Dans une lettre aux porteurs, le gestionnaire allemand KanAm aurait annoncé que le gel des remboursements de son fonds immobilier offert au public grundinvest sera probablement reconduit pour une année supplémentaire après le 6 mai 2011, rapporte la Börsen-Zeitung. Cette démarche s’expliquerait par des dépréciations d’actifs, des charges fiscales, une mauvaise performance (0,3 % pour 2010) et les changements législatifs en préparation.
L’association allemande BVI des sociétés de gestion a annoncé le 28 février avoir admis comme nouvel adhérent IntReal International Real Estate Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH, filiale à 100 % de Warburg-Henderson KAG, qui gère cinq fonds immobiliers offerts au public avec un encours de 338,5 millions d’euros (fin 2010). Le comité exécutif de la société se compose de Eitel Coridaß, Henning Klöppelt, Detlef Mertens et Michael Schneider.Avec ce nouveau membre, le BVI compte 83 adhérents «pleins», dont 65 avec le statut de KAG, 12 gestionnaires d’actifs et 6 holdings qui gèrent au total plus de 1.800 milliards d’euros dans des fonds offerts au public, des fonds institutionnels et des mandats.
A compter du 1er mars, Wulf Matthias, membre du directoire de Credit Suisse Deutschland, rejoint au 1er mars la Banque Sarasin à Francfort pour servir la clientèle privée très haut de gamme (Ultra High Net Worth Individuals ou UNHWI) et les family offices en Allemagne. Basé à Francfort, il sera directement subordonné à Frank Niehage, président du directoire de Banque Sarasin.La banque privée suisse dispose d’une succurcale à Nuremberg depuis octubre 2009. Elle a récemment indiqué être le premier prestataire étranger de services financiers en Allemagne à avoir atteint le point mort avant que trois ans ne se soient écoulés depuis l’obtention de sa licence bancaire «pleine».
L’Italian Fund Hub, la plate-forme Internet censée rassembler les données des fonds des sociétés de gestion membres d’Assogestioni, l’association italienne des professionnels de la gestion, connaît un succès mitigé, rapporte Plus, le supplément argent d’Il Sole – 24 Ore. En effet, sur 74 groupes financiers inscrits à l’association, seulement 18 ont pour le moment divulgué des informations sur ce site. Et parmi eux figurent les principaux acteurs du secteur : Eurizon Capital, Generali, Pioneer, Allianz et Mediolanum. Le coût de l’opération n’est pourtant pas prohibitif : de 1.440 à 7.200 euros par an. L’idée était d’offrir aux investisseurs un endroit unique où obtenir des informations sur les fonds des différentes sociétés de gestion.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 25 February, the CNMV issued registrations for nine funds launched by the Swiss management firm Bellevue Asset Management, an affiliate of Bellevue Group. Sales in Spain will be conducted by Banco Inversis.The funds, all sub-funds of the group’s Luxembourg Sicav, are the following: BB African Opportunities, BB Biotech, BB Entrepreneur Europe, BB European Opportunities, BB Global Macro, BB Healthcare, BB Meditech, BB Selection and BB Silk Road Opportunities.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Dow Jones Credit Suisse hedge fund index rose 0.69% in January, with positive results for six strategies out of ten. The best-performing sector was convertibles arbitrage, with gains of 2.16% for the month, followed by event-driven strategies (1.80%) and equity market neutral (1.79%). However, dedicated short bias and global macro lost 0.83% and 0.77%, respectively.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 25 February 2011, the CNMV issues a sales license for Spain for the Echiquier Global fund (FR0010859769 and FR0010868174) from La Financière de l’Echiquier. The distributor for Spain will be Allfunds Bank.
