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12/05/2010
Fonds

Vague d'abaissements de notes pour les fonds immobiliers

La dernière livraison du palmarès de l’agence berlinoise Scope fait apparaître que sur les 29 fonds immobiliers offerts au public figurant dans l'échantillon, 23 ont vu leur note abaissée par rapport à 2009, tandis que seuls deux, des produits UBS, obtenaient un rehaussement. Sur les 18 «A» et davantage de 2009, 12 sont restés dans la catégorie supérieure, résistant assez bien à la crise, ce qui vaut en particulier pour les fonds d’Union Investment Real Estate, de Deka Immobilien et de RREEF Investment (Deutsche Bank).Le meilleur fonds Europe et toutes catégories est le grundbesitz europa (AA-) de RREEF, devant le hausInvest europa (A) de Commerz Real. Le meilleur fonds Allemagne est huitième du classement : c’est le Uni Immo: Deutschland (A). Enfin, parmi les fonds mondiaux, les deux meilleurs sont le Deka-ImmobilienGlobal et le UniImmo: Global, tous deux notés A.
Fonds
12/05/2010

AGI et DB/DWS ont bénéficié de souscriptions nettes pour janvier-mars

Sur la base des statistiques publiées mardi par l’association allemande BVI des sociétés de gestion (lire par ailleurs), Allianz Global Investors (AGI) et l’ensemble Deutsche Bank/DWS sont les seules grandes maisons à afficher des souscriptions nettes pour le premier trimestre. Leurs rentrées totales (4,63 milliards pour AGI et 2,94 milliards pour DB/DWS) sont même supérieures au montant des souscriptions nettes enregistrées par l’ensemble des Fonds de valeurs mobilières durant lapériode sous revue (7,36 milliards d’euros).Il faut souligner que le bon résultat d’AGI est dû à la filiale allemande AGI KAG ((1,44 milliard) et surtout à Pimco Europe (3,76 milliards). Chez DB/DWS, la collecte est attribuable pour 1,07 milliard d’euros aux ETF de db x-trackers, mais deux autres filiales luxembourgeoises (DB Platinum et DWS Investments SA) ont apporté au total 1,6 milliard.Parmi les autres grands acteurs, BlackRock accuse une sortie nette de 302,9 millions d’euros sur ses ETF iShares, de même qu’ETFlab (Deka) subit une sortie nette de 507,4 sur ses propres ETF, remboursements qui s’ajoutent à ceux de 1,92 milliard d’euros supportés par sa maison-mère DekaBank (caisses d'épargne). Union Investment (banques populaires) a pour sa part enregistré des rachats nets de 1,19 milliard d’euros.
12/05/2010
Fonds

Les fonds immobiliers d'UBS ne souffrent pas trop

UBS Real Estate Germany a publié un communiqué pour indiquer que ses fonds immobiliers offerts au public UBS (D) Euroinvest Immobilien et UBS (D) 3 Sector Real Estate Europe ont enregistré depuis la publication de l’avant-projet d’amendement de la réglementation sur les fonds immobiliers une augmentation limitée des demandes de remboursement accrues. Cela tient au fait que des mesures préventives ont été introduites ces derniers mois pour limiter les demandes de rachat avec des délais de préavis et des pénalités de sortie, ce qui a permis de stabiliser ces fonds.La légère augmentation des demandes de rachat a pu être canalisée grâce à ces mesures, et UBS a pu y faire face grâce à la fois à une situation satisfaisante en matière de liquidités et aux délais de préavis.
Fonds
12/05/2010

Pioneer sous-performe

Le Handelsblatt rapporte que, selon Christian Michel, directeur de recherche chez Feri EuroRating, les fonds de Pioneer Investments (groupe UniCredit) sont en retard sur la concurrence en matière de résultats. La société qui gère 185 milliards d’euros dans le monde, dont 24 milliards d’euros en Allemagne, n’obtient une bonne ou très bonne note de Feri que pour 20 % de sa gamme.Pioneer est tombé au 28ème rang des 34 sociétés de gestion allemandes notées par Feri et sa grosse faiblesse se situe à l'échelon des fonds obligataires, mais les produits actions ont également de mauvais résultats.Pioneer a réagi à cette situation en se restructurant depuis le début de cette année, notamment en séparant la recherche Etats-Unis de la recherche Europe. On se pose toujours la question d’une vente éventuelle par UniCredit. Roger Yates (ex Henderson), le nouveau patron, a en tout cas été chargé de piloter la restructuration.
12/05/2010

