’indice gagne 0,84% à 3.020,70 points et évolue entre 3.033,38 et 2.974,98. L’euro profite aussi du vote au Bundestag et s'échange autour de 1,3642 dollar contre 1,3536 mercredi soir. BNP Paribas (+6,27%), Société générale (+4,67%) et Crédit agricole (+3,75%) sont en tête des hausses du CAC 40, comme l’indice Stoxx des banques (+1,92%) est en tête des hausses sectorielles en Europe. Le rendement de l’emprunt d’Etat allemand (Bund) à 10 ans se détend de 1,0 point de base à 1,97%.
29/09/2011
Net recul du chômage allemand en septembre
Le nombre de personnes sans emploi en Allemagne a baissé nettement plus que prévu au mois de septembre, faisant reculer le taux de chômage à 6,9%, son plus bas niveau depuis la réunification du pays il y a 20 ans. Les économistes attendaient un chômage stable à 7%.
29/09/2011
Axa REIM hires a head of transactions for Europe
AXA Real Estate Investment Managers, with over EUR40 billion of assets under management as at June 2011, has appointed Riccardo Dallolio as European head of transactions. Based in London, and reporting to Anne Kavanagh, global head of property services group, his role will be to source and secure large pan European transactions with the support of local experts. He will be responsible for co-ordinating all transactional activity in Europe. Riccardo Dallolio joins after six years at Grove International Partners,
29/09/2011
Allfunds Bank opens an office in Dubai
David Pérez de Albeniz has been appointed as head of the representative office that Allfunds Bank (a 50/50 joint venture of Santander and Intesa Sanpaolo) has recently opened in the Dubai Financial Center (DIFC), Funds People reports.The location will eventually become an operational hub for the fund platform’s activities (EUR60bn in assets intermediated, for 22,000 funds and over 400 asset management firms) in the Middle East and Asia.
29/09/2011
Dirk Zabel promoted at Hansainvest
Dirk Zabel, who has been head of third-party distribution for the past year (see Newsmanagers of 1 October 2010), will join the management board at Hansainvest Hanseatische Investment in early 2012 as head of securities activities, alongside Jörg W. Stotz. He replaces Gerhard Lenschow, who is retiring. Zabel will be in charge of distribution, marketing and strategic asset allocation for securities funds.
29/09/2011
Frank Steinmetz becomes a partner at Kommalpha
Frank Steinmetz, a specialist in human resources, project management and the insurance sector, has been appointed with immediate effect as a partner at the consulting firm Kommalpha, based in Hanover, and will focus on the institutional market. Steinmetz, a former engagement manager at McKinsey and principal at Egon Zehnder International, will be in charge of research and monitoring of new projectts, as well as the development of other sectors of activity.
29/09/2011
SEC accuses a hedge funds manager of fraud
The Securities and Exchange Commission has accused Corey Ribotsky, a hedge funds manager at the NIR Group, of fraud, the Wall Street Journal reports. The regulator claims that Ribotsky and his firm concealed losses and spent investors’ money on cars, a Rolex and other luxury items. Between 2004 and 2009, he is accused of misappropriating over USD1m. The SEC has filed a civil suit against Ribotsky, his firm, and a former analyst.
29/09/2011
Swiss Life AM (France) recruits a director of development
Swiss Life AM (France) announced on Wednesday, 28 September, that it is recruiting Christophe Frespuech as director of development. In this role, Frespuech will be responsible for sales teams, product engineering activities, and operational marketing in France. Frespuech, 42, whose arrival is related to the departure of Alain Konrad from SPGP (see Newsmanagers of 01/09/2011), will coordinate all client segments (institutional and retail), and adaptation of the Swiss Life AM range of products and services, a statement says. He is also a board member at Swiss Life Asset Management (France), and will work in collaboration with the group’s teams in France, Switzerland and Germany. Ferspuech had previously been head of marketing and calls for proposals at Lyxor Asset Management; he joined that firm in 2007.
29/09/2011
Northern Trust recruits a head of ETF sales from iShares
Northern Trust has announced the appointment of Marie Dzanis as vice president and director of sales for its ETF unit. Dzanis will be in charge of sales and client relationships. She will be based in Chicago, and joins from BlackRock (iShares), where she had been in charge of sales to private clients in the eastern United States.
29/09/2011
Asian high net worth clients prefer private equity and bonds
Lok Yim, Head of North Asia Private Wealth Management, says that high net worth clients at Deutsche Bank in Asia in June moved away from equities towards bond products. Unlike European high net worth investors, Asian clients tend to make large-scale movements from one asset class to another, Hedge Week reports.Lok says that in addition to pulling out of equities, Asian clients have turned to mutual funds in order to profit from increased volatility, insofar as liquidity is available. However, high net worth retail clients nonetheless remain overweight in emerging markets equities, and are interested in Asian as well as Latin American equities.Clients’ appetite for real estate remains relatively high, but investments in hedge funds have declined. However, Deutsche Bank has observed an increase in interest in private equity in the form of direct investments rather than via major specialist funds.
