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06/10/2009

Changes on the way in banking surveillance

The directors of the Bundesbank this weekend voted to set up an integrated structure to which all banking supervisory functions which it currently shares with BaFin, the German market regulator, will be transferred. The head of the Bundesbank, Axel Weber, says that a complete absorption of BaFin could put an end to the two-headed structure created a decade ago, which is currently viewed as ineffective.
06/10/2009

HSBC launches an ETF based on the Euro Stoxx 50

Zurich-based Stoxx Ltd on Tuesday announced that it has licensed HSBC to use the Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 index as the underlying index for an ETF fund which will be listed from this Tuesday on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). Farley Thomas, global head of wholesale at HSBC Global Asset Management, states that HSBC gives priority to the launch of ETF funds replicating indexes which serve as an underlying for large volumes of assets, of which the Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 is by far the largest in Europe.
06/10/2009

Seven new mandates for Société Générale Securities Services (SGSS) in 2009

Société Générale Securities Services (SGSS) announced on Monday that it has won seven mandates in Italy since the beginning of the year 2009, including mandates from several pension funds. With EUR760bn in assets in custody and EUR26bn in assets under administration as of 30 June 2009, SGSS is the second-largest provider of securities services on the Italian market in terms of custodial, fund administration and settlement and clearance. Italian mandates include CAAM SGR Pension, Fund FON.TE Pension Fund, Priamo Pension, Fund Previmoda, Pension Fund Byblos Raetia and RE Sator SGR.
06/10/2009

10 European actors among the world's top 20

According to rankings from Pensions & Investments/Watson Wyatt World 500, total assets at the 500 top asset management firms in the world fell last year by 23% to USD53.4trn as of the end of December. Among the top 20 by asset volumes, there are 10 European and 10 US firms, with the top two firms being Barclays Global Investors (BGI) and Allianz, with USD1.5163trn and USD1.462trn, followed by State Street and Fidelity with USD1.4438trn and USD1.3891trn. Axa, BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole and Natixis come in fifth, 13th, 16th and 19th place, with USD1.38345trn, USD809.77bn, USD776.37bn, and USD630.06bn. In total, assets at North American management firms in the top 500 global firms fell 24% to USD23.9trn, while European firms lost 25%, to finish at USD22.7trn. Over the past ten years, the market share belonging to managers in developing countries has doubled, to about 4%.
06/10/2009

The top three managers of the past 12 months, according to Citywire

Citywire reveals the three fund managers out of 3643 managers who have returned the most in the 12 month period up to the end of August. The top performer in absolute terms is Dr Joachim Berlenbach, who runs Earth Gold Fund UI at Earth Resource Investment Group. He has returned 45.21% in euro terms. The second best performer was Thomas Bobek, manager of Erste Sparinvest’s ESPA Alternative Emerging Markets fund, who has returned 41.6%. Making up the trio of managers out in front for their year’s returns is Abhijig Sarkar from Hamon Investment Group, who co-manages the BNY Mellon Vietnam, India & China, with returns of 33.28% in dollar terms.
06/10/2009

Santander freezes an infrastructure fund

Cotizalia relays reports in Europa Press that Santander has decided to temporarily freeze the Santander Infrastructure Fund II, until the economic situation improves. The Santander Infrastructure Fund I is continuing its normal operations. The bank was planning to raise EUR1.5bn from institutional investors for the Infrastructure II fund, which would have allowed investments of EUR5bn. Santander has already invested about EUR900m in three projects in Chile (two highways and one water company), which it will continue to manage, even though plans to launch the fund are on hold.
06/10/2009

European banks will need USD78bn

In a prediction based on the hypothesis that Basel II will set a “hard” limit on owners’ equity ratios (tier one, excluding hybrid debt and all forms of quasi-capital) at 8%, JPMorgan estimates that European financial sector establishments will need a total of USD78bn (EUR53bn) by 2011, excluding public aid money, Agefi reports. USD38.3bn of this will need to be dedicated to repaying government aid. German banks alone will need USD26.6bn in capital, largely due to the USD16.8bn needed at Commerzbank. HSBC is doing best of the businesses in Great Britain, with a surplus of USD39.7bn. Among French banks, Société Générale has the most severe need for capital, which JPMorgan estimates at USD6.3bn.
06/10/2009

