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09/11/2009

Many guaranteed funds will mature by the end of the year

According to statistics from Ahorro Corporación, assets in Spanish guaranteed funds have contracted by 10.7%, or EUR5.78bn since the beginning of the year, to a total of EUR48.44bn, Cinco Días reports. This decline represents 87.3% of the contraction in assets for all funds in the period under review (EUR6.62bn). In September alone, net redemptions from guaranteed funds totalled EUR667m. Specialists predict that a good part of the EUR3.07bn which will mature in November and December (according to estimates from VDOS Stochastics) will be redirected to more lucrative asset classes such as direct investment in equities, or funds with higher-risk profiles. The average performance of guaranteed funds totals 3.4%, which is lower than those of diversified funds investing primarily in bonds (5.6%), or even mid/long term bond funds (4.5%). The two management firms whose assets in guaranteed funds have fallen most severely are BBVA (-EUR2.5bn), and Santander (-EUR1.8bn).
09/11/2009

Affiliated Managers enters Chinese market

US money-management firm Affiliated Managers Group acquired a 5% stake in Hong Kong-based Value Partners Group, an independent money manager with about USD4.6 billion in assets under management, for about USD36 million. It thus gains a toehold in the Chinese market.
09/11/2009

TPG and CPP acquire IMS Health

IMS Health, which claims to be the global leader in market intelligence for the pharmaceutical and health industries, has announced that its board of directors has unanimously approved the sale of the firm for USD5.2bn, including debt, to a consortium of investment funds managed by TPG Capital (USD45bn in assets) and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP IB, USD116.6bn in assets, of which USD18.4bn are in private equity). Shareholders will receive USD22 per share in cash, which represents a premium of about 50% over their closing price on 16 October, the last day before rumours broke that IMS was studying variuos strategic options, and 31% over their closing price on Thursday. TPG and CPP IB will finance the transaction with equity and debt provided by affiliates of Goldman Sachs.
09/11/2009

Quirin withdraws from management of db x-trackers

Quirin Bank has decided to discontinue management of the db x-trackers Quirin Wealth Management Total Return Index ETF (EUR46.27m in assets as of the end of September), launched on 1 December 2008, in order to underline its independence. The product is part of the db x-trackers product range, from the Deutsche Bank group. The name “Quirin” will now be removed from the name of the fund, which will now be known simply as db x-trackers Wealth Management ETF.
09/11/2009

Good performance for Asian hedge funds

Since the beginning of the year, Asian hedge funds excluding Japan have earned returns of 25.92%, including gains of 9% in third quarter, according to Hedge Fund Research (HFR). Including Japan, gains are limited to 15.26%. However, the HFRX index for China shows gains of 6.1% for July-September, and 44.2% since the beginning of the year. HFR estimates that as of the end of September, assets in Asian hedge funds totalled USD73.7bn, of which USD800m came in net subscriptions in third quarter, the first net inflows since second quarter 2008.
09/11/2009

AIFM: A clear distinction must be drawn between professional investors and others

In an interview with Les Echos, Noël Amenc, director of the Edhec Risk and Asset Management Research Centre, points out inadequacies and incoherent areas in the planned AIFM directive to govern hedge fund managers. “The main risk is that we might see European managers with an AIFM label taking advantage of very lax national frameworks to distribute European hedge funds, under regulations that give a false impression of protection,” Amenc says, adding that “the proper regulatory response to promote the growth of alternative management in a secure framework would involve a clear distinction between professional investors and others. The former would be allowed to invest without restriction in offshore and onshore funds via a European private investment regime, while the latter would be allowed to invest only in onshore funds which carry a European passport.”
09/11/2009

US Treasury blocks transaction to avoid cost to taxpayers

La Tribune reports, citing the Wall Street Journal, that the US Treasury has blocked a USD3bn transaction involving the mortgage lender Fannie Mae, Goldman Sachs, and Berkshire Hathaway, as it would be “too costly to taxpayers,” the Treasury states.
09/11/2009

Blackstone planning credit investment blitz

La Tribune reports that Blackstone, which has announced profits of USD275m (EUR185m) for third quarter, has USD27bn set aside, which it is planning to invest in the credit markets, once their recovery is more certain. Tony James, deputy CEO of the US LBO and real estate giant (nearly USD100bn in assets under management), says the number of planned operations is growing swiftly.
09/11/2009

