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02/02/2011

Baisse des taux islandais

La banque centrale d’Islande a réduit mercredi d’un quart de point à 4,25% son taux d’intervention. «Avec la perspective de voir une inflation rester proche de l’objectif et des taux d’intérêt historiquement bas, l'évolution des futures décisions de politique monétaire devient plus incertaine», explique la banque centrale.
02/02/2011

Hausse plus forte que prévu du PPI en décembre dans la zone euro

Les prix à la production ont augmenté plus que prévu en décembre dans la zone euro, en raison surtout d’un bond des coûts de l'énergie qui augure d’une intensification des tensions inflationnistes. La hausse de ces prix est de 0,8% en décembre, donnant une progression annuelle de 5,3%, a fait savoir Eurostat mercredi.
02/02/2011

Michael Radin joins Schroders

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Michael Radin, head of pension & portfolio solutions and global head of the quantitative strategies product specialist team in the asset management division of Deutsche Bank, has been recruited by Schroder Invesment Management North America as head of multi-asset solutions for the Amerricas.Radin will be based in New York, and will report functionally to John McLaughlin, global head of multi-asset solutions, and locally to Jamie Dorrian-Smith, CEO, Americas.Radin will collaborate closely with sales teams and consultants to develop the multi-asset class activity and provide assistance to existing clients.
02/02/2011

Net profits at Oppenheimer doubled in 2010

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } For the fiscal year to 31 December, Oppenheimer Holdings has reported a net profit of USD38.3m, or Usd2.87 per share, compared with USD19.5m and USD14.9 per share in 2009.As of 31 December, assets under administration totalled about USD73.2bn, while assets under managemnet totalled USD18.8bn, compared with USD66bn and USD16.4bn one year previously.
02/02/2011

BDL tops EUR100m in assets

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The independent French asset management firm BDL Capital Management, founded in 2005, topped EUR100m in assets in 2010, with EUR106m, up from EUR60m in the early part of 2010. This is a major step for Thierry Dupont, co-founder of BDL with Hughes Beuzelin, who says that the structure has also returned to its pre-crisis asset levels. Most of these assets – EUR94m – are invested in the BDL Rempart Europe fund. The French-registered product, which received a UCITS III-compliant OPCVM status in 2009, is “a long-short fund of the most liquid European equities with over EUR1bn in cap size or earnings,” says Dupont.
02/02/2011

Comgest to open an office in Singapore next week

Vincent Strauss, chairman of the asset management firm Comgest, based in Paris, on Tuesday, 1 February confirmed the opening of a new office in Singapore next week, confirming reports that appeared in Agefi on 16 September last year. For the new office, two employees have been moved from the Hong Kong affiliate, who co-manage the Asia ex-Japan funds with Paris: Yoon Lai Choo and Vincent Houghton, both of them analyst managers with 17 years of professional experience, who have spent 11 years and 2 years, respectively, at Comgest.The firm currently has EUR13bn in assets under management, 25% of which is from institutions, 23% from pension funds, 18% from multi-management, 12% from insurers, and 6% from foundations. Distribution networks and other channels, for their part, represent only 6% and 11%, respectively. While admitting that it is important to diversify in terms of the type of investment client in order to avoid being affected by overall movements, Strauss confirmed that his firm is not planning to launch new funds, nor to turn to major marketing firms in order to win over new clients. “We have been hiring product specialists for only two years,” the president of Comgest explains, “and that’s largely only to free up time for the manager.”However, it is clear that the management firm is planning to make a show of its management abilities in other areas of the world besides global emerging markets, where it has forged a fine reputation for itself. Hence the fact that these markets alone account for EUR7.4bn of the total EUR13bn under management. As a result, management is emphasizing global funds such as Comgest Monde, a sort of best ideas fund with 30 positions selected from portfolios of other Comgest funds, and funds which invest in Europe.
02/02/2011

Pershing acquires a stake in HedgeMark

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Pershing (BNY Mellon group) has acquired a minority stake in HedgeMark International for an undisclosed amount, and has retained the option to subsequently acquire the entirety of the firm.HedgeMark operates a fully integrated hedge fund managed account platform, from due diligence through to a compliance surveillance search engine, portfolio construction, backtesting, risk monitoring and stress test analysis. This allows investors to analyse and monitor a diversified portfolio of alternative investments while integrating and aggregating traditional and alternative risk data.
02/02/2011

SG appoints a head of sustainable development

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Jean-Michel Mépuis has been appointed as director of sustainable development for the Société Générale group from 1 March 2011. “He will aim to lead and amplify the social and environmental responsibility policies at the Société Générale group,” says a statement from the bank released on 1 February. Mépuis was previously head of strategy and development at Société Générale Securities Services (SGSS).
02/02/2011