Toxic asset funds kick off

Five investment funds that raised USD1.94 billion in private capital to purchase troubled assets through the Public Private Investment Partnership can start buying next week, says the Wall Street Journal. Many public pension funds have invested in the PPIP funds. Because prices have been rallying for months, investors are unlikely to get the 20% to 30% returns that were expected when the program was first announced. Instead, returns of 15% are more likely.
06/10/2009

Three new asset managers join public-private investment program

Three new asset management firms have opened their doors to US government financing as part of the public-private investment program (PIPP), Agefi reports. The firms are Wellington Capital Management, AllianceBernstein, and BlackRock. Nine institutions in total were selected this summer by the US authorities as eligible to participate in the toxic bank asset repurchasing program. Since the announcement of the public-private partnership in March this year, banks have shown their ability to raise capital without having to clear out their balance sheets, the newspaper reports. Though it had an initial objective of up to USD1trn, the Treasury is now looking at a volume of USD40trn in repurchases through the PIPP program.
06/10/2009

Credit Suisse goes into alternative management business in Japan

Agefi Switzerland reports that Credit Suisse Securities (Japan) on 2 October received a license from the Japanese market surveillance authorities to operate as an investment firm. This authorization follows the recruitment in August of Shinichiro Sato, from BlackRock, who will lead a team of six people. This represents a “strange strategic reorientation,” the newspaper comments, pointing out that at the end of 2008, Credit Suisse sold its “Global Investors” asset management division to Aberdeen Asset Management in exchange for a 24.5% stake in the enlarged capital of the British wealth management firm. But Credit Suisse is seeking to develop its alternative management activities in order to attract the savings of Japanese pensioners, which total nearly CHF800bn. This represents a considerable challenge, as Japanese pension funds are increasingly inclined to invest in alternative assets, including hedge funds and private equity.
06/10/2009

FRR names members of investment strategy committee

In connection with the Fund’s new investment strategy, which was unveiled last June, the FRR’s Supervisory Board has formed a Committee whose role is to assist the Board in the performance of its duties relating to defining, monitoring the implementation of, and adapting the strategic asset allocation. The Committee is composed of the following individuals: representing employee trade unions: Jean-Christophe Le Duigou; representing employer trade unions: Alain Leclair; representing the Ministry of the Economy: Hervé de Villeroché; representing the collège of qualified individuals: Jean-Louis Beffa and Raoul Briet. Raoul Briet, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, and Augustin de Romanet, Chairman of the Executive Board, have designated the two individuals chosen to serve as experts, assisting the Committee in its work. They are: Bertrand Jacquillat, university professor at the Institut d’Etudes politiques de Paris, and Marc de Scitivaux, economist.
06/10/2009

EUR4.8bn capital increase at SocGen

Société Générale this morning announced the launch of a capital increase of about EUR4.8bn, maintaining preferential subscription rights. “This transaction will allow Société Générale to pay off preferential shares (B class) and super-subordinated securities of indeterminate duration (TSSDI) subscribed by the French government, and to increase the level and improve the quality of its regulatory ratios. It will also allow Société Générale to seize opportunities for external growth if they should emerge,” says a statement, adding that the increase will be likely to have no impact on net profit per share in 2010. As to external growth opportunities, the firm states that they may involve international retail banking and private banking.
06/10/2009

SEB AM releases a defensive version of Asset Selection

Frankfurt-based SEB Asset Management (SEB AM) on Monday announced that it has obtained a license to sell its new Luxembourg fund SEB Asset Selection Defensive, which is the defensive version of its SEB Asset Allocation fund, in Germany. The product is characterized by a volatility objective of only 5%, rather than 10% for the original fund launched in 2006. The manager of the total return fund, which complies with UCITS III, is Hans-Olov Bornemann, head of the quantitative management team, based in Stockholm. His base portfolio is invested in money market assets, with an overlay portfolio which uses futures and other derivatives. The manager invests in equities, bonds, currencies and commodities, with both long and short positions. Characteristics Name: SEB Asset Selection Defensive ISIN: LU0425992988 Minimal subscription: EUR50 per month Front-end fee: 5% Management commission: 1.1%
06/10/2009

