Recherche
S'abonner
Connexion
Asset Management
Accueil Asset Management Actualités
25/10/2010

Financière de Champlain aura toujours un fonctionnement indépendant

La société de gestion Ecofi Investissements, filiale du groupe Crédit Coopératif, vient de prendre une participation de 58 % au capital de la Financière de Champlain, société spécialisée dans l’univers du développement durable. Jean-François Descaves revient sur l'enjeu et les suites de ce rapprochement.
25/10/2010

Lyxor launches 10 sector ETFs in Paris

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Lyxor has launched 10 ETFs based on MSCI World total return sector indices (dividends reinvested), which expose investors to the major global industries: consumer products, base products, energies, finance, health, industry, IT, materials, telecommunications, and utilities. The Luxembourg-registered ETFs have also been listed on the Milan stock exchange, the London Stock Exchange and the Frankfurt stock exchange, since the 24, 27 and 29 September 2010, respectively. The indices are calculated by MSCI in US dollars, and their components are denominated in local currencies. Investment in any of the ETF products (denominated in euros) is thus also susceptible to changes in exchange rates for the various currencies against the euro.
25/10/2010

Pioneer preparing a mixed high yield/emerging markets bond fund

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Pioneer Investments Austria is planning to launch the Luxembourg fund Pioneer Funds – High Yield & Emerging Markets Bond Opportunities 2015 on 29 November. The fund will invest about 60% of its assets in European high yield bonds (average rating: B to BB), and the remainder in emerging markets corporate and government debt. The government debt may be denominated in local currencies. Subscriptions are open until 26 November 2010. The objective is to deliver maximal annual returns of 1.5% per year. Characteristics Name: Pioneer Funds – High Yield Emerging Markets Bond Opportunties 2015 ISIN code: LU0363633636 Maturity: 31 December 2015NAV calculation: every two weeks Front-end fee: 3% Expected exit fee: 1.5% Minimal initial subscription: EUR1,000
25/10/2010

Invesco acquires office property in Paris

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Invesco announced on Friday, 22 October that it has acquired a group of office and commercial properties in Paris, located at 23-25 rue Marignan and 36-38 rue Marbeuf, and measuring 12,042 square metres, for the Invesco Real Estate fund. The sale price was EUR134.5m. Since the beginning of the year, Invesco Real Estate has raised EUR229m in capital for its pan-European fund, from nine new clients, a statement says.
25/10/2010

J.P. Morgan Chase launches a copper ETF

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. is going to launch a physical copper exchange-traded fund, according to a filing made Friday to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, cited by the Wall Street Journal. The product aims to offer institutional and retail investors a way to participate in the physical copper market through an investment in securities without having to buy and store the metal themselves. The logistics of transporting and storing physical copper will be handled by J.P. Morgan’s warehousing firm, Henry Bath Group, and the related costs will be integrated into the price of the shares.
25/10/2010

TCI founder launches a hedge fund

Patrick Degorce, the former Merrill Lynch banker who co-founded The Childrens’ Investment Fund with Chris Hohn, has raised more than USD700m for his new hedge fund, Thélème Partners, according to the Financial Times. The fund, which is run alongside ex-TCI partner Snehal Amin, has already returned over 10 per cent since it was launched in February
25/10/2010

Aberdeen has no choice but to liquidate DEGI Europa

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 22 October, Aberdeen Asset Management Deutschland announced that the open-ended real estate fund DEGI Europa (EUR1.3bn) will not be reopened to investments on 30 October, but will instead be liquidated in half-yearly stages between January 2011 and 30 September 2013, with uniform redemptions to all shareholders, retail as well as institutional investors. So far, it is the second open-ended real estate fund to close down, following the KanAm US-grundinvest a few weeks ago (see Newsmanagers of 1 October). The decision of the Munich-based firm Morgan Stanley Real Estate Management GmbH for the P2 Value fund, which has already undergone several downward revisions of its net asset value, is eagerly awaited. Officially, the asset management firm is still planning to reopen the fund to redemptions, and is planning to start up with assets of EUR820/870m, though it closed with EUR1.7bn in assets two years ago. Hartmut Leser, chairman of the board at Aberdeen Germany, explains that the management firm is not confident that it will have over 30% liquidity to keep up with redemption demands, due to market tensions, and the fact that fund shares have been sold on the Hamburg stock exchange far below their value, for EUR400m. As of 30 September, the fund showed losses of 23.7% since the beginning of the year. The Degi Europa, which is one of the oldest open-ended real estate products (launched in 1972), still shows positive returns since launch of 550%, or an annualised average of 5.1%. Aberdeen says that since redemptions were suspended at the end of October 2008, the fund has sold properties for EUR423m. The sale program will continue, and the management team is in talks to reduce leverage.
25/10/2010

BVI sheds crocodile tears over liquidation of DEGI Europa

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The German BVI association of asset management firms on Friday expressed regrets that it was not possible to save the open-ended real estate fund DEGI Europa, for which redemptions had been frozen since the end of October 2008 (see elseqhere).But the association welcomes the announcement that Aberdeen Management Deutschland has chosen to liquidate the portfolio over a longer , «sensible», period of three years. In addition, it recognizes that a reopening of the redemption window for a short period would not have been desirable if professional investors were going to flood the fund with redemption demands.The BVI also notes that open-ended real estate funds have already attracted EUR2.6bn in net subscriptions in the first eight months of the year, following EUR3.2bn in 2009, and EUR0.6bn in 2008.As of 30 September, 21 of the 28 open-ended real estate funds on sale in Germany posted positive performance, of an average of 2.2% since the beginning of the year. Over 20 years, the average annual performance of products in this category comes to 4.8%.
25/10/2010