Bob Mc Cann veut stopper l'hémorragie de conseillers chez UBS Wealth

Le nouveau patron d’UBS Wealth Management Americas, Bob McCann, l’ancien head of brokerage chez Merrill Lynch, a indiqué mardi qu’il compte désormais arrêter l’hémorragie de conseillers et stabiliser le nombre de ces derniers aux alentours de 7.000 (il est de 6.870 contre 8.760 il y a un an), rapporte The Wall Street Journal.Par ailleurs, UBS Wealth compte réaliser des économies de 40 millions de dollars sur les deux prochains trimestres.
12/05/2010

AGI and DB/DWS see net subscriptions in January-March

On the basis of statistics published on Tuesday by the German BVI association of asset management firms (see elsewhere in today’s Newsmanagers), Allianz Global Investors (AGI) and Deutsche Bank/DWS have been the only major fund management firms to post net subscriptions in first quarter. Their total net inflows (EUR4.63bn for AGI and EUR2.94bn for DB?DWS) are higher, in fact, than the total net subscriptions for the securities fund industry as a whole in the period under review (EUR7.36bn). Good results at AGI are due to the German affiliate AGI KAG (EUR1.44bn), and especially to Pimco Europe (EUR3.76bn). At DB/DWS, EUR1.07bn of inflows are due to db x-trackers, but two other Luxembourg affiliates (DB Platinum and DWS Investments SA) brought in a total of EUR1.6bn. Among the other major players, BlackRock has seen net outflows of EUR302.9m from its iShares ETFs, while ETFlab (Deka) has experienced net outflows of EUR507.4m from its ETFs, an addition to redemptions of EUR1.92bn from its parent company, DekaBank (German savings banks). Union Investment (co-operative banks), for its part, has posted net redemptions of EUR1.19bn.
12/05/2010

Jyske Invest in cooperation agreement with Agathon Capital

The Danish management firm Jyske Invest Fund Management has signed a cooperation agreement with Agathon Capital, to scale up its distribution activities in Germany, Luxembourg and Switzerland. The cooperation will primarily concern emerging market products from Jyske Invest, including funds of bonds denominated in local currencies.
12/05/2010

Poor performance at Pioneer

Handelsblatt reports that, according to Christian Michel, head of research at Feri EuroRating, funds from Pioneer (UniCredit group) lag behind the competition in terms of returns. The firm, which manages EUR185bn worldwide, of which EUR24bn are in Germany, receives a good or very good rating from Feri for only 20% of the products in its range. Pioneer has fallen to 28th place in the rankings of 34 German asset management firms rated by Feri, and its major weakness is in bond funds, though equities funds have also shown poor results. Pioneer has reacted to the situation by restructuring since the beginning of this year, in particular separating US and European research. There are still questions as to whether UniCredit will sell the operation. Roger Yates (ex-Henderson), the new head of the firm, has been placed in charge of the restructuring process.
12/05/2010

British fund of fund assets rising steeply

In first quarter, assets under management in funds of funds set a new record at GBP46.5bn, an increase of more than 60% over first quarter 2009, according to statistics from the British independent management association (IMA). Net inflows to funds of funds in first quarter totalled GBP1.2bn, nearly three times higher than the level observed in first quarter 2009. Assets in ethical funds totalled GBP5.9bn in first quarter, up 43% compared with first quarter 2009. Assets in tracker funds totalled GBP29.5bn, an increase of 59% compared with first quarter 2009.
12/05/2010

M&G releases a multi-asset class fund

The British firm M&G Investments on Tuesday announced that it has obtained a sales license in Germany for its M&G Global Dynamic Allocation Fund (see Newsmanagers of 29 March), a British-registered product (GB00B56H1S45) which may invest without restriction and with no benchmark index in various asset classes (equities, government or corporate bonds, convertible bonds, commodity-backed securities, alternative investments and cash). The fund, which aims to generate positive returns over a period of three years regardless of the direction of the markets, is intended to have lower volatility than equities. Front-end fee and management commission are set at a maximum of 4% and 1.75%, respectively. The minimal initial subscription for the product, launched on 3 December 2009, is set at EUR1,000.
12/05/2010