Santander negotiating sale of its offshore private bank to Credit Suisse

Its efforts to sell Santander Asset Management having ended in failure, Santander is now negotiating a sale of its offshore private banking affiliate which manages about EUR100bn in Geneva, Miami and the Bahamas, mostly for Latin American clients, Cotizalia reports. Potential buyers are said to include Credit Suisse, represented at the negotiations by Walter Berchtold, the head of wealth management. Negotiations on the Santander side are Rodrigo Echenique, who is director of the bank and who has the confidence of Emilio Botín, and Javier Marín, CEO of the private banking division. Taking the multiple ratios in use before the crisis as a guide, for example, those used at the acquisitions of Urquijo or the Morgan Stanley private bank, the deal could be worth EUR6-8bn.
06/10/2009

Fitch published new ratings criteria for money market funds

The Fitch agency on 5 October published its new ratings criteria for money market funds, particularly for funds which invest in short-term debt instruments issued by financial institutions, non-financial sector businesses, and ABCP programs. The publication of the new criteria coincides with recent proposals by the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) to strengthen the regulatory framework governing money market funds. A new ratings scale and new definitions have been defined by Fitch, with an “AAAmmf” rating which will replace the “AAA/V1+” rating. This will aim to improve transparency, and to better differentiate ratings applicable to money market funds from those covering other debt instruments. Fitch has also set up a measure of global portfolio risk, which takes into account the quality of credit and its maturity, an analysis of the diversification of the fund, which takes into account direct and indirect exposure to credit risk, a daily and weekly measure of portfolio liquidity, a revision of recommendations which aim to reduce risks related to securities lending, and an evaluation of the role of the sponsor (investment management, risk monitoring, governance, administration, etc).
06/10/2009

Aberdeen brings together securities and real estate activities

Aberdeen Asset Management has announced the creation of Aberdeen Asset Management Deutschland AG, which will be headquartered in Frankfurt, and will serve as the holding company for securities and real estate activities in Germany and Austria. These activities represent about 120 employees and more than EUR8bn in assets. The managing board includes Patrick Walker (chairman), who is also head of European business development at Aberdeen, Michael Determann, Hetmut Leser (client management & business development), and Bärbel Schomberg, head of real estate.
06/10/2009

Gartmore recruits a team from GAM

Gartmore has announced the appointment of Asim Rahman and Christian Billinger as investment analysts and Eleanor Cameron as manager (dealing & operations) from GAM. They will report to John Bennett, Gartmore’s new senior portfolio manager, European equities, who joins in January 2010. At Gartmore, John Bennett and his team will assume lead management responsibility for the Gartmore European Selected Opportunities and Gartmore SICAV Continental European Funds. The Funds’ current managers, Roger Guy and Guillaume Rambourg, will concentrate on their growing list of alternative and institutional mandates. John Bennett will also develop a range of Pan European products for Gartmore.
06/10/2009

AUM at the largest asset managers fell by USD16trn in 2008

Last year, the 500 largest asset management firms in the world saw a contraction of more than 23% in their assets, which represents the first decline since 2002, and the largest contraction since statistics began in 1996. These are the findings of the Pensions & Investments/Watson Wyatt World 500 ranking, which put total assets as of the end of December at USD53.4trn, compared with USD69.4trn twelve months previously. The study finds that the 20 largest global actors alone accounted for one third of declines in assets under management, at USD5.6trn, but that the share of total assets at these firms remains high, at 38%. This has had a negative impact on their profitability, as performance commissions have suffered, and there is no room to raise fees. However, overheads have fallen, as many asset management firms have made cuts in their headcount. Carl Hess, global head of investment consulting at Watson Wyatt, notes that the asset management industry is facing three problems: a wave of consolidation, toughening regulations, and the loss of client confidence.
06/10/2009