Credit Suisse launches a megatrends fund

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } On 30 September, Credit Suisse launched the Luxembourg-registered fund Credit Suisse Solutions (Lux) Megatrends, which is specialised in major global economic trends (multi-polar world, demongraphy, sustainable development), and which is managed in Zurich by a team led by Markus Mächler. The fund has been available since 22 October on the German and Austrian markets. The management team may invest without constraints worldwide in all currencies. The portfolio will be composed of equities, ETFs, and thematic products. Characteristics Name: Credit Suisse Solutions (Lux) Megatrends Currencies: USD, EUR, CHF ISIN codes: B USD LU0522191245R EUR: LU0522192136R CHF: LU0522192300S EUR: LU0522192482S CHF: LU0522192565 Management commission (B shares): 1.92% Benchmark index: MSCI AC World
25/10/2010

UBS: Case dropped in United States

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Agefi Switzerland reports that the US justice department has announced that it will be dropping its legal action against UBS. It had charged the bank with aiding its clients to commit tax evasion. The prosecutor for fiscal affairs, John DiCicco, wrote to the Miami judge overseeing the case on 22 October that he considered UBS to have “fully satisfied all of its obligations.” As a result, “the United States considers that a dismissal of the charges is appropriate in the circumstances.” The decision is the logical consequence of two agreements signed between the US government and the Swiss bank in February and August 2009, by the terms of which UBS was to reveal the names of 4,450 US clients which it had allowed to conceal funds from the US tax authorities. UBS also six months previously was acquitted of a USD780m fine, including a charge with interest and fiscal restitution.
25/10/2010

Institutionals adopt Stewardship Code

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Financial Reporting Council (FRC), which monitors and promotes governance standards in the UK, has published a list of institutional investors who have signed up to the Stewardship Code, launched at the beginning of summer by the FRC. In total, 68 institutional investors have announced plans to sign the governance code, including 48 management firms. Among the signatories are BlackRock, Fidelity IM, M&G IM, Threadneedle AM and CalPERS.
25/10/2010

BlackRock considers development of trusts

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Money Marketing reports that BlackRock has organised a series of meetings with investment trusts to listen to the points of view of independent financial advisers (IFAs) and possibly add to its offerings for this sector. The regain of interest in these vehicles – BlackRock has six of them – is related to the introduction of the RDR (Retail Distribution Review), which will have consequences for the transparency of commissions.
25/10/2010

Mediolanum awards a custody mandate to State Street

State Street Corporation has been appointed to provide custody services for Banca Mediolanum’s Italian assets. State Street will also serve as the sole global custodian for the Italian entity of the Mediolanum Group. Banca Mediolanum has more than EUR43 billion in assets and services more than 1.1 million customers in Italy. State Street will provide an integrated post-trading solution to support Mediolanum’s global needs and streamline settlements with its preferred providers. First announced in December of 2009, State Street acquired Intesa Sanpaolo’s Securities Services business (ISPSS) in May of 2010, enhancing its position to be the largest investment service provider in Italy. State Street now has more than 440 employees in Italy providing a wide range of investment and asset management services to institutional investors.
25/10/2010

SSgA acquires Bank of Ireland AM

State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), the investment management business of State Street Corporation, announced on Friday that it has agreed to acquire Bank of Ireland Asset Management (BIAM) for consideration of approximately EUR57 million inclusive of estimated net assets of the business of EUR14 million. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2011 or earlier. State Street expects the transaction to be slightly accretive to 2011 earnings, excluding one-time costs. “This acquisition enables SSgA to expand its range of investment capabilities to include active fundamental management,” said Scott Powers, president and chief executive officer of State Street Global Advisors, in a press release. BIAM manages approximately EUR26 billion in assets for more than 500 clients as of September 30, 2010. It covers global fundamental equities, fixed income, cash, asset allocation, property and balanced funds. Chris Johns, currently the interim chief executive officer and chief investment officer of BIAM will be named SSgA chief investment officer for fundamental active equity and will report to Rick Lacaille, SSgA’s global chief investment officer. Upon closing of the transaction, more than 120 employees of BIAM are expected to join SSgA in Dublin. State Street has had a presence in Ireland since 1996 and currently has approximately 2,000 employees.
25/10/2010

Amundi délègue la gestion de ses FIP et FCPI

La société a lancé un appel d’offres auprès d’un grand nombre de gestionnaires. Quatre à six d’entre eux devraient être retenus d’ici début 2011, selon une source proche du dossier. Amundi prévoit par ailleurs de collecter auprès de ses réseaux entre 150 et 200 millions d’euros par an.
25/10/2010

Le G20 Finance s’attaque à la question sensible des déséquilibres des comptes courants

Les appels répétés et bruyants en faveur d’une réévaluation du yuan ayant rencontré un écho relatif, les Etats-Unis ont choisi ce biais du déséquilibres des comptes courants - une composante des taux de change - pour élargir le débat. Pour Washington, de nouvelles stratégies de croissance doivent émerger, moins dépendantes des exportations et davantage tournées vers un renforcement de la demande domestique. Une orientation que la Chine a récemment indiqué vouloir suivre.
Banderole accompagnant le G20 en Corée du Sud. Photographe: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg

Sujets d'actualité

Tous les sujets