Martin Currie seeks to strengthen presence in Asia

Martin Currie Investment Management, is seeking local partners to strengthen its distribution capacities in Hong Kong, and may very soon sign an agreement. The firm is also planning to recruit for its teams, particularly analysts. In the next five years, Martin Currie Investment Management is hoping to establish a market team in Singapore, Asian Investor reports.
09/11/2009

Och-Ziff still running a loss

For third quarter 2009, the alternative manager Och-Ziff Capital Management Group has declared a net loss by GAAP accounting standards of USD80m, compared with USD69.4m in the corresponding period of last year. In the first nine months of this year, losses were reduced to USD250.2m, compared with USD398.4m in January-September 2008. These figures reflect a fall in revenues from management commissions due to a decrease in assets, and an increase in pay scales. As of 1 November, assets under management were estimated at USD22.6bn, compared with USD22.1bn on 1 October, and USD22.3bn as of 30 September. This means that they increased at the end of third quarter by 2% over their levels at the end of June (USD21.9bn), but had fallen 29% from the USD31.2bn recorded at the end of September 2008. In third quarter, growth in assets of USD358m was the result of positive market effects for USD1.5bn, offset by net outflows of USD1.1bn. In the first nine months of the year, a decline of USD8.9bn in assets under management was due to net outflows of USD9.3bn, which were offset by positive market effects of USD424m. Net outflows in July-September include redemption demands received for 30 June, but not those for 30 September, which are reflected in asset levels as of 1 October.
09/11/2009

Merger in Japanese asset management

Sumitomo Trust and Banking and Chuo Mitsui Trust Holdings announced on Friday, 6 November, that they have signed an agreement to merge their asset management businesses. The deal is subject to approval by shareholders and the relevant antitrust authorities. The integration would be carried out through an exchange of shares between Sumitomo Trust and Banking and Chuo Mitsui Trust Holdings, on 1 April 2011, and the creation at the same time of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings, Inc., as the new holding company for the firm. The merger would be effective from 1 April 2012. The new bank would have JPY58trn (EUR430bn) in assets under management.
09/11/2009

SGAM cautious about gold

As gold prices are setting records at USD1,092 per ounce, SGAM warns that investors should remain prudent. The management firm points out that for all supports combined, investment demand in second quarter 2009 is estimated to have represented 45% of overall demand for the metal, compared with 19% in 2006. However, physical demand (for jewelry and industrial use) fell 25% year-on-year in first quarter 2009, to a six-year low. “It appears that gold imports in India, the world’s largest jewelry consumer, were disappointing in third quarter,” says a memo. However, global supply rose 28% in first quarter 2009. “Investors would be well-advised to keep the law of supply and demand in mind. The current balance appears to be unstable. We are also predicting that gold prices will return to close to USD850 per ounce by late 2010,” says SGAM.
09/11/2009

Morgan Stanley PWM recruits a Latin America team from UBS

To develop its coverage of the ultra-high net worth private segment in Latin America, particularly in Venezuela, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, and Mexico, Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management (PWM) has recruited a team of six specialists from UBS, who will be based in New York, and will report to Fabian Onetti, managing director. Three executive directors are among the new recruits: Maria C. Lipton, Juan Larrain and Pablo Granja. They will be joined by two vice-presidents, Lisa Markowitz and Helena Astor, and by Tatiana Dominguez. Morgan Stanley PWM is a division of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.
09/11/2009

Rankings of most sustainable management firms

Investors’ interest in “sustainable” management firms is continuing to increase, Fondsprofessionell reports. On the basis of the EDA (or ethisch dynamischer Anteil) standards from the Austrian firm software-systems.at, which measures transparency, support for renewable energies, absence of atomic energy or land mine manufacturers in the portfolios of firms, and other criteria, the top 20 sustainable management firms as of November are: Allianz Invest, Baring, BlackRock, Carl Spängler KAG, CPB KAG, Credit Suisse, Erste Sparinvest, Fortis Investments, Henderson, Jul.Meinl Invest, Julius Bär, Kepler, ÖkoWorld Lux S.A., Pictet Funds S.A., Pioneer Inv. Austria, Raiffeisen KAG, Sarasin, Schelhammer & Schattera, Security KAG, and Volksbank Invest KAG.
09/11/2009