Wall Street pay scales on the rise again

In 2010, total compensation and benefits at publicly traded Wall Street banks and securities firms hit a record of USD135 billion, according to an analysis by The Wall Street Journal. The total is up 5.7% from USD128 billion in 2009. The increase was driven by a revenue rebound.
02/02/2011

BlackRock founder pockets USD13m in stock and options

BlackRock has awarded Larry Fink, its founder and chief executive, USD13m in restricted stock and options, the Financial Times writes. The stock award, which forms part of Larry Fink’s bonus for 2010, consists of 46,031 restricted shares and 18,712 options vesting over three years, more than double the USD6m worth of restricted stock he received in 2009.
02/02/2011

Fondsdepot Bank widens its remit

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } DWPT Deutsche Weltpapiertreuhand GmbH is the «new distribution partner” of Fondsdepot Bank. The bank, an affiliate of Xchanging, becomes the exclusive provider for management on its open platform of investment accounts for clients of DWPT and its 45 partners.With the new agreement, Fondsdepot Bank consolidates its position as the largest independent provider of investment account administration in Germany, with more than 1.7 million accounts and about EUR31bn in assets under administration.
02/02/2011

Eurizon-Pioneer merger a possibility

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Les Echos reports that Giovanni Bazoli, chairman of Intesa Sanpaolo, confirmed yesterday that the bank is studying a merger between its asset management affiliate Eurizon and its rival Pioneer, which is being offered for sale by UniCredit. Cariplo and Compagnie San Paolo, the banking foundations with stakes in Intesa Sanpaolo, overtly support this Italian alternative, the newspaper says.
02/02/2011

Family office to launch a vintage car fund

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Count of Custoza Family Office is holding a press conference in Paris on Friday to announce its Classic Car Fund, a Liechtenstein-registered fund which will invest in vintage cars, Fondsprofessionell reports. The product, managed by Filippo Pignatti, will soon be offered for trading in Germany. The investment team will include experts from Sotheby’s and Christie’s as well as collectors who have themselves worked in finance.
02/02/2011

BBVA, Segurcaixa and Santander are top three pension fund managers

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } As of the end of December, assets in Spanish pension funds fell to less than EUR84.76bn, from EUR84.92bn twelve months previously, though they had increased 1% as of the end of September. The number of members increased 3% year on year to nearly 10.85 million accounts for about 8.5 million account-holders, the Inverco association of management firms reports.Assets were divided as of the end of 2010 with EUR52.55bn in individual schemes, EUR31.24bn in corporate schemes, and EUR971m in hybrid funds.The largest managers by asset volumes were BBVA, with EUR14.49bn (-1.7% for the year), Seguricaixa, with EUR13.73bn (+2.66%), Santander with EUR8.97bn (-2.5%), and Aviva, with EUR5.13bn (-1.8%).
02/02/2011

Citibank Spain to distribute Franklin Templeton funds

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In a statement, Citibank España announced that it has signed an agreement with the management firm Franklin Templeton, by which it engages to distribute the latter’s funds throughout all of its network of branches in Spain, Cinco Días reports. Citibank advisors have already begun to work with Franklin Templeton specialists to familiarise themselves with the very wide range of products.Franklin Templeton is the 14th management firm with with Citibank España has signed an agreement of this kind.
02/02/2011

Nathalie González Vierecker to handle communications between Santander AM and Banif

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Santander Asset Management España has recruited Nathalie González Vierecker as part of its sales team as head of relations with Banif, the private banking affiliate of Santander, Funds People reports. Vierecker will be in charge of coordinating commercial relations between the two entities, with a particular emphasis on development and monitoring of new products as well as training and sales support activities at Banif.For the past few years, González has worked at Inversis Banco in development of international operations and commercial relations with asset management firms.
02/02/2011

AllianzGI Investments Europe signs Principles for Responsible Investment

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 1 February, Allianz Global Investors Investments Europe (EUR118bn in assets as of 30 September 2010), the European investment platform for Allianz Global Investors (AllianzGI), announced that at the end of 2010, it signed the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UN-PRI). The move follows a similar step at Allianz Global Investors France S.A, in 2007.AllianzGI Investments Europe has a dedicated SRI team composed of 10 managers and analysts. Nearly EUR10bn in assets assets under management and advisory are in SRI strategies.
02/02/2011