German asset management industry posts net inflows of over EUR31bn in first quarter

Net inflows to the asset management sector in Germany in first quarter totalled EUR31.4bn, the best result recorded since first quarter 2007, confirming that the recovery begun in third quarter 2009 is continuing, according to statistics released by the German asset management association BVI. Of this total, EUR20.8bn went to institutional management, while open-ended retail funds attracted EUR10.6bn. Assets under management for the sector as a whole have risen 17% over 12 months to EUR1.755trn, compared with EUR1.4999trn one year earlier. In the area of open-ended retail funds (EUR68.1bn as of the end of March), diversified funds in first quarter posted inflows of EUR5.4bn, while open-ended real estate funds saw EUR3.2bn, equities funds EUR2.3bn, and bond funds EUR2bn. Money market funds saw net outflows of EUR3.3bn. Equities funds continue to lead open-ended funds, with a volume of EUR211.2bn as of 31 March, or 31% of the total, followed by bond funds (21.8%) and diversified funds (13.2%).
12/05/2010

UBS real estate funds not in so much hot water as others

UBS Real Estate Germany has released a statement to announce that its open-ended real estate funds UBS (D) Euroinvest Immobilien and UBS (D) 3 Sector Real Estate Europe have experienced only a limited increase in redemption demands since the publication of a draft version of the proposed amendment to real estate fund regulations. The limited increase is due to the fact that preventive measures were introduced in the past few months to limit redemption demands through advance notification requirements and withdrawal penalties, which made it possible to stabilise the fund. The measures made it possible to channel the slight increase in redemption demands. UBS was able to achieve this due both to a satisfactory liquidity situation and to advance notification of redemptions.
12/05/2010

Wave of ratings downgrades for real estate funds

The most recent edition of the rankings from the Berlin-based rating agency Scope has revealed that of 29 open-ended real estate funds in the sample, 23 have undergone a ratings downgrade since 2009, while only two, both products from UBS, were upgraded. Of the 18 funds rated “A” and above in 2009, 12 have remained in the top class, having successfully resisted the crisis, which particularly goes for funds from Union Investment Real Estate, Deka Immobilien and RREEF Investment (Deutsche Bank). The best funds in the Europe category and all categories combined is the grundbesitz europa (AA-) from RREEF, followed by the hausInvest europa (A) from Commerz Real. The best Germany fund comes eighth in the rankings: UniImmo: Deutschland (A). Lastly, among global funds, the top two are the Deka-ImmobilienGlobal and UniImmo: Global, both of which receive A ratings.
12/05/2010

Aviva Investors recruits a founder of Fathom FC

Shamik Dhar, one of the founders of Fathom Financial Consulting in 2004, has been recruited in London as a senior economist for the investment strategy team at Aviva Investors, his former employer from 2000 to 2004 (when the firm was known as Morley Asset Management). Dhar will report to Adrian Jarvis, head of strategy, and will focus on economic research and conjuncutural predictions for the Asia-Pacific region.
12/05/2010

Alliance AM adds to product range

Alliance Trust Asset Management will next month launch a corporate bond fund. The fund will be managed by four former SWIP managers, including the former head of fixed income, Roy Davidson, who will lead the team. The team of four joined Alliance Trust at the beginning of this year. By the end of this year, Alliance Trust is also planning to release two other strategies: an Asian equities fund and a Japanese equities fund, both of which will be managed by Jonathan Bolton, head of Japanese equities.
12/05/2010

1.30% increase in Hennessee Hedge Fund index in April

The Hennessee hedge fund index gained 1.30% in April (4.61% since the beginning of the year), while the S&P 500, for its part, gained 1.48% for the month and 6.42% since the beginning of the year. The Long/Short Equity Index is up 1.43% in April and 4.59% since the beginning of the year. The Hennessee Distressed Index also gained 4.13% in April, and 11.71% since the beginning of the year.
12/05/2010