Comgest gives more exposure to Europe managers

Comgest, a management firm with high levels of expertise in “GARP” (Growth At Reasonable Price) management, has decided to throw more limelight on its personnel specialised in management on the European continent. These funds will continue to have an overall lead manager - Laurent Dobler for the Renaissance Europe and Comgest Europe funds, Arnaud Cosserat for Comgest Growth Europe, and Claire Rodrigue for Comgest Growth Mid-Caps Europe - but their names will now also be associated with those of their partners.
09/11/2009

Profits at Berkshire Hathaway triple in third quarter

Berkshire Hathaway, the group controlled by Warren Buffett, on Friday announced net profits attributable to shareholders in July-September of nearly USD3.24bn, compared with nearly USD1.06bn in the corresponding period of last year, bringing the total for the first nine months of the year to USD5bn, compared with USD4.88bn in January-September 2008. Net operating profits, which exclude returns on investments and positions on derivatives, totalled USD2.06bn, compared with USD2.07bn, for the period under review, and USD5.54bn, compared with USD6.27bn, for the first nine months of the year.
09/11/2009

Institutional managers seek to increase retail distribution

According to a survey by Skandia Investment Group (SIG) of 60 management firms worldwide, with assets of over USD7trn, 64% of managers surveyed estimate that institutional managers are seeking to increase their retail distribution. In light of the fact that 65% of management firms contacted for the survey are uniquely institutional managers, this indicates what may be a major trend, says Rob Williams, chief sales & marketing officer at SIG in Hong Kong. Among the managers that SIG selected to survey about product distribution are Stone Harbor Investment Partners and Gabelli Asset Management in the United States, SVM in the United Kingdom, Acadian Asset Managers in South Africa, and First State in Australia.
09/11/2009

Lombard Odier scales up management in Italy

Lombard Odier has signed distribution agreements in Italy with Gruppo Banca Sella and Allfunds Bank, the Italian website Bluerating reports. The agreement with Banca Sella will allow all banks in the group to sell the 45 sub-funds of the Sicav LODH Invest registered for sale in Italy to their retail clients. Allfunds, for its part, will make these products available to the 20 institutional clients using its platform.
09/11/2009

Universal and Vescore open absolute return fund to retail investors

Universal Investment and the Munich-based management boutique Vescore Deutschland have opened their absolute return fund Glocap Vega, launched earlier this year, to retail investors in Germany and Austria. The product aims for total annual returns of 9% to 11%, while volatility is 9.5%, or half that of an equities portfolio for which the MSCI World index serves as benchmark. The German-registered fund has already attracted about EUR150m in investment. Most of the portfolio is invested in bonds which present virtually no credit risk. For the remainder, the management team may use short-term options on bond or equities indices, such as the S&P 500 or the Euro Stoxx 50. Backtesting shows that the Glocap strategy would have produced no negative annual results between January 1998 and December 2008. The model functioned correctly for two thirds of all the months in this period. Characteristics Name: GLOCAP VegaISIN: DE000A0RLFC4Advisor: Vescore Deutschland GmbHManagement commission: Currently 1.75%Front-end fee: 5% maximumMinimal subscription: EUR500/EUR50 per month for savings plans
09/11/2009

Prudential launches Islamic finance activities in Malaysia

Prudential on Thursday announced the launch of Prudential Al-Wara’ Asset Management, a management firm based in Malaysia, wholly dedicated to management according to the Islamic principles of Sharia, Asian Investor reports. Zulkifli Ishak, former director of Sharia investments at Prudential Fund Management, becomes CEO and CIO of the new structure, which will offer Malaysian institutional investors offshore and onshore mandates.
09/11/2009

Pioneer launches fund of emerging market debt in local currencies

On 4 November, Pioneer Investments launched the Pioneer Funds - Emerging Market Bond Local Currencies fund, a new sub-fund of the Luxembourg-registered Pioneer Funds Sicav, investing primarily in debt from emerging countries denominated in local currencies, the Italian website Bluerating reports. The manager of the fund will be Greg Saichin, head of emerging markets and high yield.
09/11/2009