Private bankers on the defensive

Major actors in wealth management are meeting in Singapore to consider the future of their industry, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. Chris Meares, CEO of HSBC Private Banking, says 60% of client assets are in cash or in liquid accounts, compared with 35% in 2006; clients are gradually beginning to become interested in assets other than bonds, such as equities and simple structured products. The sector is also expecting strong growth in Asia, particularly in Hong Kong and Singapore, where the number of high net worth clients (more than USD5m in assets) and ultra high net worth clients (over USD100m) are rising at 13% per year, compared with 8% in the rest of the world. However, Daniel Truchi, head of SG Private Banking, notes that clients are increasingly inclined to sue their banks, which necessitates reserves to be set aside and cuts into margins. Meanwhile, some clients in Hong Kong, for instance, are willing to take enormous risks, and banks sometimes need to reason with them, in order to avoid having trouble later.
05/10/2009
Fonds

La source de capitaux se tarit pour le private equity

Les rentrées nettes des 79 fonds lancés par des capital investisseurs ayant fait l’objet d’un bouclage définitif (final close) au troisième trimestre 2009 sont tombées à 38 milliards de dollars, soit 55 % de moins qu’en avril-juin et 68 % de moins que pour la période correspondante de l’année dernière, selon un rapport de Preqin. C’est en fait le plus bas niveau enregistré depuis les 37 milliards de dollars du quatrième trimestre 2003. Le record a été constaté pour le deuxième trimestre 2007 avec un total de 208 milliards de dollars.Selon Preqin, 90 fonds de private equity ont abandonné cette année leurs projets de levées de capitaux, contre 30 l’an dernier et 15 en 2007. Ce mois-ci, on recense 1.574 fonds en phase active de collecte, soit pratiquement 100 de moins qu’en début d’année. De plus, ces fonds visent une collecte de 754 milliards de dollars, alors que l’on tablait sur 900 milliards au premier semestre. Dans ces conditions, le délai de fermeture s’est prolongé à plus de 18 mois contre 15 mois en 2008, 12 mois en 2007 et 9 mois et demi en 2004.Huit fonds ayant eu leur «final close» en juillet-septembre ont collecté plus d’un milliard de dollars. Les plus gros est le Hellman & Friedman VII, avec 8,8 milliards de dollars, alors qu’il visait initialement 13 milliards de dollars. Quant au TA XI de TA Associates, il a drainé 4 milliards de dollars.
Fonds
05/10/2009

Promotions chez Liontrust

Comme Rob Page rejoint Ignis en novembre, Liontrust a nommé pour le remplacer Simon Hildrey, recruté en juillet 2008, comme directeur du marketing et de la communication à compter du 1er novembre ; il était directeur de la communication. En outre, Nick Pilkington, qui a dix ans d’ancienneté chez Liontrust, est nommé directeur du marketing. Il était marketing manager et sera subordonné à Simon Hildrey.
05/10/2009

De nouveaux actionnaires pour Gala Coral

Intermediate Capital et ParkSquare vont échanger 540 millions de livres de crédits à Gala Coral contre la moitié du capital de cet exploitant de salles de jeux et de bureaux de paris qui est détenu actuellement par les capital-investisseurs Candover, Cinven et Permira, croit savoir The Sunday Times. Les négociations devraient être bouclées d’ici à la fin du mois et permettre à Gala Coral d’obtenir grâce à Intermediate Capital et ParkSquare des prêts pour faire face à ses dettes de 2,6 milliards de livres sans que les actionnaires actuels n’aient à injecter des capitaux frais.
05/10/2009

Impax AM enregistre une hausse de ses encours sur un an

La société de gestion cotée sur l’AIM Impax Asset Management, spécialisée dans le secteur de l’environnement, vient de publier des résultats préliminaires pour la période du premier octobre 2008 au 30 septembre 2009. Les résultats définitifs seront publiés dans la semaine du 7 décembre. Sur un an, le gestionnaire britannique a fait état d’une hausse de ses actifs sous gestion, qui passent de 1,09 milliard de livres à 1,25 milliard à fin septembre. Au 31 mars, les actifs étaient descendus à 889 millions de livres.Par ailleurs, indique le communiqué, Impax a récemment obtenu en partenariat avec BNP Paribas Investment Partners un mandat auprès d’un investisseur institutionnel européen, qui pourrait atteindre 150 millions d’euros.
05/10/2009
Fonds