Bernard Madoff has claimed in a series of taped phone calls with a reporter for New York magazine that his Ponzi scheme, in which investors lost USD65bn, started off as a legitimate business that earned 15 per cent annual returns through much of the 1980s, according to the Financial Times. He said that he started defrauding investors in the early 1990s when a period of low market volatility made it hard for his strategy to work. “I thought I could extricate myself after a short period of time. But I just couldn’t,” he said.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The British asset management firm M&G Investments is now offering the new M&G European Inflation Corporate Bond Fund, managed by Jim Leaviss and Ben Lord, which invests in investment grade corporate bonds, with the objective of generating performance at least equivalent to the European inflation rate, for sale in Germany, Das Investment reports.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Schroders Germany has released the European Small & Mid Cap Value sub-fund of its Luxembourg Sicav Schroder Isf, launched on 30 November 2010, based on the seven-year track record of a similar Swiss-registered fund, for sale in Germany. The manager remains the same: Caspar Benz, assisted by Daniel Lenz as co-manager.As its name indicates, the value fund focuses on European small and midcaps, including shares from central and eastern Europe and Russian companies, with total capitalisations of EUR500m to EUR10bn. The portfolio of 70-100 positions is managed with a stock-picking approach, and a good deal of freedom to diverge from the benchmark index (MSCI Europe Small & Mid Cap TR).CharacteristicsName: Schroder ISF European Small & Mid Cap ValueISIN code: LU0559386015Front-end fee: 5%Management commission: 1.5%Minimal initial subscription: EUR1000
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In a letter to shareholders, the German asset management firm KanAm has announced that the freeze on redemptions from it open-ended real estate fund grundinvest will probably be extended for another year, from 6 May 2011, the Börsen-Zeitung reports. The move comes as a result of depreciations of assets, tax charges, poor returns (0.3% in 2010), and legislative changes in preparation.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The German BVI association of asset management firms on 28 February announced that it has admitted IntReal International Real Estate Kapitalanlagegessellschaft mbH, a wholly-owned subsidiar of Warbirg-Henderson KAG, which manages five open-ended real estate funds with assets of EUR228.5m as of the end of 2010, as a new member. The executive board at the firm consists of Eitel Coridaß, Henning Klöppelt, Detlef Mertens and Michael Schneider.With this new member, the BVI now has 83 “full” members, of whom 65 have the status of KAG, 12 asset management firms, and 6 holding companies, which manage a total of over EUR1.8trn in open-ended funds, institutional funds and mandates.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } From 1 March, Wulf Matthias, a board member at Credit Suisse Deutschland, will join Banque Sarasin in Frankfurt, to serve ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNWI) and family offices in Germany. Matthias will report directly to Frank Niehage, chairman of the board at Banque Sarasin.The Swiss private bank has had a branch in Nuremberg since October 2009. It recently announced that it is the largest foreign financial services provider in Germany to become profitable less than three years after receiving a full banking license for the country.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Asian Investor reports that CCB International Asset Management, part of China Construction Bank International in Hong Kong, has launched a bond fund denominated in renminbi. The fund will invest as its top priority in instruments denominated in renminbi issued in Hong Kong, and will not include synthetic bonds or structured products.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Long/short equities strategies are expected to benefit from lower levels of correlation between securities, according to fund of hedge fund managers surveyed by Standard & Poor’s Fund Services. As correlation falls, fund of fund managers say in the most recent survey by Standard & Poor’s, hedge funds may generate alpha due to the dispersion between sectors and businesses. Funds of funds finished 2010 in a good position, with gains of 3.5% in fourth quarter, and returns of 5% for the year, according to statistics from HFN.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } BlackRock and the Ireland-based NTR group on 28 February announced that they have signed a strategic agreement to launch a new investment platform specialised in renewable energies.Partners at NTR will join the BlackRock Alternative Investors (BAI) investment platform, which currently manages more than USD110bn in assets in various alternative strategies. As a part of the partnership, NTR will provide market analysis to the investment team, and will have an economic interest in some of the products of the new investment platform. The CEO of NTR, Jim Barry, will serve as chief investment officer of the new BAI unit, and will be in charge of developing the platform.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Financial Times Fund Management reports that the Securities and Exchange Commission will probably pass a law requiring European asset management firms with clients in the United States for over USD25m to register with it by July, or to withdraw from the US market. The move comes despite lobbying by the European fund and asset management association (EFAMA) against the proposed legislation.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } La Tribune reports that the pension fund for Louisiana municipal police employees have filed a lawsuit against Nyse-Euronext. The fund claims that the proposed deal with Deutsche Börse does not value the transatlantic market operator at a fair price.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The French investment fund Axa Private Equity announced in a statement on 28 February that it has acquired a 10% stake in the Spanish oil transport and storage firm CLH (Compania Logistica de Hydrocarburos) from the Disa petrol station group.“The transaction values the company at about EUR3.6bn,” says Axa PE, which implies an acquisition price of EUR360m. The investment fund is pleased to become “one of the shareholders of reference in CLH,” after the Spanish oil group Cepsa, which holds a 14.15% stake.The Oman Oil group, AMP Capital, and Repsol already control about 10% each in CLH, but Repsol announced in mid-January that it had retained a business bank to help it to sell a part of its stake. The remainder of the capital is held by banks and other oil groups.“With this deal, Axa Private Equity signs a new significant engagement in the Spanish infrastructure market, following the recent acquisition of a strategic stake in Autopista Trados 45,” the fund says. Axa PE has a strategy of “investing in strategic infrastructure assets, which are both protected against inflation and have low volatility.”
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Angel Oak Capital Advisors, an asset management firm based in Atlanta, is launching its first mutual fund, a bond product. The firm, led by Screeni Prabhu, Michael Fierman and Brad Friedlander, all veterans of Washington Mutual, manages USD165m in assets, Mutual Fund Wire reports.