Pension funds turn to alternative asset classes

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The international investment advising agency bfinance on 1 February published the results of the fifth edition of its half-yearly survey of asset allocation by pension funds and insurance companies, which includes 50 institutional investors in Europe and North America, representing total assets under management of EUR149bn.In the short and mid-term, institutional investors are planning to reduce the proportion of their portfolios dedicated to traditional assets (equities and bonds) in favour of alternative asset classes, particularly real estate, infrastructure and private equity. This trend is similar to what was observed in June 2010, by the previous edition of the survey.However, contrary to expectations, international pension funds became negative on bonds between June and December 2010, due to tensions that developed for European government debt. The survey shows a total of 12% of respondents who reduced their allocation to bonds in second half 2010.This trend away from bonds is expected to continue in first half 2011 (with a total of 27% of respondents planning to reduce their allocations to bonds). However, it is less marked on a horizon of three years (total 6%).For equities, the trend is still significantly negative on a three-year horizon (a total of 14% planning to reducer investment). This suggests that the recent rise in interest in this asset class may be short-lived.A desire to diversify portfolios, which is highly marked on the six-month and three-year horizons, will largely benefit real estate and other alternative asset classes. Infrastructure and private equity have the strongest number of investors planning to increase exposure (14% and 10% on six month and three year horizons, respectively).
02/02/2011

AllianzGI to outsource middle office

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Asian Investor reports that Allianz Global Investors will outsource its middle office as part of a move to establish a common back-office platform for RCM, the Allianz group’s institutional asset-management arm. The plans, which will also affect activities in the Asia-Pacific region, are in the process of being finalised. AllianzGI has not disclosed the identity of its service provider.
02/02/2011

DWS launches an emerging markets fund to mature in 2015

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 1 February, DWS Investments announced the launch of a fund of high dividend equities in companies from emerging markets, managed by Jens Labusch, entitled DWS Dividende Emerging Markets Direkt 2015. In order to improve performance, the manager may sell options. The Luxembourg product, for which an annual distribution of EUR7 per share is guaranteed, will mature on 31 July 2015.It is the third fund in the Aktien-Direkt series. The first, DWS Dividende Direkt 2014, has EUR414m in assets under management, while the second, DWS Dividende Deutschland Direkt 2014, has assets of EUR275m.CharacteristicsName: DWS Dividende Emerging Markets Direkt 2015ISIN code: LU0418623780Front-end fee: 4%Management commission: 1.5%
02/02/2011

France, Italy, Germany: good showing for Carmignac in Feri rankings

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } 15 out of 71 in Germany, 13 out of 50 in France, 10 out of 58 in Italy: these are the number of competitors in the Feri rankings for these markets who finished with less than 50% of their funds ranked A or B in the category of management firms with less than 24 funds ranked.There is a common element in all of these markets: Carmignac Gestion, which finished first in France, with 80% in a tie with Lazard AM), and in Italy (with 77.78%), does well. In Germany, the French asset management firm is in second place, tied with JP Hambro IM, with 75%, after DJE (78.57%).
02/02/2011

Feri rankings: Schroders and Threadneedle rank well in several countries

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The rankings as of 31 December 2010 published by Feri EuroRating on 1 February make it mathematically clear that only nine asset management firms out of those with at least 25 funds rated in Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom got 50% or more of their funds into the top two categories, A or B.In fact, in these four markets there are only 12 management firms with a rate of 50% or more funds rated A or B, but Threadneedle is mentioned twice (in first place for the UK and for Italy), while Schroders is cited three times, (second in France and Italy, and third in the UK).In France, the top three are Rothschild & Cie Gestion (59.46% with 22 funds out of 37), followed by Schroder and State Street, neck and neck at 50% with 18 A or B-rated funds out of 36, and 16 out of 32.In Germany, the leader remains Union Investment, with 59.04% (49 funds out of 83), followed by LBB-Invest (52%). In the UK, M&G Investment takes second place with 55.17%, behind Threadneedle (66.67%), and ahead of Schroder (53.42%) and BNY Mellon AM (51.61%).The top spot in Italy goes to Threadneedle (56.10%), followed by Schroder (52.94%) and BlackRock (51.02%).French asset management firms get widely varying rankings outside France. Axa IM places 12th out of 17 in Italy (23.81%), 18th out of 34 in the United Kingdom (30.77%), and 32nd out of 36 in Germany (17.65%).BNP Paribas IP is 8th in Italy (31.03%), 25th in the UK (24.59%), and 30th in Germany (20.91%).Lastly, Amundi ranks 15th in Italy (12.82%), 33rd in the UK (13.33%), and 31st in Germany (20%).
02/02/2011

BNY Mellon AM launches its first fund managed by Insight

BNY Mellon Asset Management has announced the launch of the BNY Mellon Absolute Return Equity Fund, the first fund in its range to be managed by Insight Investment Management, an asset manager it acquired in 2009. The fund will be a sub-fund of the Dublin-domiciled, UCITS III authorised, BNY Mellon Global Funds, plc range.Launching on Monday 31 January 2011, the Fund will be managed by Insight Investment’s specialist equity team, who have established a five year track record of generating positive returns in the Absolute Insight UK Equity Market Neutral strategy.The new fund will aim to deliver positive absolute returns in all market conditions, over a 12 month period, investing in both long and short positions in the pan-European market by employing a paired trade approach.
02/02/2011