29/09/2011
UBS Wealth Management appoints a CEO in Asia
UBS Wealth Management has recruited Edmund Kian-Chew Koh as regional director for Singapore and CEO for wealth management. He thus replaces two people: Gerald Chan, country head at UBS Singapore, and Christine Ong, CEO of Wealth Management Singapore, who has been on sick leave for some time. Koh will begin in his new role at the beginning of 2012, and will join the board of directors at UBS Wealth Management.
29/09/2011
Taiwan's BLI to select three more managers for international equities
For its first mandate in nearly five years, Taiwan’s Bureau of Labour Insurance (BLI) (Usd13.7bn in assets) has issued a RFP for an international equities mandate totalling USD600m, Asian Investor reports. Out of about 50 candidates, eight have been selected to continue to the next round. They are understood to be Amundi, BlackRock, Harding Loevner (Affiliated General Managers group), Harris Investments (BMO Financial group), JP Morgan Asset Management, MFS Investment Management, PanAgora Asset Management, and Schroder Investment Management.The BLI will probably select three candidates, and will grant each of them a USD200m mandate. The BLI already manages USD2bn in international equities, both internally and under a mandate awarded to Wellington in 2004. For their part, Janus Capital and Vontobel manage global and emerging markets equities mandates, respectively, for the BLI.
29/09/2011
Assets down at Liontrust AM
Liontrust Asset Management has seen a 6.13% decline in its assets as of 28 September compared with 31 March, to GBP1.179bn. The decline is largely due to market conditions. In the quarter, the British asset management firm posted net subscriptions of GBP45m. Between 1 April and 27 September 2011, inflows totalled GBP58m.
29/09/2011
Decline in assets for Man Group
Between the end of June and the end of September, the alternative management firm Man Group has seen a decline in its assets, from USD71bn to USD65bn. In the quarter, the firm underwent net redemptions of USD2.6bn, after posting net susbcriptions of USD1.1bn in the first half of the year. Pre-tax profits in the six months to the end of September totalled USD145m, compared with USD180m one year earlier. Management fees also fell from USD234m to USD200m, which reflects an increase in the costs related to the acqusition of GLG last year.The London-listed company suffered a 25 per cent drop in its share price in response to its results on Wednedsay – their biggest fall since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008.
29/09/2011
Henderson appoints a head of distribution for property business
Henderson Global Investors has appointed Andrew Friend to head up its UK distribution team for its GBP12.4 billion property business. As ‘director of institutional business’ he will take overall responsibility for the London based property distribution team, driving future growth into both existing and less explored capital markets. Andrew Friend has been with the company for 11 years, predominantly as the former fund manager of the Henderson UK Retail Warehouse Fund and latterly working on the launch of German retail funds from Henderson’s Frankfurt office.
29/09/2011
Younger and smaller hedge funds perform better
The most recent edition of a study entitled “Impact of Fund Size and Age on Hedge Fund Performance” by PerTrac confirms the conclusions of last year’s study (see Newsmanagers of 2 November 2010): small hedge funds with less than USD100m in assets in 2010 posted average returns of 13.04%, compared with 11.04% for mid-sized funds (with USD100-500m in assets) and 10.99% for funds with over USD500m. The trend has continued in the first six months of 2011. PerTrac has also found that younger hedge funds (less than two years old) made 13.25% last year, compared with 12.65% for funds which have been in existence for two to four years, and 11.77% for older products. In addition, younger funds appear to have made these returns with less risk than their older rivals. PerTrac suggests several reasons for the fact that younger hedge funds achieve better results. It may be due to the fact that they were able to make changes to their portfolios more rapidly, “under the coverage radar,” or due to the fact that their administrative and operational needs are slighter, and result in lower fixed costs. New technologies also probably allow them to operate more efficiently in more fast-moving universes.
29/09/2011
Commerzbank lists 8 ETCs and 12 ETNs on Xetra
Deutsche Börse on 28 September announced that it has admitted the first 8 Exchange-Traded Commodities (ETC) and the first 12 Exchange-Traded Notes (ETN) from Commerzbank, all of them German-registered products, for trading on its Xetra electronic platform.The ETC and ETN products carry total management commissions ranging from 0.20% to 0.50% for the former, and 0.105 to 0.35% for the latter.The list of new ETCs and ETNs is available at the following address: http://deutsche-boerse.com/mr/binary/4ECDA7BA0CEECD8FC1257919003CFB4B/$… The ETC segment of Xetra now includes 190 instruments, while the ETN segment lists 47.
29/09/2011
F&C REIT raises EUR170m for Best Value Germany fund
F&C RETI has raised EUR170m for its institutional real estate fund Best Value Germany form institutional investors, bringing assets in the product to over EUR300m, a statement says. The investment period for the fund will end in 2013.