Europe Rendement Flexible fund to be made more widely available

The Europe Rendement Flexible fund from Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management (EDRAM), released on 30 January 2009, now has EUR125m in assets, and as of the end of March, it had posted returns of 22% since its launch. The version of the Europe Rendement fund, with a derivatives overlay to protect it and an exposure rate that may vary from 20% to 80%, was initially aimed at retail investors. Now, explains Françoise Rochette, deputy director and head of global allocation, the product has proven itself sufficiently for sales teams to promote it to private banks, networks, IFAs, institutional investors such as regional savings banks, funds of funds, and structurers. Overall, the product has been successful in weathering falling markets, sustaining only one third of losses, and has captured two thirds of gains, with lower volatility than the market.
12/05/2010

State Street publishes a study of ETF services

State Street on 11 May announced the publication of a report in the Vision Focus series, covering trends, challenges and best practices in the market for services to exchange-traded funds (ETF). ETFs, which now represent more than USD1trn in assets under management worldwide, continue to be efficient, economical, transparent, and fiscally advantageous investment vehicles, but providers of ETF products are confronting new challenges related to the rapid growth of the industry, both in terms of volume and of types of fund. “The global expansion of ETFs requires a profound knowledge of the nuances of each national market and the regulations in force,” says Alan Greene, executive vice president and US head of the Global Services activity at State Street. “Services to the ETF industry also need to confront some issues related to the diversification of fixed-income and actively-managed products, compared with a market of passively-managed US equities ETFs.”
12/05/2010

IOSCO consultation on CCP and OTC derivative market databases

The Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems (CPSS) and the technical committee of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) on 12 May published two consultation documents which lay out proposals to strengthen the OTC derivative market. The first report offers a series of recommendations concerning central counterparties (CCP), entitled “Guidance on the application of the 2004 CPSS-IOSCO Recommendations for Central Counterparties to OTC derivatives CCPs.” The second report, entitled “Considerations for trade repositories in OTC derivatives markets,” treats the question of databases. “The two complementary series of high-level recommendations represent a significant response by CPSS and IOSCO to the recent financial crisis. They also reflect the recommendations of the G20 on strengthening the over-the-counter derivatives markets,” the president of the CPSS, William Dudley, and the president of the IOSCO technical committee, Kathleen Casey, say in a statement. Interested parties are invited to submit their remarks until 25 June.
12/05/2010

Hedge funds attracted USD7.6bn in March

The hedge fund sector took in USD7.6bn in assets in March, and assets under management now total USD1.64trn, according to the most recent statistics from TrimTabs Investment Research and BarclaysHedge. In the past thirteen months, the Barclay Hedge Fund index gained 29.9%. In the month of March alone, average returns on hedge funds totalled 2.9%, the best returns since September 2009. Multi-strategy funds posted the heaviest outflows in March (1.3% of assets), while event-driven funds saw the largest inflows (1.5% of assets). Returns on event-driven funds since the beginning of the year, at 4.7%, have been among the highest for any strategy.
12/05/2010

Legg Mason will hold equities buyback

= Mark R. Fetting, chairman & CEO, has announced that the board of directors has authorised Legg Mason to buy back ordinary shares for up to EUR1bn. The move was made possible as the books saw a successful recovery in the quarter ending 31 March (see yesterday’s Newsmanagers). Legg Mason has USD1bn in liquidity, of which USD100m were generated in January-March 2010.
12/05/2010

Skandia France looks to high net worth private clients

Les Echos reports that the insurer Skandia France, an affiliate of the British firm Old Mutual, is aiming for a market share of 5% in the market segment of clients with a savings capacity of EUR100,000 to EUR3m. This market represents assets of EUR780bn, and growth potential is estimated at 8% per year, according to the Boston Consulting Group. Skandia France had assets of EUR1.72bn as of the end of March (+21% compared with first quarter 2009).
12/05/2010

Madoff suit against Ivy AM

Andrew Cuomo, the attorney general of New York, has filed a civil lawsuit against Ivy Asset Management (which in 2000 became an affiliate of BNY Mellon Asset Management), and two of its founders, Lawrence Simon and Howard Wohl, claiming that these individuals were aware of “disturbing facts” about the management firm led by Bernard Madoff, but that they “hid the truth” from clients to whom they recommended Madoff’s products.
12/05/2010