The French asset management boutique SPGP is preparing to add to its range of funds with the launch on 7 March of Sélection Small Caps. The stock-picking fund will invest exclusively in small caps with a market capitalisation of under EUR500m, from a European investment universe with a marked French bias. On paper, the fund will invest 75% in shares from the European Community, of which at least 60% will be French shares. “The portfolio will remain rather concentrated, with 50 positions, whose capitalisation will be rather close to EUR300m,” explains Roger Polani, vice-CEO, who will manage the fund with Gonzague Ruchaud, “but it will avoid illiquid shares, with floats of only about 2% to 3%.”Despite the recent good perforamnce of small and midcaps, Polani estimates that the timing for the launch of a fund of this kind is not bad. However, the fund will be classified as balanced, so as to allow the managers to hedge the portfolio if there is a sustained downturn in the market.In terms of assets, the management will limit the size of the fund to EUR30m; it will start with EUR4m to EUR5m in seed capital. The firm is also planning to offer a six-month waiver of front-end fees for the OPCVM fund, aimed primarily at retail investors via independent financial advisers.Characteristics of the fundISIN code: FR0011001460Front-end fee: 1% (temporary exemption for at least 6 months)Fixed annual management fee: 2.4%Annual performance commission: 10% of returns exceeding 10%Size of shares: EUR100
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Fabien Perez has joined CCR Asset Management (UBS group) as a sales representative for external distribution. Perez previously worked at Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking as a financial engineer for structured products and mutual funds.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } At a presentation of its annual results, HSBC France announced pre-tax profits of EUR626m, up 15% compared with 2009. Assets under management rose by 15%, from EUR84.7bn to EUR97bn as of 31 December 2010. Pre-tax profits more than doubled (+156%), with 16% growth in earnings and an 8% increase in operating costs. In the private banking sector, growth in earnings was 10% compared with 2009, with a noticeable improvement in pre-tax profits, which were multiplied by a factor of 6.5. Assets under management rose 2% compared with 2009, to EUR9.5bn, largely, the bank says, thanks to synergies with the HSBC network.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Agnès Paquin has been appointed as head of business development at Aviva Investors France, the asset management unit of the Aviva France group, a statement says. She will be in charge of supervising the sales team, composed of Abdel Chabane and Said Bel Bachir. Paquin joined Aviva France in 1997. Since 2006, she has been technical director for projects and advising at GIE AFER.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Since 24 February, the listings of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) include four more ETF funds from Credit Suisse. Only one of these, the Global Alternative Energy, is a synthetic replication fund, while the other three (Fed Funds Effective Rate, Eonia and MSCI World) are physical replication products.Pimco (Allianz Global Investors group) has also listed the Irish-registered ETF PIMCO Euro Enhanced Short Maturity Source ETF (IE00B5ZR2157). This is the first actively-managed ETF to be listed on the LSE.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The BGF European Income sub-fund of the Luxembourg Sicav BlackRock Global Funds (61 funds) has been issued a sales license for Spain by the CNMV, Funds People reports. The product, which aims for average annual returns of at least 110% of the MSCI Europe index, is managed by Andreas Zoellinger and Alice Gaskell. It invests at least 70% of its portfolio (40-70 positions) with a bottom-up approach in businesses domiciled in Europe or which realise most of their activities on the continent.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Investment Week reports that Pimco has launched a high yield bond fund, whose largest allocations will be dedicated to ABS, RMBS and CMBS. The Select UK Income Bond Fund is a UCITS-compliant vehicle, which will be managed by Mike Amey, and which will aim for gross returns of 5% per year. The fund will invest as a top priority in investment grade rated British assets. About 50% of the allocation is dedicated to ABS and MBS, 30% to investment grade credit (largely from the UK), 10% to high yield, and 10% to emerging markets debt.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } For 2010, the Bellevue Group has posted net profits of CHF1.53m, compared with losses of CHF95.06m in 2009, though the cost/income ratio deteriorated to 91.4% from 85.2%.As of the end of the year, total assets were down to CHF4.1bn, from CHF4.85bn. Net outflows totalled CHF526m, compared with CHF520m.The group’s affiliate Bellevue Asset Management, for its part, saw losss of CHF2.3m, compared with CHF1.4m. New niche strategies, particularly entrepreneurial strategies, allowed the firm to raise CHF200m, but those inflows were insufficient to offset net redemptions from historic strategies in the area of health (capital reduction at the affiliate BB Biotech), further structural adjustments, and negative market effects.Bellevue Group will propose a dividend payment for 2010 of CHF4 per share from reserves at its general shareholders’ meeting on 21 March.
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Swiss federal financial market surveillance authority (Finma) on 28 February announced that it has reprimanded HSBC Private Bank (Switzerland) for a data theft which took place between 2006 and 2007. Finma holds the bank responsible “due to insufficient internal organisation and control of IT activities.” The investigation, opened in March 2010, sought to determine how a data theft of such a scale could have taken place and been carried out, Finma announced on Monday. According to figures from the bank, 15,000 of its clients were affected by the data theft, committed by Hervé Falciani, a French former IT technician. In addition to this, 9,000 closed accounts were compromised. In light of the findings of the investigation, Finma requires that “HSBC continue in the direction it has begun, and complete the process of putting in place necessary measures to establish the required IT security.” Finma will monitor these measures, and “will oversee their establishment without delay.”
Jeff Kaplan, the global head of mergers and acquisitions, is going to leave Bank of America Merrill Lynch to become become chief operating officer of Appaloosa Management, according to the Financial Times. Steven Baronoff will again take control of the deals business at the bank.