La stratégie éthique du fonds souverain serait sous-optimale

Tout en reconnaissant que le Governement Pension Fund - Global (GPFG) est probablement le plus transparent de tous les fonds souverains et qu’il est probablement le seul à avoir un mandat éthique explicite, deux chercheurs d’Oxford s’interrogent sur l’efficacité réelle de la stratégie éthique de ce fonds. Gordon Clark et Ashby Monk, dans l'étude «Resource Wealth and the Ethics of Global Investment: The Legitimacy and Governance of Norway’s Sovereign Wealth Fund» publiée sur le site du Social Science Research Network (http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1473973), soulignent que la mission éthique du GPFG s’entend mieux en termes de justice sur le plan de la procédure que sur celui de l’efficacité.En particulier, relève Daniel Brooksbank, de Responsible Investor, les auteurs constatent que le fait d’exclure publiquement certaines sociétés n’a pratiquement jamais eu d’incidence sur les marchés, le Fonds étant simplement remplacé par d’autres investisseurs. Et pratiquement rien ne prouve qu’avoir été publiquement stigmatisées par le GPFG ait augmenté le coût du capital à long terme pour les sociétés concernées.
Fonds
05/10/2009
Fonds

Le fonds souverain va faire du lobbying

Anne Kvam, global head of corporate governance de NBIM, la filiale de la Banque de Norvège qui gère le Government Pension Fund - Global (GPFG), a annoncé que le fonds de pension va lancer une campagne pour obliger les sociétés américaines Harris Croporation, Clorox Company, Parker Hannifin et Cardinal Health à séparer les fonctions de président et de directeur général, rapporte Responsible Investor.Par ailleurs, le fonds souverain va s’associer aux initiatives visant à obtenir que les administrateurs des sociétés britanniques soient soumis à réélection tous les ans. Le GPFG possède des actions britanniques cotées pour 32 milliards de livres.
Fonds
05/10/2009

Le Santander développe sa distribution de fonds dans le Grand-Duché

Dolores Ybarra, administrateur délégué de Santander Asset Management, a indiqué à Expansión que son objectif est de commercialiser des fonds d’actions et d’obligations latino américaine au Luxembourg, ce qui est compliqué parce que les investisseurs institutionnels exigent que ces produits aient des encours importants avant d’y investir.La filiale de la banque espagnole dispose depuis 1993 d’une Sicav luxembourgeoise qui compte à présent 23 compartiments et affiche un encours de seulement 750 millions d’euros. Dès lors, le Santander a décidé de doper les ventes de parts au travers du réseau en Espagne afin que les fonds atteignent un volume suffisant pour les investisseurs institutionnels s’y intéressent. Les souscriptions nettes depuis le début de l’année ont porté sur 180 millions d’euros.Parallèlement, Santander Asset Management a fait enregistrer ses fonds au Royaume-Uni et a entamé la procédure pour faire de même dans deux pays asiaitques.
05/10/2009

T. Rowe Price entre chez UTI

Le gestionnaire américain T. Rowe Price va payer selon Reuters relayé par Mutual Fund Wire entre 125 millions et 135 millions de dollars pour une participation de 26 % dans la plus vieille société de gestion indienne, UTI Asset Management.
05/10/2009
Fonds

Le SEB ImmoInvest franchit la barre des 6 milliards d'euros

L’allemand SEB Asset Management annonce vendredi avoir acheté pour 98,5 millions d’euros l’immeuble de bureaux KPN Büroneubau auprès d’OVG Real Estate. Cet actif de 23.000 mètres carrés avec 190 places de parking, situé à Amsterdam (Sloterdijk), est loué pour 10 ans à KPN Telecom BV. Il entre dans le portefeuille du fonds immobilier offert au public SEB ImmmoInvest, dont l’encours se situe à présent à 6,1 milliards d’euros avec des investissements dans 18 pays en Europe, en Amérique du Nord et en Asie.
Fonds

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