BNY Mellon AG signs cooperation agreement with El Corte Inglés

The Centro de Seguros y Servicios (CESS) d’El Corte Inglés has signed a financial consulting agreement with BNY Mellon Asset Management, by which the insurance and services arm of the retail group will provide “easy to understand” for retail investors to financial advising and investment products from the latter group, Cinco Días reports. The cooperation is reported to have begun earlier this year with the promotion of a retail account tied to any one of five selected financial products, one of which is the BNY Mellon Long-Term Global Equity Fund. The agreement also provides for a series of conferences for CESS clients in the major Spanish cities.
12/05/2010

Amundi ETF adds to Swiss product range

Amundi ETF on Tuesday announced that it is extending its ETF product range in Switzerland with the launch of a range of six new ETF Short Govies funds, bringing the number of Amundi products available on the SIX Swiss Exchange to 20. The range of ETF Short Olbigataires products offers investors daily inverse exposure to the Euro zone government bond market, in order to take advantage of any possible increase in interest rates. The six ETF funds, which provide synthetic replication of a family of Short EuroMTS Qurozone Government Broad strategy indices, include all maturities (from 1 to 15 years), and allow investors to take positions on all or part of the Euro zone rate curve. Amundi ETF states that it will continue to extend its product range in Switzerland in the next few weeks.
12/05/2010

Fitch confirms M2+ rating for Robeco

On Tuesday, Fitch Ratings confirmed its asset manager rating of M2+ for Robeco, covering its traditional management activities based in Rotterdam and money market management based in Paris (see Newsmanagers of 7 May). However, the agency notes that the rating “takes into account a need for stabilisation in the management team following its partial renewal. The firm will need to demonstrate its ability to increase assets and improve the organisational efficiency of the management firm, whose operating margins have already been set on a razor edge due to the financial crisis, in order for Robeco to return to sustainable operational profitability.” Against this background, Fitch will monitor the potential effects of cost-reduction measures on the quality of the management platform.
12/05/2010

Dexia asset management turns a profit in first quarter

In first quarter 2010, pre-tax profits for the Asset Management and Services profession at Dexia (which also includes insurance) totalled EUR67m, compared with losses of EUR164m in first quarter 2009, and profits of EUR118m in fourth quarter 2009. Assets under management are up 3.3% compared with the end of December 2009, at EUR85.1bn, and up 16.4% compared with the end of March 2009. This increase is due to positive market effects and net inflows from institutional clients. Institutional funds and mandates have posted inflows of EUR0.4bn in first quarter (+4.1% compared with the end of December 2009), with a concentration of inflows on high-margin products. Retail funds have posted a slight increase in the quarter (+1.6% compared with the end of December 2009), while positive market effects have offset net outflows. In first quarter 2010, Dexia Asset Management continues to develop client-oriented solutions, particularly in the area of sustainable and responsible investments. Asset Management has posted a pre-tax profit of EUR17m in first quarter 2010, compared with losses of EUR10m in first quarter 2009.
12/05/2010

NYSE Euronext pulls out of LCH.Clearnet to found its own clearing house

Les Echos reports that Nyse Euronext has decided to end its sales contracts with the LCH.Clearnet group in 2012, and will instead create two European clearing houses: one, in Paris, will handle organisation of counterparties on equities trades and equities derivatives, while the other, based in London, will be dedicated to commodities, fixed income, and currencies. Initially, settlement services from Nyse Euronext will be made available to over-the-counter markets, CDS market actors, and other trading platforms. The newspaper reports that it is likely that some over-the-counter contracts and Euro zone CDS will also be handled in Paris.
12/05/2010

Franklin Templeton launches three new sub-funds

Franklin Templeton Investments has announced the launch of three new sub-funds of its Luxembourg Sicav FTIF, the Franklin Gold and Precious Metals Fund, Templeton European Corporate Bond Fund and Franklin Real Return Fund. The first and third of these products, managed in the United States by Steve Land and Tony Coffey, respectively, are already available in US versions, and had assets as of 31 March of USD1.75bn and USD381.3m. The second fund, a corporate bond product, is managed in London by David Zahn.

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