Trinity Mirror to close pension fund

The publisher of the Daily Mirror and several regional newspapers, Trinity Mirror, is undertaking a two-month consultation with its personnel, after reaching the conclusion that it no longer has the financial means to support its four defined-benefit pension funds, whose deficit has increased over an eight-year period from GBP37m to GBP275m, despite a contribution of GBP259m from the business, the Sunday Times reports. This deficit represents 70% of the group’s debt. The 3,000 active members of the fund will be transferred to a defined-contribution fund. The four funds include the Mirror Group Fund, from which Robert Maxwell pillaged GBP500m.
09/11/2009

Jupiter opens its financial sector hedge fund to external investors

Hedge Week reports that Jupiter has decided to open its Financials Hedge Fund to external ivnestors. The long/short fund specialised in financial sector equities of all countries, all sectors and all cap sizes was launched in May 2007 by Robert Mumby, and has assets of USD32m. It was created on the Jupiter hedge fund incubation platform, and has generated annualised returns of 16% since its launch, with annualised volatility of 8%. In 2008, the fund earned 6.21%, and its performance since the beginning of the year measures 24.17%.
09/11/2009

National Social Security Fund to create professional status for fund managers

The Chinese National Social Security Fund (NSSF), one of the pension funds for the People’s Republic, may initiate a series of changes, as it approaches CNY1trn in assets, a level it expects to reach in the next two years, Asian Investor reports. One of the innovations may be the transformation of the professional status of those working in fund management, who have previously been state functionaries. The creation of a private management team may help the fund to attract new talent. The fund is also talking about a new allocation which would reduce its exposure to bonds and increase exposure to alternative assets.
09/11/2009

Deficit at BA pension fund increases sharply

In the six months to the end of September, the Airways Pension Scheme (APS), one of the pension funds for British Airways employees, saw a reduction in its surplus to GBP27m from GBP860m, while the other defined-benefit fund, the New Airways Pension Scheme (NAPS), experienced a deterioration in its deficit to GBP2.66bn, compared with nearly GBP1.17bn as of 31 March. Discount rates fell to 5.5% from 7.1% for the APS, and to 5.4% from 6.9% for the NAPS, with inflation rates raised to 3% from 2.7% for the APS, and maintained unchanged at 3.2% for the NAPS. The two funds are closed to new employee subscribers.
09/11/2009

Ignacio Muñoz Alonso joins Addax Capital

Ignacio Muñoz Alonso, formerly a head of retail banking for Europe and Asia, up until the end of March, has joined Addax Capital, the hedge fund management firm led by Alejandro Agag, which has been regulated by the British FSA since 2006, as a partner, Expansión reports. Alonso will be in charge of development for advising to sovereign funds. Addax already works with sovereign funds from Qatar, Libya and Angola.
09/11/2009

BPA Global Funds creates a Spanish equities sub-fund

The Spanish asset management affiliate of Banca Privada d’Andorra, BPA Global Funds AM, has registered the BPA Iberian Equities fund as a new sub-fund of its Luxembourg Sicav BPA International Selection Fund. The Spanish equities fund, aimed at international institutional clients, will be managed by the star manager Gonzalo Lardiés, Funds People reports. BPA is targeting the Chilean and Mexican markets, among others.
09/11/2009

Net inflows to Luxembourg-registered funds in September

In September, funds in Luxembourg had net inflows of EUR10.467bn, according to the financial regulator (CSSF). With the positive impact of financial markets amounting to EUR23.95bn, assets in the industry have increased to EUR1.773834trn, an increase of 1.98% in one month. Compared with September 2008, assets are down 1.27%. The number of funds taken into consideration is 3,457, compared with 3,449 the previous month, the CSSF adds. 2,082 vehicles have adopted a multiple sub-fund structure, with a total of 10,832 sub-funds. With the addition of 1,375 vehicles with a classic structure, there is a total of 12,207 entities active on the financial market.
09/11/2009

Pioneer AM merges sub-funds

Pioneer Investments is rationalizing the Luxembourg-registered fund range from Pioneer Asset Management S.A. From 27 November, the number of sub-funds in the Pioneer CIM fund will be reduced from eight to two. Only the Pioneer CIM- Euro Fixed Income, which will absorb the Pioneer CIM - Euro Convertible Bond, and the Pioneer CIM - Global Equity, which will absorb the Pioneer CIM - US Quant Equity, Japanese Quant Equity, India Equity, Latin America Equity and Global Gold Mining sub-funds, will remain.

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