Net redemptions continue

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Spanish association of asset management firms, Inverco, reports that securities funds saw gross subscriptions of nearly EUR4.19bn in January 2011, but net redemptions of EUR675m, while according to statistics by Ahorro Corporación, net outflows totalled EUR1.3bn.As to assets, Inverco estimates that they increased by EUR448m, or 0.3%, compared with the end of December, to nearly EUR138.45bn, while Ahorro Corporación estimates that they have fallen EUR400m (0.3%) to EUR144.7bn.Inverco welcomes news that the number of subscribers has increased by 42,323 to a total of 5,360,525, which represents an increase of 0.8% in one month.
02/02/2011

Bankinter and Unicaja launch guaranteed bond funds

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } With at least EUR600, until 15 February, Spanish investors may subscribe to the new bond product Bankinter Renta Fija 2013 Garantizado, which guarantees them 8.8% returns over two years and six months, a rate of 3.238% per year, Expansión reports.Unicaja is launching the bond product Unifond 2013-IX, which guarantees 6.42% after two years and seven months, an annual rate of 2.45%. Minimal subscription is set at EUR300, and the deadline is 21 February.
02/02/2011

OFI AM launches a Latin America fund of hedge funds

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } OFI AM announced on Tuesday, 1 February that it has launched the OFI MGA Latin America, a multi-strategy fund of hedge funds which invests in long/short equities funds, multi-strategy funds and in global macro funds managed by asset management firms specialised in Latin America. The fund, which is aimed at institutional and qualified private clients, and which was announced by Newsmanagers on 15 June 2010, will aim to participate in growth and in opportunities that present themselves in the Latin American region. The management of the fund will be undertaken by a multicultural team which will select managers with a bottom-up approach based on qualitative evaluation of the potential of a manager, a statement says. The fund will allow investors to be invested either in shares in US dollars, or in shares in euros hedge for currency risks. It aims for absolute returns of over 10%, with volatility of less than 10% on an investment horizon of 3 to 5 years. As of 31 December 2010, assets in the fund totalled EUR34m invested in 19 underlying funds. Characteristics ISIN codes: EUR shares: FR0010912584 / USD shares: FR0010915231Maximum front-end fee: 1 % Maximum management commission: 1.25%Performance commission: 15% on perfofmance exceeding 5% Valuation: Monthly, on the last day of each month Subscription: monthly, with advance notice of three working days Redemption: Monthly, with notice of 35 calendar days Currencies: euro and dollar
02/02/2011

Van Eck suspends suscriptions to its Egypt ETF

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In light of events in Egypt, which have provoked the closure of the Cairo stock exchange until further notice, the US firm Van Eck Global on 31 January decided to exercise its right to suspend issue of new shares in the Market Vectors Egypt ETF (acronym: EGPT).However, redemption orders will continue to be honoured, as stated in the prospectus.The fund will recommence its normal activities once the Egyptian stock exchange reopens.
02/02/2011

Fitch lowers asset manager rating for ECM to M2

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The ratings agency Fitch Ratings on 1 February announced that it has lowered its asset manager rating for ECM (European Credit Management) from M2+ to M2.The cause of the downward revision was high turnover rate for personnel in 2010, and a reduction in assets under management in the past two years. This development has resulted in significant outflows (EUR2.9bn in 2010), and relative difficulty in raising assets in a favourable credit environment. The ratings also takes into account measures taken by ECM to rebuild and restructure the investment teams at the firm and to develop new products.As of the end of December 2010, assets under management at ECM totalled about EUR10bn.
02/02/2011

SLI snares one from BNP Paribas IP

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Debbie Harris, who was previously at BNP Paribas Investment Partners (BNPP IP), is joining Standard Live Investments (SLI) as head of strategic consultant relations in the institutional business development team. She will report to Louise Kay, head of UK institutional business development, and who has overall responsibility for the consultant relations team.In this newly-created position, Harris, who will be based in London, will be in charge of strengthening relationships with global consultants.SLI has also announced that it has recruited John Andrews from AT Capital. He will become investment director in the UK institutional business development team.
02/02/2011

Pay scales on the rise at British management firms

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } In 2010, the proportion of net revenue at UK asset management firms allocated to employee remuneration is high at 42%, up 4 points compared with the figure of 38% in 2009, according to a new study by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, which spoke to asset managers based in London. The study also finds that 40% of management firms increased their bonus pools last years, and that only one third reduced their spending in this area.

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